6 Britain
6 Britain February 2 2022 | World and Press Scottish islanders launch Airbnb rival in fight against second homes crisis HOUSING A local group hopes to take on the tech giant and help keep hold of tourist revenue. mit Übungen | Sprechen By Libby Brooks 1 RHODA MEEKknows the power of Scottish islands working together. During the first lockdown she created a website for more than 360 businesses from Arran to Ulva to sell their wares while the pandemic prevented visitors. 2 Now she and her neighbours have launched a holiday lettings website that aims to take on Airbnb and ensure that more of the islands’ tourism revenue stays local. “I was increasingly aware of the challenge posed by lack of affordable housing for islanders and the proliferation of short-term lets, and the difficult balance between the need for tourism and the damage that can be done,” explains Meek. 3 IsleHoliday.com aims to ensure that more of the revenue generated by tourism in the islands stays local, with profits from the commission-based structure to be reinvested in small businesses, community, and housing projects. Houses on the Isle of Mull in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. | Photo: Picture Alliance 4 On the east of Tiree, an island in the Inner Hebrides where Meek lives, she estimates that 40% of the houses sit empty during the winter: “It’s just not sustainable for keeping communities in fire fighters and care staff. We have to start somewhere.” But she is likewise a pragmatist: “It will take time to change that situation and involve action at a local and national government level. But, in the meantime, the letting market exists. 5 “People have sunk money into houses, then can’t afford to let them on a long-term basis. And with short-term lets now the money is leaving the islands, and often leaving the UK. Our goal is to use the current market to generate revenue which can be used to the benefit of our communities, particularly in relation to affordable housing and long-term rental options for residents.” 6 Meek admits she was nervous about floating the idea, given how controversial the subject has become, but says that so far the idea has “struck a chord” with islanders. She has also sought input from housing groups across the islands, and from younger residents, “to make sure we’re not working at cross purposes”. On South Uist last month, for example, a house was for sale to islanders or first-time buyers only following a spike in second-home ownership as remote working during the pandemic made the islands an option for city-dwellers who were able to pay more. 7 Yvonne Murray, originally from Lewis but now working in Worcestershire, is keen to sign up after buying a small cottage on Harris earlier this year. “I could see the property prices on the islands going up and up after lockdown, and as a first-time buyer, I didn’t want to miss the boat,” she explains. “As a young person, I want to live and work in the islands, but until the internet connectivity is good enough it’s just not possible”. 8 She currently uses Airbnb to rent both her new property and her father’s house on Lewis – he moves out to a caravan behind the garage in peak summer season to supplement his pension. The new platform will be “totally invaluable”, Murray believes. “The commission is going back into the community, and I’m behind any young upstart company challenging the big boys.” 9 Last year, analysis by the ‘Guardian’ showed that Airbnb has become so prevalent in Great Britain that some parts of the country now have one listing for every four properties, fuelling concern that the rapid expansion in short-term lets is out of control and depriving local residents of much-needed homes. 10 Identifying hotspots in both rural areas and inner-city neighbourhoods, across England, Scotland, and Wales, the analysis found the highest incidence of Airbnbs was in Edinburgh Old Town, where there were 29 active listings for every 100 properties, while the north-west of Skye had the second-highest concentration, at 25 listings per 100 properties. At the time, Airbnb responded that the findings are based on “unreliable scraped data and flawed methodology”. 11 Responding to what many in the Highlands and Islands frame as a crisis, last month the Scottish government set out legislation requiring all local authorities to establish a short-term lets licensing scheme by October 2022, after residents across Scotland raised significant concerns about the impact of short-term lets, including noise, antisocial behaviour, and the impact on the supply of housing. … © 2021 Guardian News and Media Ltd 0 – 1 SECOND HOME Zweitwohnung — housing Wohnraum; s.w.u. Wohnungsbau — to take s.o. on es mit jdm. aufnehmen — giant “"dZaI´nt‘ Gigant — to keep hold of s.th. etw. erhalten — tourist revenue “"revenju…‘ Einnahmen aus dem Tourismus 2 – 3 holiday letting Ferienunterkunft — to pose darstellen — proliferation “pr´ÆlIf´r"eIS´n‘ Ausbreitung — short-term let Unterkunft zur kurzfristigen Vermietung; s.w.u. to let vermieten — commission-based auf Provision basierend 4 – 5 sustainable “s´"steIn´b´l‘ tragfähig — to keep s.o. in s.th. jdn. mit etw. versorgen — care staff Pflegepersonal — likewise auch — pragmatist “"prœgm´tIst‘ Pragmatiker(in) — to sink money into s.th. Geld in etw. stecken — to be used to the benefit of s.th. etw. zugute kommen — in relation to in Bezug auf 6 – 7 to float vorbringen — given in Anbetracht — to strike a chord with s.o. “kO…d‘ (fig) e-n Nerv treffen — to work at crosspurposes (fig) aneinander vorbeiarbeiten — South Uist “"ju…Ist‘ — spike starker Anstieg — remote working Telearbeit — citydweller Städter(in) — Worcestershire “"wUst´S´‘ — to sign up mitmachen — to miss the boat (fig) die Gelegenheit verpassen 8 – 9 caravan “"kœr´vœn‘ Wohnwagen — peak summer season Hochsaison — to supplement “"søplIment‘ aufbessern — invaluable “In"vœlju´b´l‘ von unschätzbarem Wert — upstart jung — big boy (fig, coll) großes Unternehmen — prevalent “"prev´l´nt‘ verbreitet — listing Angebot — to fuel schüren — to deprive s.o. of s.th. jdm. etw. vorenthalten 10 – 11 rural “"rU´r´l‘ ländlich — incidence “"InsId´ns‘ Vorkommen — to scrape zus.suchen — flawed fehlerhaft — to frame bezeichnen — to set out legislation “ÆledZI"sleIS´n‘ ein Gesetz erlassen — local authority “O…"TÅr´ti‘ Kommunalverwaltung — licensing scheme “ski…m‘ Genehmigungssystem U.K. pushes for power to cancel citizenship without notice LEGISLATION By Amy Cheng 1 BRITAIN’S Conservative government could be allowed to strip people of citizenship without giving them notice to appeal if legislation being debated in Parliament becomes law. The Nationality and Border Bill would permit the Home Secretary, Britain’s top domestic security official, to cancel citizenship without warning on national security grounds if it is not “reasonably practicable” to do. 2 The move comes months after a top British court said that Shamima Begum, the British-born “ISIS bride” who left the country as a teenager to join the Islamic State, will not be allowed to return to the United Kingdom to fight a legal case about the revocation of citizenship. 3 “Deprivation of citizenship | Photo: Ethan Wilkinson/Unsplash on conducive grounds is rightly reserved for those who pose a threat to the UK or whose conduct involves very high harm,” said the Home Office in a statement, adding that British citizenship is a “privilege” and not a right. 4 London said that the bill does not give it extra powers to remove citizenship, but legal experts have slammed the legislation for potentially creating situations where people lose their right to return home without being allowed to challenge the decision in court. “It’s not the kind of transparency in due process that you want,” said Alexander Gillespie, an international law expert at New Zealand’s University of Waikato. “You want these things to be dealt with so that the person has a chance to answer the charges against them.” 5 While international law provides rights to citizenship, governments can retract it – usually after someone has been convicted of or confessed to a serious offense like terrorism – as long as the person has a second citizenship “to fall back onto,” said Gillespie. … © 2021 The Washington Post 0 – 1 TO CANCELh.: entziehen — citizenship “"sItIz´nSIp‘ Staatsbürgerschaft — without notice ohne Ankündigung; s.w.u. to give notice vorab informieren — legislation “ÆledZI"sleIS´n‘ Recht; Gesetz — to strip s.o. of s.th. jdm. etw. entziehen — to appeal Einspruch einlegen — Home Secretary Innenminister(in) — top domestic official “´"fIS´l‘ oberste(r) Beamter(-in) für innere Sicherheit — on … grounds aus Gründen der … 2 – 3 to fight a legal case e-n Rechtsstreit führen — revocation “Ærev´"keIS´n‘; s.w.u. deprivation “ÆdeprI"veIS´n‘ Aberkennung — conducive “k´n"dju…sIv‘ triftig — rightly zu Recht — to pose darstellen — conduct “"--‘ Verhalten 4 – 5 to slam (coll) heftig kritisieren — transparency “trœn "spœr´nsi‘ — due process ordnungsgemäßes Verfahren — charge Vorwurf — to retract zurücknehmen — to convict verurteilen — to fall back onto s.th. auf etw. zurückgreifen
World and Press | February 2 2022 Britain 7 How UK voters lost faith in our leaders SOCIETY • POLITICS More people than ever before feel disaffected by our political system. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in December. | Photo: Picture Alliance By Toby Helm 1 THE 1940s and 50s are often seen as a golden era for democracy, when Britain and its allies triumphed against fascism before the postwar consensus powered the formation of the welfare state and National Health Service. In those days we had a nation broadly content with itself and its values, and almost completely unquestioning of its system of government. 2 Even in those patriotic times there was, however, a good deal of cynicism about the motivations of politicians among a significant proportion of the population. A landmark Gallup poll in 1944 found that 35% of voters believed politicians were merely “out for themselves”. But the same poll found slightly more – 36% – believed their political leaders were largely selfless people, focused primarily on advancing the interests of their country, while some 22% said they put their party first. 3 Ever since then – as we show today – there has been a gradual decline in trust in politicians across the decades, to the point where today it is close to nonexistent, raising profound questions about the health and future workability of our entire democratic system which must rely on mutual respect between elector and elected to work. 4 New polling for the IPPR think tank, which asked the same question at the end of last month as Gallup posed 77 years ago, shows that today 63% of people now believe their politicians are mainly in it for themselves. And most strikingly of all, perhaps, only 5% (one in 20) believe they are in it for their country’s best interests. … 5 “Citizens have always been cynical about their politicians,” says Professor Will Jennings of Southampton University, joint author of a new IPPR report which draws on the polling, entitled “Trust Issues: Dealing with Distrust in Politics”. The report is the first in a series from IPPR looking at this phenomenon, its causes, and how to stave off a potential resulting crisis for UK democracy. “But the latest data we have demonstrates just how far trust in politicians and their motivations has fallen. Even in recent months, it is noticeable how far it has continued to fall.” 6 The report suggests the phenomenon, in a post-Brexit UK struggling to re-establish new economic and diplomatic alliances, as well as deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, has huge implications for society and the way we are governed. 7 “If low levels of trust reflected a healthy scepticism on the part of citizens that fuelled democratic accountability, there may not be particular cause for concern,” it says. “What is cause for concern, however, is if scepticism turns into cynicism, or distrust, and generalised perceptions of politicians are negative enough to drive disengagement with democracy or actions and attitudes that are corrosive against its foundations.” 8 Brexit and COVID have themselves influenced and shifted levels of trust in politicians and the democratic system in profound but different ways, the report shows. Using data from the British Election Study, the academics and researchers behind the report found that the type of voters associated with the Remain side tended to be more trusting in their politics and politicians before Brexit, and those associated with Leave much less so. But by the time the UK had finally left the EU, this had reversed. This suggests that Remainers felt let down by the system which delivered Brexit, while many Leavers felt it showed their voices had been heard, though at times they feared Brexit would not be delivered as promised. 9 “There is robust evidence to suggest that, in the period leading up to the EU referendum of 2016, and in its aftermath, Brexit identities conditioned trust in politics and politicians,” the report says. “Looking back to 2014, panel data from the BES shows that wouldbe Remain voters were around ten percentage points more trusting than would-be Leave voters – but, by June 2020, this pattern had been inverted, with Remain voters ten percentage points less trusting than Leave voters.” … Statue of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in London. | Photo: Arthur Osipyan/ Unsplash 10 The report also finds that people in England trust their politicians less the further they live from Westminster, which may strengthen the case for more devolution of power to local levels. Faith in politics and politicians also varies among those with different levels of education, the study found. Those with GCSElevel qualifications or below consistently report lower levels of trust than those with higher education qualifications. However, as with the shift in faith among Remainers and Leavers, this trend reversed in 2019 when universityeducated respondents reported lower trust levels than those with fewer qualifications for the first time. … 11 Unless there is action to reverse the decline of trust, the report warns that there could be a “downward spiral of trust” in which government performs worse, resulting in further declines as the economy underperforms, weakening public services, and widening inequalities. All this could, in turn, lead to a rise in populism, more polarisation, and more scandals and corruption. © 2021 Guardian News and Media Ltd B2 – C2 Abiturthema: Internationale Beziehungen Gr0ßbritannien – EU Special World and Press Brexit ¤ 14,90 [D] ISBN 978-3-7961-1068-9 www.sprachzeitungen.de 0 – 1 DISAFFECTED“ÆdIs´"fektId‘ unzufrieden — allies “"œlaIz‘ Verbündete — fascism “"fœSIz´m‘ Faschismus — postwar Nachkriegs- — formation Bildung — welfare state Wohlfahrtsstaat — broadly weitgehend — to be unquestioning of s.th. etw. nicht infrage stellen 2 – 3 cynicism “"sInIsIz´m‘ Zynismus; s.w.u. cynical zynisch — proportion “pr´"pO…S´n‘ Teil — landmark wichtig — poll “p´Ul‘; s.w.u. polling Umfrage — to be out for o.s.; s.w.u. to be in it for o.s. nur auf s. selbst bedacht sein — to advance s.th. etw. voranbringen — to put s.th. first etw. an erste Stelle setzen — profound “pr´"faUnd‘ tiefgreifend — workability “w‰…k´"bIlIti‘ Funktionsfähigkeit — mutual “"mju…tSu´l‘ gegenseitig — elector Wähler(in) 4 – 5 to pose a question e-e Frage stellen — strikingly bemerkenswert — to be in it for the best interests of s.th. im Interesse e-r S. handeln — joint author Co-Autor(in) — to draw on s.th. s. auf etw. stützen — distrust Misstrauen — phenomenon “fI"nÅmIn´n‘ Phänomen — to stave off abwenden — noticeable “"n´UtIs´b´l‘ erkennbar 6 – 7 implications Folgen — scepticism “"skeptIsIz´m‘ Skepsis — on the part of vonseiten — to fuel verstärken — accountability “´ÆkaUnt´"bIl´ti‘ Verantwortlichkeit; Rechenschaftspflicht — perception “p´"sepS´n‘ Wahrnehmung — disengagement “ÆdIsIn"geIdZm´nt‘ Abkehr — to be corrosive against s.th. “k´"r´UsIv‘ etw. zerstören — foundations Grundfesten 8 – 9 to shift verändern; s.w.u. shift Verlagerung — Remain side Brexit-Gegner — to tend to be tendenziell sein — to reverse “rI"v‰…s‘ s. umkehren — to feel let down enttäuscht sein — robust “r´U"bøst‘ stichhaltig — leading up to vor — in its aftermath danach — to condition bedingen — panel data Paneldaten — would-be potenziell — to invert “In"v‰…t‘ umkehren 10 – 11 to strengthen the case for s.th. “"streNT´n‘ für etw. sprechen — devolution of power “Ædi…v´"lu…S´n‘ Machtübertragung — GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education mittlerer Schulabschluss — consistently “k´n"sIst´ntli‘ durchweg — respondent “rI"spÅnd´nt‘ Befragte(r) — downward spiral “"spaI´r´l‘ Abwärtsspirale — to underperform hinter den Erwartungen zurückbleiben — public services öffentl. Dienstleistungen — inequality “ÆInI"kwÅl´ti‘ Ungleichheit — in turn wiederum
