Kmflett's Blog

Below is the new Green MP Hannah Spencer’s maiden speech in the Commons made as part of the International Women’s debate on 12th March.

At the moment the Green Party is tacking left and the speech is a powerful reminder of the space there is for such a politics in Britain. As David Blunkett asked after Spencer’s election victory, why isn’t she in the Labour Party. Perhaps because as Dylan sang Things Have Changed

There were many other great contributions to the debate:

International Women’s Day – Hansard – UK Parliament

Four weeks ago today, I was in college, a plumber learning how to plaster, and today I am in Parliament as an MP. Being here is the honour of my life, but I do not want this to be unusual or exceptional. I truly believe that anyone doing a job like mine should get a seat on these Benches.

Where I am from, we are taught to look after each other, to look out for each other, to stick up for each other and to stick together—to see each other as human. I am so proud of that humanity and that people in Gorton, Denton, Burnage, Levenshulme, Longsight and Abbey Hey feel that way too. It is in our blood and in our bones—we see each other as human.

Where I am from, we give a nod to the statue of Emmeline Pankhurst. We remember the farm worker and seamstress Hannah Mitchell, the trade unionist Mary Quaile and the mill worker Annie Kenney—and, of course, Elsie Plant, who is from just down the road from me and who I named one of my beautiful greyhounds after. I think of these brilliant women a lot, and especially today as we debate International Women’s Day.

I think of many others, too, from pits, slums and factories; the women who changed the system so that I could be here; the women of colour whose names we will never know because history did not bother to recognise or remember them. But we do today, because without their struggle, their fight and their determination to stick together, none of this could be possible. It is bittersweet to recognise these brilliant people but to be reminded that we still need to try to be them.

The constituency that elected me is the 15th most deprived in the country. It has suffered decades of neglect and broken promises. We see that every day right in front of us, in the litter and fly-tipping, the state of housing, the struggle for a job you can build a life on, the filthy and polluted air, and the reduced life chances—the sheer unfairness of it all.

My constituency has been hit hard by the ongoing cost of living crisis. None of this is fair, none of it is right and none of it happens by accident. So I very much share my predecessor’s strong commitment to tackling health inequalities and putting local people and all our communities at the heart of decision making. That is how we begin to turn things around, to give people agency and a genuine chance of a better today and a better tomorrow.

To the girls I saw photos of, going to school on International Women’s Day dressed as Hannah the Plumber, with their overalls and spanners, and the trademark hair. To the 10-year-old boy at HideOut who rock-climbed an incredibly high wall with me, saw me become suddenly very terrified of how far up I was, and said, “Don’t ever give up. And if it’s scary looking down then just look at what’s in front of you.”

To the women in my life who have had my back and fought for equality alongside me. To the men I work with—especially the lads on my plastering course, who dealt very well with my new-found spotlight in the middle of our training. To those men who will suffer the effects of this unequal society through their mental health. To the veterans I know who were willing to risk everything, and came home and found that society was turning its back on them.

To the white working classes, who are always lumped into one group and never appreciated. To everyone who will have nowhere to sleep tonight, or will barely exist in a cold, damp and insecure home. To my trans siblings who get blamed for everything. To the Muslims everywhere, who are constantly, and often violently, scapegoated. To the disabled people who cannot access the world because of structural inequality that is completely fixable. To the people of colour, who have to work harder at everything.

I do not always get it, and I will not say that I always understand it, but what I do know is what it feels like to be looked down on, to be let down and left behind, to be less worthy because of something about me. Our struggles may be different, but our humanity is the same. We always stick together, we always fight for each other, and that is what I want us to take forward from International Women’s Day, and to do that every single day.

The cleaners, bus drivers, nursery workers, foster carers, home carers, unpaid carers, teaching assistants, bin collectors, warehouse workers, delivery drivers, school dinner staff, lollipop wardens, supermarket workers, posties, library staff, kitchen porters, farm workers, mechanics, ground workers, scaffolders, electricians, plasterers and plumbers—we deserve to be here; every single one of us. And I will make space for you to come and join me, to get to have your say.

From the bustle of Longsight market, the many Irish pubs in Levy, Sue’s chippy, and Tony at California Wines in Gorton, to the amazing young people at HideOut, the best hash brown butty at Cafe Plus in Denton, and the women-led social enterprise at Dahlia Café on Burnage Lane—you are the best of our brilliant communities. I want to put Gorton and Denton on the map by championing the positives about our community: the spirit, the warmth, the grit, and the way we help each other out every single day. Whether it is our neighbours where we live, or our siblings in places like Afghanistan, Gaza, Sudan and Iran—wherever we are, we deserve to live freely as the human beings that we all are.

We do things differently in Manchester, and it makes me proud every single day. Now I want to make Abbey Hey, Levenshulme, Burnage, Longsight, Gorton and Denton proud of me. Thank you so much for putting your faith in this plumber and newly qualified plasterer. Together, we can make hope normal again, and we will look after each other, whoever we are, because where I am from, that is just what we do.

Nigel Farage who divides his time between Mar A Lago and the Chagos Islands these days has been fulminating about a new series of Bank Notes (issue some way off) which will replace the current series of historical figures such as Churchill which were introduced in 2016.

A public vote in 2025 saw wildlife pictures on Bank Notes as being the most popular. Farage has never heard of it

A further consultation is due to determine what precise pictures will be used. Farage hasn’t heard of this either

Farage seems obsessed with what he has dreamt up of a £5 bank note featuring a Beaver. On a social media clip he says he is ‘not making it up’ but as often he is.

However after an absence of hundreds of years beavers are gradually being introduced again to waterways.

One notable spot is Ambridge where the Rewilding Project has seen beavers in the Am again.

Is Farage really launching a culture war on the Archers?

Details

Bank of England

The US buyer of Brewdog Tilray who paid £33m on March 2nd in what the FT described as a cut-price deal admitted it had only 24 hours notice that its bid had been successful. Clearly they knew by the price that things were bad but it appears they may have been even worse than thought.

The Telegraph (11th March) quote the Tilray CEO Dwight Simon to the effect that there was no money available to pay the remaining 733 workers. It appears Tilray have done so. There was also no money to pay suppliers which the Telegraph reports has now also been done. That might well be more complex than paying the workers, since there is the issue of the 38 shut bars.

On-line sales which were suspended before the sale remain suspended.

Lords cricket ground which had signed a four year deal in late 2024 with Brewdog to supply the ground with beer announced on 11th March that it had operated a break clause in the contract thanks to there being a new owner.

Another US bar, Atalanta, appears to have closed.

On the plus side (always look on the bright side etc) Tilray have completed the acquisition of Brewdog Australia, brewery and pubs. It is reportedly profitable and there were no job losses.

Any remaining Brewdog workers who are not yet members of Unite the Union would be well advised to join.

Government papers released on 11th March 2026 revealed that when Peter Mandelson was dropped as US Ambassador in 2025 he demand a pay off of over £500,000 representing the remainder of his 4 year contact. In reality, as a civil servant he was paid his notice of three months and an additional payment as part of a settlement agreement. The terms would have prevented Mandelson from pursuing a claim for unfair dismissal at an Employment Tribunal, although since he had not done the two years service to qualify any claim would have needed to be creative. Ed Davey was right to suggest that Mandelson should pay that sum to a charity. Kemi Badenoch displays an expected ignorance of employment law by suggesting he should not have received it at all.

However the whole matter brings to mind again the view Tony Benn formed of Mandelson thirty years ago. He recorded an assessment, which was made in a comment to the then Labour MP for Bishop Auckland, Derek Foster, in his Diary on 6th December 1996 just months before Labour won a landslide victory in the May 1997 Election.

Benn said ‘I think he is really a bad influence

It underlines again that Benn and others on the left had the measure of Mandelson 30 years ago, while Blair and later Starmer did not or in the latter case simply wasnt bothered.

The MCC has announced that its 4 year contract with Brewdog as official beer partner and beer supplier to the ground as been terminated after just a year. It appears that following the sale of Brewdog to Tilray on 2nd March, the MCC have operated a clause in the contract that allowed them to end it if ownership changed.

The MCC statement makes clear that they are uncertain as to whether the new owners of Brewdog would continue the arrangement to sell beer at Lords.

While the value of the contract has not been disclosed it will have been significant given that Lords has a capacity of over 30,000 and is invariably full for a range of international matches including five day Tests during the summer.

The MCC have reassured members that real ale will continue to be supplied by Adnams and Thornbridge in the Pavilion where members have safeguarded cask beer even in the days when the public bars sold Watneys.

The MCC say they are now looking for a new provider. Marstons previously held the contract but no longer brews having sold its brewing operations to Carlsberg. Its not clear if Carlsberg understand the Laws of Cricket.

Time will be tight as the first 2026 Championship match at Lords, Middlesex v Gloucestershire is on 3rd April.

The international season starts in June 2026 and includes the first ever Women’s Test to be played at Lords.

Peterloo in 1819

London Socialist Historians Group

11^th March 2026

Contact LSHG Convenor Keith Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social

Historians say the right to protest has been hard won & must be protected

The London Socialist Historians Group, the long established group of research historians, has said there are serious concerns about the Home Secretary’s decision to ban the annual Al Quds march on Sunday.

While the march has a focus on Palestine it’s also one of support for the current Iranian Government. It has not previously been banned over 40 years and a ban now looks at best like a degree of acceptance of Trump’s war on Iran.

However while these questions can be debated there are wider issues

There remains an urgent need to protect the right to protest from an ever more authoritarian Government. As the Metropolitan Police have reminded us there is no actual right to march. The ability to do so can only be protected in practice.

The lobby to ban marches remain active and it is notable that Lord Walney has again supported a ban on the Al Quds march. He unveiled a long delayed report on protest commissioned by the previous Tory Government at the House of Commons in 2024 which was chaired by Lord Mandelson.

The historians say there is a long history of fighting for and defending the right to protest

After Peterloo in Manchester on 16th August 1819 where a demonstration for the vote was broken up by soldiers with many protesters left dead and injured Governments have tended to the view that allowing democratic protest is better than provoking confrontation. However that has never been a settled view and from time to time demonstrations have been banned.

On 6th May 1867 a mass protest for the vote in Hyde Park was banned and the Government called in troops. However the demonstration was so large that they were overwhelmed. The Home Secretary Walpole resigned and a Second Reform Act extending the Suffrage was passed.

Socialist Historians Convenor Dr Keith Flett, there is a lot of very recently invented history being used here on why one particular march must be banned while in the recent past fascist marches in central London which have ended in street violence have been permitted. The right to protest requires continued vigilance and exercise against authoritarian Governments whether Tory or Labour.

If only… this of course is a random headline generator for the Sunday Telegraph Editor Allister Heath. Its usually close to his actual headlines

Nigel Farage in a move for the few rather than the many has invested £2.15m in a BitCoin company chaired by Kwasi Karteng.

He is following in the footsteps of his erstwhile friend Donald Trump who did issue his own memecoin token. It was originally valued at $75 a unit but is now worth less than $3.

The Times (10th March) reports that the value of Bitcoin has fallen by 40% in the last six months.

As ever with Farage financial advice is important

Country Joe McDonald who has died at 84 warrants the lead obituary in The Times on 10th March, a badge of honour indeed.

Times Obituaries of people on the left tend to have the occasional bit of snark so whether its correct that Country Joe was named after Stalin or that the name of his band the Fish was taken from a Mao quote I’ll note without taking as the whole truth.

Even so as the obituary notes while Country Joe was famous due to Woodstock he kept going on the left through the decades, not selling out his politics to fame or fortune. From the standpoint of 2026 his personal politics might perhaps be questioned but hindsight should not replace historical understanding.

Brewdog Dalston, N16

Drinking in North-East London Brewdog bars. A Memoir

Brewdog has been sold to US Company Tilray and just 11 directly owned bars remain in the UK, with a few other franchises such as Belfast and Hull.

Back in the day (that is pre-COVID) Brewdog had ideas of expanding its pub estate in north-east London. That is Hackney and Islington. Haringey and Tottenham appeared a step too far even though the area had played a significant part in the post-2010 craft beer boom in London.

While I rarely ventured into a Brewdog pub in recent times for hopefully obvious reasons before 2020 things looked a bit different.

Brewdog had worked out rightly that north-east London had a considerable number of craft beer drinkers who would obviously be interested in its beers. That led to the opening (and eventual closing) of three pubs.

Perhaps the most well known was Brewdog Dalston (closed 2022). There is already a lot of nightlife in the area (a good thing but clearly those with kids and those who need to be up early have different perspectives) and Hackney Council were not keen. It was claimed that the bar would cause too much ‘excitement’. Licensing battles followed which Brewdog won and the two story bar (ground and basement) duly opened. I certainly frequented it a few times. The beer range was ok and it wasn’t usually that busy. I recall the bar staff addressing me as ‘sir’ a title which I do not have. Comrade would have been ok. Latterly it became the first vegan Brewdog. Anyway there are outlets for good beer in the area (one more or less opposite in fact) and eventually it closed.

Then there was briefly the pub on Homerton High St(closed 2017). Quite a small location but surely given the area a great location for a Brewdog. For comparison Zack Polanski’s local the Spreadeagle is a few minutes’ walk away. Again it didn’t really work. The beer range was limited and there are much better pubs in the vicinity. Opening hours and days started to be reduced and then it shut.

Finally there was the Brewdog on Essex Rd in Islington near Islington Green(closed 2019). Arguably the location was not great. Upper St which runs parallel is really the place for hospitality. Again there were licensing wrangles. To be honest I’m not sure exactly what the licensing conditions ended up being but then I only stopped for an occasional beer on my way from central London to Tottenham (476 bus). Again it was not a big space. I think you were meant to have food with beer and it didn’t open late. It shut and re-opened several times before Brewdog eventually gave up.

The above is a reminder that while it might be thought that Brewdog was on the beer and pubs zeitgeist before 2020 even then its grasp of the market was limited. Lots of time and money spent on legal battles led to ultimately nothing except losses. I wouldn’t entirely be surprised to find that Brewdog still have the head leases on all three locations but that’s for Tilray to ponder now.