Kmflett's Blog

Blair: still not learning the lessons of Iraq 2003

The Guardian has reported remarks that Tony Blair made at a lunch on Friday to the effect that Britain should always support the US’s imperial ambitions come what may. That is exactly what he did with Iraq in 2003 (a war Keir Starmer opposed). He seems to have either forgotten or still prefers to ignore the outcome of the lengthy Chilcott Inquiry which reported in 2016. It found that there had been major issues with Blair’s position.

Given that US planes are in fact using UK bases both in England and the Middle East to prosecute Trump’s war with Iran it might queried what the issue is.

In reality Trump and Netanyahu (who has disappeared from view) has very few supporters for his Iran adventure and clearly thought strapping the UK to a warplane would help. There is a partial parallel with Harold Wilson’s position on the Vietnam War. He supported the US but declined efforts by President Johnson to get him to commit British troops. Like Starmer he did allow the US to use British military bases.

Blair is still not learning from the history of the Iraq War and clearly does not want to. Starmer appears mindful of it, or has been reminded of it. Protests will need to keep reminding him

Guardian 8^th March

At a private lunch event on Friday, the former Labour prime minister said Keir Starmer “should have backed America from the very beginning” and let the Trump administration use British airbases, adding: “If they are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security … you had better show up when they want you to.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/08/yvette-cooper-rejects-tony-blair-call-for-uk-to-have-backed-trump-strikes-on-iran?CMP=share_btn_url

The Ambridge Socialist

8^th March

International Women’s Day. Is Helen heading for a happy ending?

Helen is pondering the future. She has turned down an offer to run a new organic creamery owned by a rock star and has put a bid in for a new house. At the same time there is Finlay and the croft… Helen’s liberation is at stake

Grundys at War and the Young Ones

Amber has had a scan and new Grundy is on the way. A cause for celebration but Eddie and Will are struggling. The Ambridge Socialist’s sympathies are with Eddie more than forelock tugger Will. However a truth and reconciliation session seems to have worked.

Ruairi

Alice is feeling sympathetic for Ruairi which is rather better than Brian managed. However he plans to remain at Blossom Hill Cottage for the moment pondering the times and his crimes

In Other News

Joe Grundy’s favourite biscuit has been revealed: Garibaldi

Great news: the Cider Club is re-opening

Allister Heath is the Editor of the Sunday Telegraph. The random headline generator produced by New World is usually close to Heath’s own random thoughts…

Brewdog UK was sold to US company Tilray on 2nd March. 484 workers were sacked on the spot and 38 bars closed.

The CEO of Tilray Dwight Simon has held a briefing for US business analysts

He said there were plans to re-open four of the bars on a franchise basis (Brewdog has a number of franchised bars which remain open) and was interested in attracting franchisers. There were also plans for a new bar at Heathrow Airport.

The Brewdog distillery whose closure was announced recently is set to reopen

Simon noted that while Brewdog had the capacity to brew 2 million barrels it was running at 670,000 barrels in 2024. He saw room to brew Tilray’s US brands such as Shock Top and Sweetwater at Ellon.

Tilray bought Brewdog for a cut price £33m after it went into administration. Private Equity stakeholder TSG got no return

CEO James Taylor and Chief Operating Officer Lauren Carroll continue to be employed to lead a growth plan

Away from the CEO talk a US analyst noted that it remained to be seen how Tilray fares with a ‘damaged brand and a downtrodden workforce’….

Beard Liberation Front

7th March

Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social

British Pie Week: No Twits! Steak & Ale voted the most Beard Friendly Pie

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has issued advice on pie eating and Beard Friendly Pies as part of British Pie Week 2025 which runs from March 2nd to March 8^th.

In an on-line poll Steak & Ale triumphed over butter or cheese & onion pie to be  voted the most Beard Friendly Pie of the Year.

The hirsute campaign group say that as with many prepared foods the requirements of people with beards are often overlooked when it comes to pies.

The BLF says that common issues with pies for those with beards are:

Excessive gravy

Puff or flaky pastry

‘Deep filling’ making it difficult to avoid contact of the pie with the beard

The campaigners cite the traditional steak and kidney pie as an example of pies which are made without thought for the requirements of the hirsute pie consumer. Such pies often have excessive gravy- and comparatively little steak and kidney- which ends up in the beard.

The campaigners say that the hirsute should choose their pies with care to ensure that they enjoy a traditional eating experience without beard pollution

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, no self-respecting beard wearer wants the remains of their lunch or dinner in their beard so once again as part of British Pie Week we are promoting the Beard Friendly Pie.  The hirsute are fed up with pies that, pace the Twits, leave as much in the beard as goes in the mouth.

He added, Steak and Ale pie fulfils our Beard Friendly Pie criteria, with the ale provided a richer and less runny consistency to the pie than gravy.

Scottish craft brewer Innis and Gunn has been bought out of administration by C&C who own Tennents lager.

As a result the brewery and three taps will be closed with a loss of 105 jobs. C&C already owned 8.8% of Innis and Gunn and the company had contract brewed there.

It comes at the end of a grim week for Scottish brewing with Brewdog bought by US company Tilray on Monday with 484 job losses across the UK.

C&C were named as one of the bidders for Brewdog and it appears had capital for acquistions.

The move further raises the question about why the Scottish Government does not intervene in such cases to preserve both jobs and Scottish craft brewing

More than 100 jobs go as brewer Innis & Gunn is bought by Tennent’s owner – BBC News

Brewdog. After the sale to Tilray: results and prospects

The US firm Tilray bought Brewdog’s brewery, brand name and 11 pubs on 2^nd March. 484 people were sacked on the spot and Unite the Union is on the case.

The first issue Tilray has is that the sackings will mean a significant amount of reputational damage to Brewdog which has already suffered a large amount in the last five years.

Tilray’s CEO Dwight Simon did a video call for investors after the sale. He noted that while the Ellon brewery has capacity to brew 2.4m hectolitres its currently producing a third of that, 800,000 hectolitres.

That means there is plenty of space for the US craft brands that Tilray has hoovered up over the last few years to be brewed in Ellon for the European market.

In phrases that trip off the tongue of pretty much every CEO Simon noted that there was ‘lots of cost to be taken out’ of Brewdog and Tilray would be looking for ‘efficiencies’.

This means primarily job cuts. 733 workers were TUPEd (transfer of undertakings, protection of engagements) to Tilray. That protects their jobs and terms and conditions on day one, but not thereafter. At that point a variety of reasons can be given for job cuts known as ETO (economic, technical, organisational).

Given that Simon said Tilray did not know they had been successful until March 1^st they won’t have had time to work out what level of workforce they need at Ellon. Any brewery worker not yet member of Unite would be well advised to join.

The Guardian (6th March) is reporting the below.

Whether it is actually true is another matter. Farage has a history of claiming that he is meeting Trump only to be found wandering around in a location where Trump is, but actually nowhere near him.

That said it does fit with Trump’s agenda to build relations with the European far right. After he has finished appointing the new leader of Iran perhaps he will appoint Farage as King.

Nigel Farage to discuss Chagos Islands deal at Mar-a-Lago dinner with Donald Trump tonight

In the latest example of Nigel Farage doing absolutely anything rather than spend time in his Clacton constituency, the Reform UK leader is to meet Donald Trump for dinner at Mar-a-Lago tonight, where he says he will discuss the Chagos Islands deal.

Attending a ‘Save Chagos Boat Party’ yesterday, Farage said he would be flying to Florida to dine with the US president on Friday, GB News reported

I was there on 30th April 1978 in Victoria Park and I’ll be there again on March 28th 2026, Park Lane, Noon, on this occasion.

I joined a TUC London and South East Region virtual mobilising meeting on 5th March and its clear that the big general unions UNISON, UNITE, GMB are doing serious work to get people there. There are lots of coaches booked from around the UK but more are needed.

In the face of Farage the cry on 28th March needs to go out: Whose Streets? Our Streets…. and then build from there

This of course is a random headline generator produced by the New World. Allister Heath is the Editor of the Sunday Telegraph and to be honest its often difficult to spot the difference between what he actually writes and the random.

I live in Tottenham a few minutes walk from the ground and I’m a lifelong fan.

That won’t be changing and relegation is as yet not certain. However its being coming for a while. In fact in recent years I’ve tended to check not how many points Spurs might be away from the top of the Premiership but rather if they have accrued enough to avoid the drop. In 2026 so far they certainly have not.

Relegation will be a blow to the businesses on Tottenham High Rd that rely at least in part on Match Day crowds and the people employed by them. How much it will really bother ENIC (the current owners of Spurs) I’m less sure. There will be less games in 2026/7 come what may, which means more availability for the Stadium for gigs, boxing, NFL etc etc….

Anyway it’s only a game.