Rupert Murdoch does not of course write the Times Editorials. He does however own the paper and is reputed to taken an interest in the political line it takes. The Times did not back Starmer for PM in 2024 (The S*n did) but its Editorial (17th June 2026) describes Wes Streeting’s policies as ‘by and large sensible.
Whether this is support Streeting wants we can’t be sure but he did write an OpEd for the paper outlining the policies..
Ambridge Socialist
18th June
The Labour leadership crisis is, one senior party figure observed to me recently, in danger of turning into a political version of The Archers – endless plot twists, a confusing cast of characters and no conclusion. That soap opera is now coming to an end with the expected return of Andy Burnham to parliament. One way or another the drama will have to be resolved.
Rachel Sylvester, The Observer, 18th June 2026
If Makerfield is coming to Ambridge the key issue is, who is Eddie Grundy voting for? And is it known if Andy Burnham listens to the Archers?
Beard Liberation Front
17th June
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that England Men’s Football Captain Harry Kane will lead the Beard of Summer list when it is announced next week as part of National Beard Week.
As part of England’s opening World Cup game against Croatia, Kane scored a penalty, a second goal from open play and blocked a Croatian attempt on goal in added time.
The campaigners say that Harry Kane’s Beard Power has long been a significant factor in England football. It provides leadership and most importantly helps Kane’s goal scoring record.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, with Harry Kane’s Beard Power England could go far in the 2026 World Cup
Notes
National Beard Week runs from 22-27 June 2026. The Beard of Summer is announced on 27th June
Carlo Ginzburg (1939-2026). Pioneer of micro-history & history from below
The Italian historian Carlo Ginzburg has died on 17th June 2026 at age 87.
He was a pioneer of micro history and something with which it is often associated history from below.
Arguably his most influential work was Cheese and the Worms (1976). It was not an historical investigation into cheese! Rather Ginzburg explored Court records of someone who was regarded as a religious heretic, Menocchio, he was eventually burnt at the stake.
Menocchio, Domenica Scandello, was a miller.
As Ginzburg’s Wiki notes, from the introduction to the Cheese and the Worms, he sought to focus on “the persecuted and the vanquished”, traditionally ignored by historians, the subject of his research was a choice that he had made long before he wrote the book, but , the choice was strengthened by “the radical political climate of the 1970s”.
Ginzburg was rightly concerned that while the lives of the rich and famous were often well recorded, the lives of the subaltern classes, in this case peasants, had little history. The Cheese and the Worms is based on Court records of Menocchio’s trial. Ginzburg however was clear that these records represented the words and views of his subject as mediated through the perspectives of authority.
Even so he had shown that it was possible to know a lot more about the lives of those who previously had gone unrecorded and unnoticed.
Ginzburg’s micro-history is not the same as history from below or E P Thompson’s focus on detailed history, looking for full historical accounts of those who decidedly were not the powerful in society.
Ginzburg’s legacy lies of course in his own historical works but also in the way he approached doing history which helped to inspire and inform generations of researchers. As a result we know more about the history of the have nots in society to balance the much heralded histories of the haves.
Guardian Editorial
When Trump’s ghost written book The Art of the Deal was published he was not yet familiar with the genocidal maniac Benjamin Netanyahu. Perhaps an updated edition is due.
England play the opening match of the 2026 Men’s Football World Cup on 17th June.
Keir Starmer has issued some encouraging words, no doubt aware of historical precedent
The only time England have won the World Cup was in 1966 just months after Harold Wilson had led Labour to a 97 seat majority in the March Election of that year, Wilson noted:
Have you noticed how we only win the World Cup under a Labour government”
He may well have got the line from comedian Mike Yarwood
Wilson was also privately, and correctly, concerned about the impact England’s failure in the 1970 World Cup would have on Labour’s chances in the June General Election of that year. Labour lost.
Mark Perryman has written about 1966 and now on Facebook (the image comes from Philosophy Football). He makes the point that while at Wembley in 1966 the flags were mainly Union Jacks, in reality it was England. Scotland are at the 2026 World Cup while the Northern Ireland and Wales teams didn’t quite make it.
In recent times the St George’s flag has been associated with the far and fascist right and the debate about whether the left can win it back or appropriate it continues.
That said and as Perryman notes the England team who take the field this week is the most multi-ethnic ever and the manager is a German. Also the captain has a beard.
Revisiting 1966 we might note a different England but also question if we really have a Labour Government…
From the Suffragettes to Palestine protests..The Court of Appeal gets the history wrong
The Court of Appeal has upheld the ban on Palestine Action originally introduced by Yvette Cooper when she was Home Secretary. In the judgement the view was expressed that the direct action tactics of Palestine Action could not be compared with those of the Suffragettes.
Historically this was not the case
Below is an extract from a BBC report from 2024 about how a section (not all) of the Suffragettes carried out a campaign of direct action to get votes for women before 1914 (the vote for women was implemented in 1918 and 1928- the tactics worked)
In March 1912 she and fellow members, armed with hammers, participated in a window-smashing campaign in London – and she was jailed for two months. In July 1912, following the arrest of the group’s leader, the suffragettes turned to arson. Lenton and Olive Wharry conducted a series of arson attacks, and were arrested. The arson attacks were initially extremely high-risk for the activists, though they were careful never to put the public at risk. “We only just got out in time on one occasion,” said Lenton.
This is a headline point. I will post further on the Suffragettes and direct action. Research has been done but the context and particularly the links or otherwise between the mainstream Suffragette leadership and those who participated in direct action requires careful investigation.
Beard Liberation Front
17th June
Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett keithbeard@bsky.social
Beard Liberation Front renews call on Brendan McCullum to shave his beard off
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has renewed its call for England Men’s cricket supremo Brendan McCullum to shave his beard off as the second men’s Test Match summer gets underway at the Oval on 17th June.
The campaigners say that while McCullum’s beard was a distinctive part of Bazball, in more recent times it has become associated with poor performances by the England side and post the Lords Test a concerning issue around the culture of the team.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, as things currently stand Brendan McCullum’s beard is bringing English and Welsh Men’s Cricket into disrepute. A clean shave might help England towards a razor sharp performance.
The G7 summit of world ‘leaders’ has been taking place at Evian in France.
Of course the camera can lie but this photograph does suggest that Trump is the kind of person who is always in the kitchen at parties
cricket was saved and its future made secure by the vast apparatus of commercial sponsorship that turning part of the game into big-time tip-and-run made possible. The penalties in accepting the new order- a deterioration in every part of the game.
Endpiece The Listener. Hattersley wrote these pieces for the now defunct BBC Magazine between 1979 and 1982 when it transferred to The Guardian. He was a Yorkshire cricket supporter.
The short form competitions he had in mind were the Gillete Cup(1963-1980, 60 overs a side) and the John Player League (1969-1980, 40 overs a side, 2-7pm on a Sunday afternoon)
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