Kmflett's Blog

Robert Jenrick the Tory MP who has defected to Reform is noted for his hard to far right views but also for his use of the weight loss drug Ozempic.

Farage noted that he had lunch with Jenrick before Christmas. Also before Christmas Jenrick had lunch with the Financial Times (their regular Saturday series)

Farage’s trademark is the Proper Fucking Lunch (PFL). This involves several pints of beer, a starter, a meat focused main course, at least one bottle of wine, and several glasses of port.

Jenrick at least at the end of November was not quite up to a PFL. There were several pints of beer, but no wine or port. Farage has been known to eat fish so the fish and chips are PFL Ok. The Sticky Toffee Pudding desert is arguably a balance to the lack of a starter.

Jenrick tells the FT that he likes eating pizza and Chinese take aways and keeps the weight down by running and boxing at an East London Club (Bethnal Green being likely)

Jenrick has work to do to reach PFL class but now he is a Reform MP he will presumably follow Farage’s example more closely

In September 2025 Jenrick’s Tory leadership campaign manager Danny Kruger defected to Reform. Now Jenrick has himself

History is not instant so what Robert Jenrick’s defection to Reform means for reconfiguration on the right, in the context of the recent and further past requires some analysis and research.

However following Eric Hobsbawm’s dictum that the left must become historians of the present as well as the past some immediate comment is possible

In September 2025 Kruger who was an opposition front bench Minister, a sign of Badenoch’s political direction, he was of course on the hard right of the Tory Party, defected to Reform. He was in the autumn of 2024 the campaign manager for Robert Jenrick’s Tory leadership bid.

That campaign failed but Jenrick has still been running it aiming to push the Tories even further right. Kruger seems to have decided that the best way to pursue it was simply to join Reform.

Now Jenrick has done the same

Kevin Maguire reported in the New Statesman that Kruger did not tell Jenrick of his plan. One might ponder if he needed to given the direction of travel that hard right Tories seem to be taking.

Meanwhile also in the New Statesman LibDem leader Ed Davey said he was talking to numbers of Tories who are defecting to the party. He claimed to be adopting the John Major approach to politics of village cricket and tepid beer. That sounds like something that would also appeal cricket and beer enthusiast Farage, but it is also another piece on the jigsaw of the reconfiguration of the right. Historically the Liberals and Tories quite frequently interchanged sections of their membership over issues like Ireland and Free Trade.

Beard Liberation Front

15th January 2026

Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett 07803 167266

Cardiff and Crewe Bars jointly named the most Beard Friendly Bars of the Year

The vote for the Beard Friendly Pub of the Year 2026 has concluded with Pop’n’Hops in Cardiff and Tom’s Tap & Brew in Crewe being declared joint winners.

The highest placed London bar was the Shirkers Rest in South London.

The campaigners say that for some years London pubs won the annual vote with some bars and pubs outside of the Capital deemed less friendly to the hirsute. In recent years things have changed and beard wearers can be found in most licensed premises.

The focus has broadened to the bar, pub, tap and bottle shop that is most welcoming to a diverse range of drinkers with a friendly environment.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, both Pop’n’Hops and Tom’s Tap are independently owned and it’s good to see the recognition in the vote that such places are at the centre of local communities welcoming to all including of course beard wearers!

Beard Friendly Pubs of the Year

Cock Tavern, Hackney

Burton Bridge Inn, Burton

Pop’n’Hops, Cardiff

Shirkers Rest, South London

The Pocket, Islington

Tom’s Tap, Crewe

Pressure Drop Tap, Tottenham

Kings Head, Bristol

Notes

Beard Friendly Pub of the Year refocused for 2026

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that the annual Beard Friendly Pub of the Year has been refocused for 2026.

Key Points

1 The vote remains about encouraging people to visit their local pub, bar or tap during January. While it notes Dry January, there are in 2026 plenty of low and no alcohol options available.

2 While the focus is on beards, in 2026 most pubs and bars at least tolerate beards. We aim to find hostelries that are welcoming to all, providing a friendly, ‘pub is the hub’ environment or what Donald Trump would call ‘Woke’

3 There will be no vote on Twitter. The platform is not a suitable location for the Beard Friendly Pub of the Year vote. People will be asked to respond on Blue Sky and Facebook

Sparks suggest problems on the far right

The timing in some ways could not be better. Programme 8 (of 12) of series 4 of The Traitors airs on Thursday evening on BBC1.

Badenoch styling herself in the role of Harriet the former QC has claimed she has evidence that Robert Jenrick was planning to defect to Reform led by long running Traitor Nigel Farage.

Of course Badenoch may have issues. Firstly Jenrick may declare himself a Faithful and as Harriet who was banished for trying to out Traitor Rachel, its not impossible that Badenoch may end up banished herself.

Meanwhile of course a potential split in the Tory Party looms that will have current and historic implications I’ll post in more serious fashion on that once matters become clearer.

The Traitors Series 4: Halfway there. On racism, police officers, Nigel Farage & Monty Python

Anyone on the left of the labour movement will be familiar with the term ‘traitor’ usually prefaced by the word ‘class’. Quite often class traitors do not see themselves as such and  are quite open about what they are up to. That’s not always the case however. The official report on which officials of what is now Unite worked with employers to blacklist union militants out of workplaces is reportedly due shortly.

The BBC1 version of Traitors is now in its fourth series and at the halfway mark- six episodes out of twelve. The Celebrity version which aired towards the end of 2025 achieved the best TV viewing figures of the year, over 15 million. Viewing figures for the current series are rather lower at 6.4 million.

There has been no shortage of media commentary. One to the point piece in the Guardian noted the early exit of most of the ethnic minority players (none were Traitors)and suggested that unconscious bias against the backdrop of an increasingly racist society is the issue. Even Nigel Farage at one of his regular pressers on 12^th January noticed the article. I’m sure he is an avid Guardian reader and even more sure that he plans to star in his own series of Celebrity Traitors https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/05/why-perilous-to-be-person-of-colour-the-traitors?CMP=share_btn_url

Barbara Ellen in the Observer (11^th Jan) points to the tweaks in the programme in particular the introduction of a Secret Traitor (Fiona, now banished) and a Faithful suggesting they could switch sides and become a Traitor (again a labour movement familiarity).

Ellen rightly in my view suggests that many of the ‘missions’ games designed to increase the prize money are boring. I think most have an element of the Monty Python about them, and further tweaks may be expected. She also argues that with this being the fourth series the players have a better idea of how things work and some at least develop ‘agency’. That is running their own agenda whether they are a Faithful or a Traitor. Rachel is a likely example.

The current series does seem to have a number of police related players. Maz who has been despatched was a former constable but seems to have recovered. Amanda who was a DCI in the Met, now banished, confided in the lead Traitor Rachel, which is very Met behaviour. Fiona noted that half her family were officers.

Watching, as a union officer representing managers and professionals, I often get the feeling that quite a few of the players might well be one of my members and perhaps that reflects in part who can afford the time to appear in the programme…

There are six episodes to go so who, as yet, knows…

Black Sheep Brewery owner files for Administration again

Keystone Drinks the private equity group that owns Black Sheep brewing in Masham has filed for administration for a second time. The move means liquidation is avoided and brewing should be continuing.

Black Sheep was founded in 1992 as a break away from Theakstons but in the 2020s ran into difficulties and was bought by Breal now Keystone.

Keystone have acquired a number of brewing brands including Magic Rock, Fourpure, Brick and Brew By Numbers and also two breweries North and Purity that are believed to be still brewing at their existing sites.

While commentary will no doubt focus on business rates, costs of employment and costs of living the issues with Keystone go much deeper. The brewing brands it has acquired while having a strong following when they were based in local communities-for example Magic Rock in Huddersfield and Brick and Brew By Numbers in South London, as brands brewed in Masham they have little real meaning.

Perhaps most significant is that Hofmeister which had a distribution deal with Keystone have pulled out and gone to Kingfisher Drinks (Heineken). They clearly have a business focused view on how matters are likely to play out.

In the meantime hopefully at least jobs can be protected as well as the core beers Black Sheep, North and Purity.

There are a lot of issues in the world currently, whether Gaza, Trump, Iraq and a lot more.

There are also a lot of issues for pubs, not least business rates.

But something that has generated much New Year discussion on the Wetherspoons ‘fans’ Meta site is jacket potatoes.

Spoons have long done jacket potatoes and have now added what they call a gourmet range. Something tells me that Masterchef the Professionals will not be featuring this any time soon, but jackets have become quite a speciality with a range of fillings and of course at a price.

Spoons prices are more restrained although why you wouldn’t just do it yourself (oven 80mins, microwave 6-8mins) at a cost of very little is a bit puzzling.

The debate however has been about whether the jacket potato in Spoons come with a side salad included or as a 99p add on option. With a new 2026 menu it has been the latter. Cue complaints. Lots of complaints. As of 14th January the side salad is once again included in the price.

A Tim Martin U-Turn

Ray Illingworth and John Snow, Sydney Test 1971. Snow took 7-40 so clearly celebrations were in order…