Kmflett's Blog

Lord Salisbury, the last British Prime Minister to wear a beard

Beard Liberation Front

12^th December

contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett: @keithbeard.bsky.social

Schockat Adam & Jeremy Corbyn in Parliamentary Beard of the Year 2025 final vote

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that it faced an unprecedented challenge in drawing up its annual shortlist for the Parliamentary Beard of the Year.

However the preliminary close shave votes for the Parliamentary Beard of 2025 have now closed. Leicester South MP Shockat Adam won the first round, with Blackpool South MP Chris Webb second. Jeremy Corbyn, Islington North MP won the second round with Middlesbrough and Thornaby MP Andy McDonald second.

Several thousand votes were cast across the two preliminary rounds

All four now go to the Beard Off Final with the result announced on 12^th December

 Votes can be cast across social media platforms, Blue Sky, Facebook and Twitter

The General Election on July 4^th 2024 saw the departure of a large number of existing MPs- mostly clean shaven Tories- and the arrival of an equally large number of Labour and LibDem MPs. Based on a liberal view of facial hair it is thought that that there are currently 106 MPs in the House of Commons with beards

The existing Parliamentary Beard of the Year holder Robin Swann remains a contender but the campaigners say they have been open to nominations for the 2025 shortlist.

The shortlist is NOT about the politics of the MPs on the list. It’s about whether their activities during the year have provided a positive image of the hirsute during the year. Obviously this can be disputed- how positive or otherwise- so the shortlist will go to a vote with the winner announced in mid-December.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, Jeremy Corbyn has won the Parliamentary Beard of the Year vote more often than any other MP. However in 2025 he will find competition is bristling for the coveted accolade

The Beard Off Final contenders

Chris Webb (Labour)

Jeremy Corbyn (Independent)

Andy McDonald (Labour)

Shockat Adam (Independent)

Private Eye

Scrooge at the British Library

Ive been a reader at the British Library since 1984 and the days of the old Round Reading Room. I won’t be stopping by this week (although my unfulfilled research agenda remains as long as ever) because library workers are out on strike (8-12 December) over a below inflation pay offer. All reading rooms are closed.

The Library doesn’t currently have a Director, the last one resigned for unexplained reasons in November, but the message below was still despatched to workers. Clearly whoever wrote is something of a fan of parts of Charles Dickens 1843 Christmas Carol

PCS press release

Last week, staff were sent an internal newsletter which promotes being “in extremely good health and spirits”. As part of its concern to maximise Christmas joy, the newsletter’s author acknowledges the extremely low wages of some staff and helpfully suggests: “Consider having a conversation with loved ones about the cost-of-living crisis and propose that you mutually skip presents this year.” Nearly 350 British Library staff, members of Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) began a second wave of strikes today (8) over a sub-inflation pay offer that was below the recommended public service improvement level.

CAMPAIGN FOR REAL SANTAS

Organised by the Beard Liberation Front

10^th December

Contact Keith Flett @keithbeard.bksy.social

Ho Ho Ho: Campaign For REAL SANTAS 2025 warns on fake beards

The Campaign for Real Santas, which promotes Santas with genuine organic beards, has launched its 2025 initiative to promote real Santas with genuine beards by warning people to be aware of absurd false bearded Santas as the busiest pre-Christmas shopping weekends are well underway.

The Campaigners say that with unemployment and under-employment amongst mature men over 50, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to use an assistant Santa who does not have a real beard.

At the same time the Campaign is also keen to encourage more female Santas with organic knitted beards.

Campaigners are urging parents and children to demand that Santas vigorously tug their beards as a definitive test as to whether they are in the presence of a real Santa or not.

CFRS organiser Keith Flett said, we launched the campaign early again this year but the reason is hopefully obvious to most. Christmas decorations and lights are up in main High Streets and Christmas tat is everywhere. Our task of exposing false bearded Santas is more important than ever. However campaigning for Santas with real beards does not mean we support the arrest of Santas with fake beards. That is an authoritarian over reach. Confiscating their false beards is enough

THREE STEPS TO SPOT A GENUINE SANTA

1 Ask the Santa to tug their beard. If it comes away, then the Santa is FAKE

2 If the beard remains intact ask the Santa to tug their beard again. If the Santa swears then they are genuine. If they simply repeat a ‘ho ho ho’ mantra they are FAKE

3 The Campaign for Real Santas says that genuine Santas must have just the right mix of bonhomie and grumpiness and a real organic beard.

Notes

The Organic Santa of 2025 will be named on December 18th. In the last 5 years Michael Rosen and Brian Blessed have been key contenders for the annual honour

The Campaign for Real Santas is organised by the Beard Liberation Front

Nigel Farage takes French fascist leader Jordan Bardella for a Proper F*cking Lunch at 5 Hertford St

Nigel Farage has had a PFL with French fascist leader Jordan Bardella at 5 Hertford Place, a members club in central London, noted in recent years as a venue where Liz Truss ran up large bills entertaining people while Foreign Secretary.

Below is a note on what the place is like, a Spectator report on the politics of the PFL and a New Statesman note on what a Farage PFL consists of

5 Hertford Place

5 Hertford St is not the kind of place I frequent or would be allowed into (although I have been in some similar West End clubs over the years by invitation for some event or other- the beer is always crap). Its owner is Robin Birley a donor to UKIP and the Tory Party and it seems to be frequented by assorted members of the upper class and Tory MPs.

Given that it’s a members club- yearly cost £1800 (possibly more now) that’s not surprising and nor is any detail of what its actually like easy to find. There are it seems several bars, a downstairs night club and a cigar room. What reviews that can be found suggest that the cocktails are decent (if expensive) but the food (the point of lunch I would suggest) seems to be thought at best OK and certainly overpriced even compared to similar places in the West End.

The wages paid to those who actually keep the place running is another matter. Mirror reporter Dan Bloom tweeted that kitchen porters are paid £10.55 an hour. An advert for an assistant chef ( 4 shifts 9am-11pm a week) indicated a salary of ‘up to’ £25,000- that’s a year btw not a week.

None of that unfortunately is out of line with the notoriously poorly paid hospitality sector.

Spectator report

The two men had never met before but they shared a convivial lunch at 5 Hertford Street – with Farage’s partner Laure Ferrari serving as a translator. Farage, 61, is something of a lodestar for Bardella, 30, whose political career began when the Reform leader was already a well-established figure on the European scene. There are clearly shared goals between the two men, with Bardella remarking that ‘We must prepare our political movements to exercise power and that it is possible we will do so at the same time.’ It certainly fits with the ethos espoused by some figures in Donald Trump’s ‘MAGA’ movement, who believe that there ought to be common cause between the respective leaders of Europe’s radical right.

James Heale, The Spectator

The PFL

what is known in Farage circles as a “PFL”, or a “proper fucking lunch”, at Morton’s steakhouse, starting with a gin and tonic, topped up with two bottles of wine, usually red

New Statesman US correspondent Freddie Hayward on Farage in the US in the late 2010s

The BBC have reported that Nigel Farage has met the leader of the French fascist party National Rally Jordan Bardella. The party is led by Marine Le Pen but she is currently barred from standing in the next French Presidential contest.

Bardella was interviewed by Nick Robinson and no doubt a similar interview with French left leader Melenchon will follow (if not he quite recently featured in the Financial Times lunch with series, the FT taking a more balanced view of things than BBC Politics).

Its surprising that Farage found time to meet Bardella in between attending the Grand Prix last weekend and heading to Australia for the Ashes cricket. However as the BBC notes Farage’s various political vehicles have mostly kept their distance from the FN. Clearly not now.

Whether the FN has more backing from Putin or Trump is probably a question Robinson did not ask Bardella

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0q57yy0pyvo

Guinness, London Porter & the Cato St Conspiracy

Guinness have opened a brewery and tourist attraction in Covent Garden. Its been long delayed but is now open.

Guinness Open Gate Brewery London: Opening in Covent Garden

Fortunately there is an accomplished brewster Hollie Stephenson in charge of the beer and a London Porter will be brewed. The Open Gate site includes some of the buildings of one of the original London porter breweries, Combe.

As I note below Combe’s Porter may have had a role in one of the more dramatic events in London’s radical history

Martyn Cornell died earlier in the year, sadly just before his book on porter was published.

Whenever I wrote about porter- invariably in an historical context-Martyn would pop up and offer invaluable advice and knowledge. One exchange we had is extracted below. It relates to the Cato St Conspiracy in central London, the 205th anniversary of which is marked this year.

Martyn and his vast beer knowledge will be much ,missed

Apr 27, 2020 Martyn Cornell

Just put together a map showing the 25 biggest porter brewers in London in 1794. Particularly delighted to include Cratchrode Whiffing (Queen Street, Ratcliffe Cross, Limehouse, since you ask.) He was raided by the excise authorities in 1813, who found 2.5cwt of illegal additives

Apr 27, 2020 Keith Flett

did some incidental research recently on what all involved at Cato St(23rd Feb 1820) were drinking on the day. The answer, both conspirators & police appears to have been porter at the Horse & Groom opposite the hayloft

Martyn Cornell 27th April 2020

Three big porter breweries about equidistant from there, Meux in Tottenham Court Road, Combe in Covent Garden and Elliott (later Watney) in Pimlico

It is tempting though a somewhat doubtful comparison to see Marx’s understanding of the declining rate of profit in a similar context to the declining rate of victories of the England cricket team using what is known as Bazball.

The more that is invested the less returns there are not least because other capitals or teams work out what method is used and either copy it or counter it. The football management career of Jose Mourinho is a reasonable example.

The stat above (Times 9th December) shows that while Bazball was initially a successful way forward for the England cricket team in 2024 and 2025 that is not the case. The times they are changin’ (again)

20 years (9^th December 2005) since the withdrawal of the London Routemaster bus

I am not a bus anorak. I have never felt the need to jot down numbers of buses in notebooks or anything like that.

Even so as a Londoner I use buses every day when I am in the Capital [which is on occasion in 2025 so I have some interest as a user.

According to Wikipedia, which may or may not be accurate, the first Routemaster was built in September 1954 and the last in 1968. The link to facts or otherwise of all things Routemaster is here:

AEC Routemaster – Wikipedia

The last Routemaster on route 159 to Brixton was withdrawn from service on 9th December 2005

There were heritage Routemaster routes operating in central London until 2019

I was however certainly a fan of the Routemaster and in particular of the 73 route which ran originally from way out West [Hammersmith and beyond] via Victoria to Tottenham Garage. These days it goes no further than the Jolly Butchers and the Axe in Stoke Newington which is not perhaps exactly the end of the world.

Of course while the Routemaster was reliable and relatively speedy as it was conductor crewed, the modern world has overtaken it somewhat.

It is not low floor and so not accessible. That is absolutely not sustainable in 2025. I was not a fan of the original solution to this issue- the bendy bus- now long gone. A new generation of electric buses is doing a bit better.

Even so the Routemaster was and is a design classic, a London icon.

The Routemaster’s longevity and sustainability, despite the downsides noted above, is a tribute to when London Transport was a genuine public service run for passengers by decently paid crews who took pride in being public servants. The struggle goes on.