Sir James Jacob Gilchrist Berry who was Chair of the Tory Party during the interregnum of the Liz Truss regime in the autumn of 2022 has defected to Reform.. Berry formerly a member of the Boris Johnson fan club, served as a backbench Tory in the Sunak Government and lost his seat in 2024.
His defection reflects a further shifting of the tectonic plates in the Tory Party and it will be interesting to see the positions that the right-wing media take on it. Aside of course from GBN News who will simply say that Farage, currently to be heard singing the Oasis classic Cigarettes and Alcohol, in a Wetherspoons somewhere, will soon be PM.
Berry may be a hard right political figure but he is one with brief Cabinet experience. It will also be interesting to see how long it takes him to fall out with Farage.
Norman Tebbit, hard right Tory from an age of more robust caricature and satire
Norman Tebbit who has died at 94, was a former lay trade union rep who was responsible for pushing through what was the start of decades of anti-union legislation. Close to Margaret Thatcher politically he was known In political and popular culture as the Chingford (his Parliamentary seat) skinhead.
He was caricatured on Spitting image as a leather clad Tory boot boy, an image he said he rather liked. Steve Bell in the Guardian pursued a similar line often with the addition of a bike, which Tebbit had claimed was the way the unemployed would find work.
Tebbit was at the centre of politics in the 1980s when political caricature and satire was arguably more robust in nature. Of course politicians like Starmer and Farage and caricatured but nothing like, at least as yet, with the kind of genuine viciousness that Spitting Image and Steve Bell used in their portrayals of Tebbit
Keir Starmer’s spokesman asked if the Government plans to remain on X, given its AI bot has been making antisemitic comments and endorsing Hitler, replies that this is an “internal” matter for the company Adam Bienkov on BlueSky 9th July 2025
And the Prime Minister, who also said Glastonbury Festival organisers should not have let controversial rappers Kneecap appear on stage, has described Bob Bylan’s words as “appalling hate speech”. Mr Starmer, 62, said: “There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech. I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence. The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.”
President Macron on a State visit attended a State Banquet at Windsor on 8th July, along with 160 guests. Mick Jagger wineand partner and Elton John and partner were amongst those present.
It was very much an occasion for the haves rather than the have nots
One notable and expected twist was that the toast was given with a glass of English sparkling wine produced however by a French champagne maker..
Selection of Pre-Dinner Canapes
A Selection of Tender Summer Vegetables from the Gardens of Le Manoir with Sage, Raw Tomato and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Dressing
Supreme of Rhug Estate Chicken with Norfolk Asparagus and Tarragon Cream
Le Cassis Iced Blackcurrant Parfait on a Blackcurrant-soaked Sponge with Elderflower Jelly
Guests each have five glasses, and the wine list includes Domaine Evremond, Classic Cuvee, Edition I, NV; Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, Etienne Sauzet, 2022; Chateau Haut-Brion; 1er Grand Cru Classe Pessac-Leognan, 1996; Louis Roederer, Carte Blanche, NV. The English sparkling wine will be used for the toast.
Following dinner, guests will be served Taylor’s 1977 Vintage Port and a 1948 Grande Champagne Cognac by Frapin & Co. The drinks were selected to reflect the years in which President Macron and the King were born.
A special cocktail has also been created for the occasion. The ‘L’entente’ combines British gin with lemon curd and French pastis. It is also garnished with dried French cornflowers and English roses.
With UK temperatures set to be above 30C for the next period, the Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has again authorised beard trimming.
The pictures above are of BLF organiser Keith Flett…
Marx had his beard trimmed while in Algiers in April 1882
Apropos; because of the sun, I have done away with my prophet’s beard and my crowning glory but (in deference to my daughters) had myself photographed before offering up my hair on the altar of an Algerian barber. I shall receive the photographs next Sunday (30 April). Specimina will be sent to you from Marseilles. On inspection you will observe that, CONSIDERING the 8 whole weeks (during which I did not in fact have one day of complete repose) of painting with collodion (after the manner of Ludwig of Bavaria), j’ai fait encore bonne mine à mauvais jeu.
Collodion was an early form of photography, while Ludwig of Bavaria was someone thought to have good looks. Marx is making the point that despite not sleeping well for eight weeks he didn’t look too bad
Marx’s decision to shave his beard was very likely related to wider health issues which had led him to stay in Algiers and then Monte Carlo. By late June 1882 he was in Paris.
One of the few things from the traditional Times that has survived the Murdoch years is an obsession with France. This mainly focuses on French food being better than English (see Churchill’s Cookbook) but can sometimes divert.
With hot weather across Europe there is an article on the politics of air conditioning in France (8th July). Temperatures in France are higher than in the UK, around 40C. Fascist leader Le Pen has criticised the French Government for not doing more on air conditioning. The populist claim that while Government offices have air conditioning, austerity means the working classes have to work in heat is central. By contrast the French Greens argue that air conditioning is not climate friendly and Le Pen is really just making a climate denial point.
Figures for air conditioning across Europe are interesting (if suitably non-specific)
Italy 40% of homes
Spain 25% of homes
Britain 5% of homes
Germany 3% of homes
A Macron Minister has argued that traditional building styles, where used, make homes less susceptible to heat (thicker walls and insulation in short) while the Greens argue for shutters and fans.
Its hot, climate change is real, but high temperatures are a health issue for a range of people if air conditioning is not available…
The Bayeux Tapestry, the Norman Yoke & English Radical History
With the news that the Bayeux Tapestry is to be loaned to the British Museum I had a scroll through the 900 or so below the line comments on the Telegraph’s version of the story.
Most were predictable, a few made sensible points but there is no mention of the Norman Yoke. Clearly Telegraph readers were not paying attention in history lessons despite being great fans of patriotic English history.
The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events that led to William 1 taking the throne of England, displacing the previous Anglo Saxon ascendancy.
Tom Paine in Common Sense (1776) wrote about what this meant for radicals:
A French bastard landing with an armed banditti and establishing himself as King of England against the consent of the natives.
The Norman Conquest was in the terms of the Norman Yoke the beginning of French oppression where Anglo Saxon laws and customs were replaced by French ones.
Magna Carta (1215) restored some rights but primarily to the gentry.
The Norman Yoke was also a key issue in the English Civil War of the 1640s and the establishment of a Commonwealth after 1649. From Cromwell the despatch of King Charles 1st was about reclaiming English laws which now resided not with a monarch but with Parliament.
Gerard Winstanley of the Diggers went further writing that the execution of Charles meant that ‘we have by this victory recovered ourselves from under his Norman yoake’
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 was held by eighteenth century radicals as doing little to life a renewed Norman Yoke and the idea was part of the early nineteenth century Freeborn Englishman’s outlook, one of whose principles was freedom for domination. By this time of course radicals were looking to the example of the French who had despatched their own King.
Christopher Hill’s essay the Norman Yoke (1955) looked at the impact of the idea in English history sometimes supporting the idea of backward looking Arcadia, sometimes leading to republican conclusions.
Whether that great patriot Nigel Farage will opine we shall see. After all the origin of the name Farage lies with French Huguenots
2025 Beard, Shorts & Sandals Season, Hot Weather alert
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that the 2025 Official Beard, Shorts and Sandals Season is reaching a first peak as high summer approaches
However with much of the UK likely to have hot temperatures for the next week a special alert has been issued.
In particular there is concern about advice in the Financial Times (5th July) that it is on trend to wear shorts above the knee. The campaigners note with high temperatures and UV levels this could run the risk of sunburnt legs
No Guidelines in 2025, but a weather caution
The Beard Liberation Front, one of whose founding principles is that people should be able to dress and appear as they want is increasingly concerned about official diktats about how people should or should not appear.
However the BLF urges those participating in the 2025 Beard, Shorts and Sandals Season to take care out there:
1 UV levels. It’s not just sun that can lead to sunburnt legs
2 Pogonophobia. Participants should beware beard haters
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, the Beard, Shorts and Sandals season has been a major influence on summer fashions in recent times and the 2025 season is no exception. On a note of caution however, while short shorts may be trendy we would advise three-quarter length shorts during periods of hot weather.
Norman Tebbit dies at 94. Is it still Anyone But England
In his book Anyone But England, the sadly late Mike Marqusee makes the point that Norman Tebbit first raised the issue of who people cheer for at cricket in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in April 1990. His argument was that with a changing demographic who did those of Pakistani or Indian origin cheer for at cricket.
The argument was always and remains fallacious. Did Tebbit expect Irish or Scots cricket fans to cheer for England?
As Marqusee underlines while Tebbit was making a political point, a racist one, it actually passed the cricket world by. Wisden made no comment
Of course historically cricket has been associated with the Tory Party and John Major is often to be found at the Oval, as is Farage at Lords. The left has been a minority certainly when it comes to cricket in England and Wales. Probably the best book ever written on cricket is CLR James Beyond a Boundary but we shouldn’t forget the work of John Arlott, Guardian and Test Match Special journalist in fighting apartheid cricket in South Africa.
There are a lot on the left who love cricket who have a background in the Caribbean or the Indian Sub-Continent who still see a victory for the West Indies or India or Pakistan against England at cricket as settling at several removes some old imperial scores. Likewise I find some Australians on the left who tell me they’re not interested in cricket because its associated with the political right.
But back to CLR James. How can you not, having been drawn in by the ebb and flow of a Test Match, be drawn into cricket.
As former England captain Eoin Morgan, an Irishman, noted after his World Cup victory, one of the sides strengths was its diversity. Muslims Rashid and Mooen Ali, Jofra Archer who has some Caribbean roots and Ben Stokes who has been up for the New Zealander of the Year Award.
You might argue that in the context the old imperial battles of cricket are slightly subsumed by the reality that the England side now represents the imperial diaspora and the biggest match in cricket World Cups ais India v Pakistan.
The left should be able to appreciate achievements by the England cricket team but also grasp that those imperial battles at several removes in cricket are not yet done. Anyone but England perhaps not now but England or Anyone else if they’re a good side, quite possibly.
One day we may be able to enjoy cricket as culture and artistry in sport as CLR James saw it, though we’re not there yet.
The Tebbit Test now resides with the Farages of this world
