The House of Commons was packed on 9th September as Andy Burnham faced Kemi Badenoch at PM’s questions.
However the newly re-elected MP for Clacton was not there again. Rather he was at a GB News Jamboree in Washington marking one year of their (even more unhinged than UK) US operation.
Fittingly the Met Police also announced a criminal investigation into Reform’s donations after the recent Verbatim sting on Channel 4.
Hopefully Farage brought greetings from Clacton and did no fund raising…
The Government’s decision to enact sanctions against illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank may be too limited and late but it reflects the pressure of campaigning for something to happen over almost three years.
If you check media outlets such as Radio 4 Today or The Times you’d think this is an unpopular move.
Quite the reverse. As the YouGov poll over 4.500 people taken on 9th September indicates it has majority support. 52% are in favour with 17% against.
Despite Badenoch’s support for Israel a slim majority of Tories back sanctions here with only Reform supporters against, although even here not quite 50%
The right-wing media involved are The Sun, Mail, Times & Telegraph
Ed Miliband until July was pursuing a Net Zero agenda out and in Government for a good while. A significant section of big business has not been happy about as can be seen from Editorial criticism in the right-wing media. Now as Foreign Secretary he is getting media flack after announcing some limited sanctions on the Israeli Government. Again vested interests are threatened, and again an undercurrent has appeared that he is somehow the ‘wrong sort of Jew’. That is one that does not back the agenda of the Murdoch’s and the Rothermere’s.
The changes he is pursuing are not revolutionary, far from it, but they are still too much for much of the media. However a YouGov poll of 4,000 people on 9th September showed limited sanctions on Israel have majority support…
In the Verbatim sting on Reform, Farage is pictured in an Oyster Bar. When it comes to ordering food, a suggestion is made that four oysters would be the order. Farage upped this to six oysters.
Of course in 2026 oysters are not cheap and tend to feature in more expensive eateries.
That was not the case in Victorian times when oysters were both cheap and plentiful
One enthusiast was Friedrich Engels who reported on 1st December 1890 that he and a party of friends at his North London house and demolished twelve dozen oysters along of course with champagne. It makes Farage look like an absolute beginner.
Well, in the evening we had the whole lot here,
embellished by and bye by little Oswald and four delegates from the
Arbeiterverein (one of whom speechless drunk) and we kept it up till
half past three in the morning and drank, besides claret, 16 bottles of
champaign — the morning we had had 12 dozen oysters. So you see
I did my best to show that I was still alive and kicking.
Engels fo Laura Lafargue December 1st 1890
Edgbaston September 9th 2026
Beard Liberation Front
9th September
Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett keithbeard@bsky.social
Joe Root named England Test Cricket Beard of Summer 2026
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has named England captain Joe Root as the England Test cricket Beard of Summer 2026.
Before the final Test of the summer against Pakistan at Edgbaston Root was spotted wearing a Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western style designer beard.
Going back Root seemed to struggle to develop a beard but in recent seasons has come out as fully hirsute.
The campaigners say that in a Test summer that saw Root resume the role of England captain his beard presented a positive image of the hirsute exhibiting the gravitas associated not just with the job of Captain but with Root himself
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, we congratulate Joe Root. He started off some years ago as a clean shaven cricketer but now clearly understands the vital role of Beard Power on the cricket field.
Much of the political right either denies climate change is taking place or after agreeing it is claim there is nothing that can be done about it.
A test has arisen Months of high temperatures and drought in France means that production is down 49% year on year. High temperatures have meant that grapes have ripened earlier than usual. This gives them a higher sugar content making it harder to produce the classic champagne flavour and acidity.
What is to be done?
Bernie Sanders the veteran US socialist representative for Vermont is 85 today
Five years ago he was in London talking about class war. The Guardian’s account is here:
Arguably one of the great nearly men of US politics he has continued to press for US domestic policies in favour of working people in the second Trump era. His position on international issues is much less certain and not always progressive however.
He has been over the years a disliked figure on the right both in the US and the UK on the basis that while certainly not offering revolution he proposed more radical change than those making good profits out of the status quo felt entirely comfortable with.
In 2009 Sanders met Tony Benn:
Tony Benn Diary Monday 10th November 2009
Bernard Sanders the Socialist Senator for Vermont came by with his brother Larry Sanders who is a Green Councillor in Oxford. Bernie is 67 and Larry 73. We went over everything- Obama’s victory, a possible surge in Afghanistan….
Unfortunately Bernie Sanders has never had a beard..
The Commons debated the far right actions in Dover and Portsmouth (‘not far right’ Suella Braverman) on Monday afternoon and evening. The Government did eventually get around to condemning far right thuggery and pointed to the significant reduction of people arriving on boats. Of course the provision of safe routes for refugees could stop it altogether but while the Government has at least mentioned it, it isnt happening.
It was left to Jeremy Corbyn to call out the abuse Reform MPs (Lee Anderson and Robert Jenrick were present. Farage nowhere to be seen as usual) were giving to refugees. They were not happy about being called out.
Will the Minister give us an assurance that the Home Office will turn its attention to the growth of far-right organisations across the country and the racist activities they undertake? The people who arrived in Dover and Portsmouth behaved in a violent, disgraceful and racist manner, including abusing RNLI volunteers. Will she also recognise that the plight of refugees all across Europe is a serious human rights disaster, and we do need co-operation between all Governments across Europe to ensure that we deal with this in a decent and humane way, and not allow people like these Reform Members sitting in front of me to just routinely abuse anyone who is trying to seek a place of safety
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