Kmflett's Blog

The final six beers to feature in the Champion Beer of Britain competition to be held at the Great British Beer Festival at the NEC Birmingham in August have been announced as part of this week’s Cambridge Beer Festival (the longest running CAMRA festival, since 1974)

They join six beers announced at the Great British Winter Beer Festival earlier this year to make a field of twelve.

Two in particular I noted because they come from craft now indy brewers, Elusive and Track, that are part of the new wave of UK breweries which started from 2005. Both can be found in cask form but as often in keg or can

It represents something of a coming of age for an insurgent beer movement that certainly in its earlier period did not fit that well with CAMRA. The times they are changin’

Its one of those moments when the tectonic plates move.

In another register I recall when T.Rex’s Ride a White Swan hit No.1 in the BBC Chart in early 1971. A catchy pop number but it marked the entry into the mainstream of the hippie & beard music of the late 1960s, underground music.

Likewise in the Communards Don’t Leave Me This Way which hit No.1 in 1986 marked for many of us the acceptance of gay and left-wing culture into the mainstream.

These battles continue in each generation but are worth marking

King Charles (w/ Camilla and Royal Butler David Beckham) were at the Chelsea Flower Show on 19th May when a new King Charles rose was unveiled.

Grown by specialist rose purveyor David Austin at Albrighton proceeds go to the King’s charity.

According to the Times the rose it has a ‘lovely musky fragrance’.

Inviting Orange Felon Trump for a visit was bad enough but growing a rose that smells of Musk is surely going too far

The House of Commons has been debating Keir Starmer’s Brexit deal and one person not present was Nigel Farage, who is thought to have a strong interest in Brexit (if only in respect of how it can benefit him personally).

You couldn’t make it up, although given this is about Farage, and he usually does make stuff up it does fit.

In fact Farage has admitted to being on holiday in France this week. He claims its his first holiday for three years. In fact as the Guardian reports he has made nine foreign trips since being elected MP in July 2024. All of these were paid for by others and while most included a political speech or event, dinners and parties were also involved. In short Farage, surprisingly, is not telling the truth.

The Commons rises for a Whitsun holiday on Thursday, when Farage could have taken a break. No doubt in due course the reason why he is in France, who with and who paid for it will be revealed.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/may/20/farage-missed-debate-on-brexit-reset-because-he-is-holidaying-abroad?CMP=share_btn_url

BBC sacks Gary Lineker for speaking out on Gaza. UK Government says situation in Gaza ‘intolerable’

There have been regular London demonstrations for Palestine and Gaza and against what has become an Israeli genocide since October 2023. They have been regular not weekly and there has been very little in the way of issues. The Met Police reported 7 arrests on 16th May, one for someone attacking a marcher, and six for what appeared to be, at best, minor infractions of the very restrictive conditions the Met imposes on these occasions.

Of course the right-wing media (which is most of it) and many (but not all) politicians hate the idea of marching for Gaza and vary between ignoring a march and condemning it and trying to get it banned.

In fact the BBC completely ignored it (they have reported at least some previous marches) as did most other print media, aside of course from Socialist Worker and the Morning Star.

The BBC in effect sacked Gary Lineker because he ‘would not keep quiet’ on Gaza, keeping quiet being something the BBC has no problem with.

The 17th May demonstration marked the 77th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba, Israel’s first attempt to force Palestinians out of their own land and homes. A second Nakba is clearly underway. The marches in London have a particular importance because after the First World War Britain had the mandate for Palestine.

The fact that the marches continue, and May 16th was one of the biggest, reflect serious grassroots opinion and organisation across the country. They call out Israel’s genocidal actions but they are changing the face of British politics and will continue to do so, from below.

In fact the changes are happening more quickly than the BBC Director General may have anticipated.

On Monday the UK, French and Canadian Governments issued a robust statement saying Israel’s actions in Gaza must stop and if they did not ‘concrete action’ would follow. No doubt the 500,000 plus on the streets of central London two days before helped. In reality however Netanyahu and the far right and fascist rabble regime he heads has gone too far at the moment for Western sensibilities.

History is being made on the streets but as Gil Scott-Heron sang the revolution will not be televised and as Michael Rosen wrote recently the genocide and protests against it won’t be televised in any sustained way either. Thanks to social media enough of it is currently being seen though to underline that the BBC was wrong and Lineker was right

The Blair Dynasty 1997-2025 & the Sunday Times Rich List. Things did get better (for some)

Things did get a bit better after Tony Blair and New Labour were elected in 1997 but the Iraq War detracted from that and also promoted a focus on areas where things did not get better.

However the Sunday Times Rich List 2025 reveals that the Blair Dynasty is still doing rather well. Blair heads up the global Tony Blair Institute, in essence a consultancy and research body. He doesn’t take a salary but the Guardian has estimated he is worth at £47m. His son Euan meanwhile, now 41, runs Multiverse with Sophie Adelman. It is pitched as an alternative way of getting on in life without attending University and his share of it is estimated to be £350m in 2025. He has fallen from 337^th to 345^th on the Rich List

The Blairs have done well for themselves and no doubt would argue they are still trying to promote social progress. In reality it is far too soon to say, even if some will have reached interim judgements.

Origins of the Present ‘Crisis’ Boris Johnson, Churchill & Fish

Keir Starmer as part of a modest realignment with the EU (which is essentially about equalising the level of exploitation, take your pick on which word you emphasise) has extended a deal that Johnson did in 2020. That was obviously a bad deal and reports suggest this is a little better but I’m no expert here (I do like eating fish as does pescatarian Starmer)

As Sam Freedman posted the UK fishing industry now employs fewer people than University College London (by some distance) which given the UK is a maritime nation is an interesting reflection on where the priorities of capital in the UK have been for a while.

There has of course been bluster from Farage but he cant avoid the reality that when he was an MEP and could have defended UK fishing he attended precisely one of the forty-two meetings he could have

For those who make their living from fishing Boris Johnson’s Brexit ‘negotiations’ in 2020 on fishing rights with the EU were a serious matter.

Johnson though was and is not someone noted for taking things seriously

He previously waved a kipper in the air as part of a stunt in a political speech

When he had dinner witn EU President Ursula von der Leyen as part of the 2020 negotiations he reportedly dined on scallops followed by turbot. Both are fished in UK waters with scallops being a previous source of dispute.

In October 1939 Winston Churchill’s Parliamentary Private Secretary Sir Geoffrey Shakespeare received the following memo from Churchill.

One morning I found on my desk a pink tab with a memo to this effect: “I am concerned about the shortage of fish. Parliamentary Secretary will immediately take up the matter with the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff and the head of the Mine Sweeping Division to see if any trawlers can be released for fishing. We must have a policy of “utmost fish.” Parliamentary Secretary will report to me by midnight with his proposals. WSC.

Knowing Johnson and his Churchill obsession this explains a lot…

28th February 2024

8.30 at No.10 We laugh at the passage of the Pedicabs Bill that will crack down on rogue rickshaws and which I describe as ‘irrelevant to most of the nation’.. Oliver Dowden ‘Well they get in the way between No.10 and the Garrick’

From Simon (now Lord) Hart Ungovernable (2025) Tory Chief Whip 2022-24

Oliver Dowden MP was Deputy Prime Minister

The Garrick is a private members club in central London

Beer in Ambridge 1945-2025

The BBC have broadcast two episodes of Victory in Ambridge to mark VE day, largely delivered by the 2025 cast.

Obviously The Bull featured, indeed the thatched roof caught fire and had to be replaced.

We heard a young Joe Grundy and Walter Gabriel whose catch phrase ‘me old pal, me old beauty’ was not delivered in such fruity tones as it was in more recent times.

Shires, a pale ale, was on sale at The Bull as it still is 80 years on (possibly at a slightly higher strength than in the 1940s). The Bull was also selling mild then (not now but time for a return surely) and there was reference, John Major style, to warm beer (12C) at the Bull.

Dramatic entertainment and social history

Pellicle Magazine on Shires bitter

https://www.pelliclemag.com/home/2021/8/23/ambridges-best-recreating-shires-ale-from-bbcs-the-archers

BBC says Gary Lineker ‘would not keep quiet’. The BBC did keep quiet about a 500,000 plus demonstration in London on Gaza on May 17th

There have been regular London demonstrations for Palestine and Gaza and against what has become an Israeli genocide since October 2023. They have been regular not weekly and there has been very little in the way of issues. The Met Police reported 7 arrests on 16th May, one for someone attacking a marcher, and six for what appeared to be, at best, minor infractions of the very restrictive conditions the Met imposes on these occasions.

Of course the right-wing media (which is most of it) and many (but not all) politicians hate the idea of marching for Gaza and vary between ignoring a march and condemning it and trying to get it banned.

In fact the BBC completely ignored it (they have reported at least some previous marches) as did most other print media, aside of course from Socialist Worker and the Morning Star.

The BBC in effect sacked Gary Lineker because he ‘would not keep quiet’ on Gaza, something the BBC has no problem with

The 17th May demonstration marked the 77th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba, Israel’s first attempt to force Palestinians out of their own land and homes. A second Nakba is clearly underway. The marches in London have a particular importance because after the First World War Britain had the mandate for Palestine.

The fact that the marches continue, and May 17th was one of the biggest, reflect serious grassroots opinion and organisation across the country. They call out Israel’s genocidal actions but they are changing the face of British politics and will continue to do so, from below

History is being made on the streets but as Gil Scott-Heron sang the revolution will not be televised and as Michael Rosen wrote recently the genocide and protests against it won’t be televised in any sustained way either

This picture was taken opposite the RNLI station in Penarth, South Wales on 13th May 2025. The RNLI of course is focused on saving lives without fear or favour, and the Friendship bench represents that spirit. Something the media might keep in mind. There is a duty of solidarity with human beings.

An RNLI station in Portsmouth has been shut since September 10th because of intimidation by fascists. They need to be arrested. In the meantime donating to the RNLI shows which side you are on.

This is what Reform & Farage are saying ‘Charities’ actions in aiding and abetting the invasion of our country will be illegal under Reform UK’.

RNIB Regular Gift – Help families like Joanna’s | RNIB

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/17/lifeboat-station-portsmouth-temporarily-shut-after-far-right-action?CMP=share_btn_url