Kmflett's Blog

Simon (now Lord) Hart was Sunak’s Chief Whip 2022-24 and has published his memoirs from the period as Ungovernable.

Leaving aside some of the prejudices one might expect from a senior Tory the book is readable and doesnt hold back on the chaos of that period for the Tories.

An entry for 21st March 2023 touches on Jonathan Gullis the then Tory MP for Stoke on Trent North who lost his seat in July 2024

Jonathan Gullis decides to vote against us after changing his mind three times and giving me a personal assurance he will support us. I find Jonathan harder to dislike than some in the Whips Office do, despite his best efforts to piss me off. It’s like owning a Labrador that can’t stop stealing from the table. He knows he will get in trouble but does it anyway

New Eton v Harrow cricket match dispute at Lords

The Eton v Harrow game has been played at Lords since 1805. In recent years the MCC who run Lords have tried to get the fixture moved elsewhere on the grounds that Lords can only sensibly stage 60 days of cricket a year and in the 2020s there are other calls on the ground.

In 2025 these include a disability day and a schools open final day.

The Eton v Harrow game remains at Lords following the intervention  of an Historic Fixtures Members Committee.

The latest dispute is because the 2025 Eton v Harrow game will be played on Thursday 8^th May. Typically the game has been played in July. The 2025 date is in the middle of the school exams season and several key players may not be available.

The current MCC Chair Mark Nicholas has suggested that there is a way forward where both Eton and Harrow and the MCC see mutual advantage in maintaining the fixture at Lords. Hence Harrow have been contributing to an MCC charity and schools work…

The report of this latest dispute is in the Times (6^th May) and it is most unlikely that more will not be heard

I’m not sure how many people watched at Lords but the MCC did livestream the match

Harrow scored 282-8 off 55 overs. Eton fell sort being all out for 251 in 54.1 overs.

Not sure how many care but that means Harrow now edge Eton in the number of matches won 61-60. 68 have been drawn although that is now historic with the fixture being a one day game. The first tie and super over are awaited..

*Shakespeare, Macbeth, Scene One, Act Three

Beard Liberation Front

7^th May
Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social

Campaigners send Michael Rosen birthday wishes & say every follicle is precious

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has sent author, broadcaster and Arsenal fan Michael Rosen birthday greetings as his beard marks its 79^th birthday.

The campaigners say that Michael Rosen’s beard, a multiple award winner, promotes a positive image of the hirsute in public life and has done so consistently over many years.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, every follicle is precious and we wish Michael Rosen and his beard a happy hirsute birthday.

Reform has said that it will ban anything but the Union flag and St George’s flag from being flown on buildings of Councils it controls post May 1st. Surely however the definitive Reform flag is the skull and cross bones

Robespierre (b 6 May 1758) & the British Revolutionary Tradition

Robespierre one of the leaders of the French Revolution was born 268 years ago on 6^th May 1758. The French Revolution devoured its own leaders and Robespierre was despatched on 28^th July 1794.

This however is not about the history and the politics of the French Revolution in France but its impact in Britain. In the aftermath of the Revolution, there were supporters in the UK, and of course opposition from the Government.

The influence of Robespierre and other leaders of the French Revolution however stretched further than the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. There was a significant impact in the 1830s as the Chartist movement rose.

E P Thompson’s Making of the English Working Class contains many references to Robespierre and one in particular focuses on Bronterre O’Brien was the Editor of the Poor Man’s Guardian.

O’Brien wrote:

We must have what Southey called a ‘revolution of revolutions’ such an one as Robespierre and St Just projected in France in the beginning of 1794; that is to say a complete subversion of the institutions by which wealth is distributed. Property..property this is the thing we must be at’

Thompson notes that O’Brien believed that such a change could come about peacefully when the vote was won but cautions that O’Brien’s views were one strand of a number. Even so he became known as the ‘schoolmaster of Chartism’, although active in the Chartist movement in the 1840s he later sought to build links with middle-class radicals.

The influence of Robespierre in terms of how society was to be changed remained significant

I’m not religious and simply think that religious faith should be a private matter. As Alastair Campbell said of New Labour ‘we don’t do God’- Blair later forgot about that

However this post is about how in a market society (as opposed to economy) anything and everything comes down to money.

The Papal Conclave opens on 7th May and the Economist has published betting on the key contenders (none of whom has a beard btw). It notes that millions have already been bet. I take it that the Conclave will focus exclusively on matters spiritual

Beard Liberation Front

6^th May

Contact Keith Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social

2025 Beard, Shorts & Sandals Official Season officially opens on Saturday 10^th May

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that the 2025 Official Beard, Shorts and Sandals Season will officially open on 10^th May

The pre-Season has been marked by variable weather but the forecast now indicates higher temperatures with less rain for a period. The 2024 Season opened on 9^th May so it is very much in line with last year.

No Guidelines in 2025

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. Its 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 we expect the 2025 season to be no different.

The only problem is that the rich deflect the crisis on to the poor

Beard Liberation Front

5th May

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has congratulated Welsh snooker player Mark Williams on an impactful display of Beard Power as he claimed runner up place in the final of the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible in Sheffield on Monday.

Williams has long been known for his trademark beard. However he has long had a habit of shaving the beard off as he progressed through Championships, often with unfortunate results in respect of his snooker table success.

In 2025 he kept the beard and nearly gave Chinese champion Zhao Xintong a close shave in the final session.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, we are pleased that Mark Williams has finally heeded our long standing advice not to shave his beard as he progresses through snooker championships. It didn’t quite work at the Crucible but the Beard Power did see him through to the final at age 50.