Kmflett's Blog

My Fletters are a long standing feature of such publications that still have a letters page, rather than below the line comments, particularly of course from time to time the Guardian.

I’ve been writing them since the mid-1980s and up to now they have been entirely written by myself and April Fool aside they still will be

However with the development of AI, after checks, its clear that AI tools can write a decent Fletter, albeit perhaps sometimes a little longer than is ideal. There is an example below. It makes good points but the language is flowery and it is an essay not a letter

So I won’t be passing the task of Fletter writing to AI notwithstanding a rather too long list of other things I should be writing, perhaps even including a memoir.

AI Fletter

Dear Editor

It is with no small measure of indignation, and indeed a beard-bristling sense of urgency, that I pen this missive concerning the latest assault on our public libraries. These hallowed institutions, bastions of enlightenment since the days of Victorian philanthropy and the Mechanics’ Institutes, are now under threat from the philistine scythe of austerity, wielded by those who evidently believe that knowledge should be rationed like sugar in wartime.

One might as well propose dismantling the British Museum or burning the collected works of William Morris as suggest closing our libraries. These are not mere buildings filled with books; they are the beating heart of working-class culture, the nurseries of radical thought, and the last refuge for those who seek solace in the wisdom of the past. I recall, as a young man in the 1970s, spending countless hours in the Islington Central Library, poring over pamphlets from the Chartist movement and debating the finer points of Marx with comrades over cups of weak tea. Such experiences are not relics; they are vital.

The government’s claim that digital resources can replace libraries is as hollow as a Tory promise. Not everyone has access to the internet, nor should they be expected to navigate the labyrinthine depths of Google when a kindly librarian can point them to Orwell or Engels. Moreover, the library is a social space—a place where ideas collide, where the unemployed rub shoulders with the retired, and where the seeds of resistance are sown. To lose this is to lose a piece of our collective soul.

I call upon all readers, bearded or otherwise, to rally to the defence of these institutions. Join the campaign, write to your MP, and recall the words of Shelley: “Ye are many—they are few.” The battle for libraries is not just about books; it is about the very idea of a society that values knowledge over profit.

Yours in solidarity and with a firmly set jaw,

Fletters to be written by AI in future

My Fletters are a long standing feature of such publications that still have a letters page, rather than below the line comments, particularly of course from time to time the Guardian.

I’ve been writing them since the mid-1980s and up to now they have been entirely written by myself.

However with the development of AI, after checks, its clear that AI tools can write a decent Fletter, albeit perhaps sometimes a little longer than is ideal.

I can now pass the task of Fletter writing to AI and get on with a rather too long list of other things I should be writing, perhaps even including a memoir.

I don’t read the S*n. There is a long standing labour movement boycott. However the lines below from the paper’s Editorial on 31st March are interesting (and can be Googled free).

The view of much of the mainstream media (and one suspects the Labour leadership) is that peaceful protesters on climate change do not have much public support. Rather police action is supported even when it is to arrest people who were doing nothing more than discussing a possible future protest.

However the S*n it must be said unusually sees the police smashing their way into a Quaker Meeting House in St Martins Lane central London on 27th March as complete over reach.

There is no need to believe or trust the S*n and what they think police should be doing will not bare scrutiny from anyone on the left, to note there is a gap in the authoritarian space-time continuum here

COPS who joined up to catch actual criminals must be in despair as their out-of-control chiefs lose the plot.

Too often hard-pressed officers are used to crack down on imagined offences that should have nothing to do with them. The latest heavy-handed over-reach came as 30 or so Met police smashed their way into a Quaker meeting house to arrest and handcuff six young women discussing non-violent protest.

Marine Le Pen head of the French far right National Rally Party has been found guilty by a French Court of embezzling European Parliament funds. As things stand she is disbarred from being a candidate in the next French Presidential Election. She will of course appeal.

I’ve been keeping note of which UK commentators have expressed sympathy for Le Pen. Matthew Goodwin hard right pundit, argued on Twitter that if you are standing for election as a hard right candidate then clearly you should be able to commit crimes with impunity. Of course he didnt exactly say that, but it was the drift of his point in my view.

The Telegraph opined that Ms Le Pen’s conviction would only help get the FN support, although the ability to monetise political power for personal gain does seem to be a common thread across much mainstream politics.

Nigel Farage has said Le Pen has been ‘cancelled’ on what he deemed ‘very trumped up charges’. Since he doesnt do his own media this is what one of his team said, but its Faragesque

Meanwhile hard right site Spiked noted The banning of Marine Le Pen is an affront to democracy

Nigel Farage while he is amongst the UK’s best known grifters has certainly not been charged with any criminal activity. In fact Nigel is 61 on April 3rd and it will be interesting to see if there is a birthday bash. His 60th featured a diverse range of guests from Liz Truss to Brewdog’s James Watt with a video greeting from Donald Trump.

The Guardian on the reaction of far right politicians to the Le Pen verdict (and a few varying reactions of the left) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/31/marine-le-pen-allies-paris-court-2027-election-ban-elon-musk?CMP=share_btn_url

As far as I can judge this latest picture of a TESLA protest in Tottenham is genuine.

This and previous Tottenham protests have been queried and there is a reason for that.

Tesla Tottenham is based off the North Circular Rd in North London, a 1930s ring road that goes around London (the South Circular Rd in Sarf). Its address is Unit 3 Ravensdale Retail Park N18 3HA. This places it in Edmonton in the London Borough of Enfield, while Tottenham is in the neighbouring Borough of Haringey.

Why Musk calls it Tottenham TESLA is not clear, but hopefully not because he is thinking of buying Spurs, whose ground is not that far away.

As for the protests North-East London has a large community of radical activists with very long experience of protests, agitprop etc. Led By Donkeys, the group that specialises in visual stunts aimed at right-wing politicians hail from Hackney. There is nothing to suggest they are behind this protest btw.

As a Tottenham resident and a lifelong non-driver- public transport is decent unlike most other UK Cities- I am hardly best placed to know what TESLA demand is like in North London. The media report that unlike the rest of Western Europe TESLA sales are not dropping.

I can say that there is now an electric vehicle charging point in my central Tottenham residential road, but not any obvious sign of parked TESLAs.

Anyway whoever is doing the protests clearly more are required.

George Osborne and historian Niall Ferguson discuss chainsaw politics

The Centre for Policy Studies held a one day event in central London on 17^th March to mark the 50^th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher being elected as Tory leader.

One session featured a discussion between George Osborne and right-wing historian Sir Niall Ferguson.

Osborne while a vindictive and inept Chancellor is a good Tory strategist. Ferguson has been an insightful historian although these days seems as much interested in culture wars as in historical research.

Hence he manages in the one hour discussion (link below) to reference the Blob, the vibe and claims that the only group of US voters in November 2024 who swung to the Democrats as opposed to against them were single women with cats.

Both however are agreed on their admiration for Argentinian far right leader Milei. He appeared at a pro-Trump rally with Elon Musk a few weeks back wielding a chainsaw. It’s the move fast and break things strategy. A warning from history particularly as the historical period Ferguson references the most and admires is the 1930s

Bing Videos

Sunday Times March 30th 2025

For those unaware a Quaker (Society of Friends) Meeting House is equivalent to a Church or a Mosque

The Ambridge Socialist

30^th March

The Archers has a problem with trade unions

Once upon a time the Archers had Union Reps. The first was Neil Carter, then came Mike Tucker. Then came nothing. Despite representations from what is now Unite, trade union is a term never mentioned in the Archers.

It has been relevant this week because Clarrie and Susan were in a selection pool of two with one job being available and one redundancy. It appears there was no voluntary redundancy agreement in place at the Dairy- no union after all. It’s not really clear why interviews were needed as the selection criteria were known and both workers were well known to the employers side- Pat and Helen.

Whoever is not selected is then be at risk of redundancy unless suitable alternative work can be found, and a series of consultations started. Representation by a union rep or a friend is appropriate.

It might be queried why such a small employer would recognise a union or at the least encourage union membership. Perhaps because as Pat has recently reminded she has a history on the left and might be expected as an employer to do the right thing.

Despite giving the best interview and therefore it must be taken fulfilling the criteria, Clarrie was selected for redundancy. Time to boycott the Dairy

Joy, Rochelle & Mick

Rochelle has returned and once again is staying with Joy and Mick. Understandably Mick is perplexed and Joy explained to him some of her back story which included an unfaithful husband. Unfortunately Rochelle’s backstory doesn’t match. To be continued

Emma stays on as a Parish Councillor

Following her leading role in calling out Borchester Water, Mick has apologised for making a complaint about her and she is staying on as a Parish Councillor. Democracy in action. Or at least it hasn’t given the local Faragists a chance to try and fill the vacancy

Lynda’s Larma has expired

Constanza has departed through over eating of grass. Alistair the vet has pronounced this as normal. It did however get Lynda and Khalil to bond over their back stories which are perhaps more profound than those of Joy and Rochelle

Arrests for ‘’conspiracy to commit a public nuisance’ after police break into a Quaker meeting house. Whatever happened to the ‘Freeborn Englishman’. Whatever happened to the Human Rights lawyer currently occupying 10 Downing St?

On Thursday 27^th March around 30 police officers broke into a Quaker Meeting house in Westminster. It is a place of religious worship. They arrested six women who were holding a discussion about future protests on Palestine and Climate. Reportedly the six were later released on bail, with no further action taken against one.

The Quakers condemned the police action noting that it was the first time in living memory that anyone had been arrested in  a Quaker Meeting House. The Quaker tradition is one entirely focused on peaceful protest.

The offence of ‘conspiracy to commit a public nuisance’ , essentially amounting to discussing a protest that might have some impact in the future if it took place was a law introduced under the last Tory Government. Its aim was to have a chilling effect on the democratic right to protest. Why a new Government headed by a well known human rights lawyer has allowed it to remain on the Statute Book is a relevant question.

The nineteenth century radical tradition often referred to the rights of the ‘Freeborn Englishman’ and E P Thompson has a chapter on it in his 1963 volume the Making of the English Working Class.

He notes: ‘this question of the limits beyond which the Englishman was not prepared to be pushed around.. and the limits beyond which authority did not dare go, is crucial..’

It might further be noted that the Freeborn Englishman was not necessarily someone always on the left of politics. This was a far deeper issue, about the right to express a political opinion without the State stepping in.

Update

There was a report in the Observer (30th March)https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/29/met-raids-quaker-meeting-house-and-arrests-six-women-at-youth-demand-talk?CMP=share_btn_url

The Sunday Times also led its front page with the story

The Reform rally at the Birmingham Arena (entrance by ticket £5) was hit by protests on Friday. Media reports suggest that the event was delayed by an hour by anti-racist protests before the owner of Reform, Nigel Farage, could deliver his latest ‘thoughts’.

Also active were the prangsters Led By Donkeys who specialise in deflating the enormous egos of hard right politicians.

A report in the Observer (30th March) notes that while the venue held 10,000 it was only around half full. As the report goes on to note this is still an impressive turnout, at least until you factor in an important rule of organising a political meeting. Namely that the space booked should be a bit smaller than the numbers anticipated so it can be claimed that it was ‘standing room only’. The report also suggests that at one point chanting broke out for Rupert Lowe who has been expelled from Reform

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/29/nigel-farage-rupert-lowe-rally-reform-uk?CMP=share_btn_url

All this will be a footnote at best to media reports that tend to hang on every word Farage spouts but the impact on those Reform types who thought they were signing up for a respectable alternative to the Tories (and there will be some even if we assume Reform has been inflating its reported membership figures of 200,000+} will be there.