Source: the Financial Times
Tom Nairn published the Break Up of Britain in 1977.
The graphic is of particular interest because of the unusually long time frame dating back to 1945. From that it can be seen that the two 1974 General Elections began the process of the break up of the Labour-Tory dominance of Parliamentary General Election voting and, to a lesser extent, seats in the Commons
Beard Liberation Front
7th May
Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social
Campaigners send Michael Rosen birthday wishes. Follicles Forever!
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 80th 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, follicles forever seems like an appropriate chant to greet an 80th birthday and we wish Michael Rosen and his beard a happy hirsute birthday.
The above appears in the Telegraph on May 6th 2026. It refers to the World Snooker Championship that concluded in Sheffield on BH Monday. An accompanying cartoon shows Farage sinking a blue ball. A fair enough political comment on the May 7th election s it might be thought. Except…
Farage is shown with mouth open and a cigarette dangling from it. Quite true to life it might be suggested.
By contrast Polanski is depicted as having a hooked nose that he does not have. It was an image widely used in Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda in the 1930s.
Keir Starmer has said that there is an anti-semitism crisis in the UK. In fact anti-semitism has been a feature of British life for a very long time and one that needs to be opposed where ever it appears. That goes for the Telegraph cartoon. Don’t expect the police to raid the Telegraph’s offices though
ABInBev the global brewing giant that owns the classic beer Bass has reported increased profits (Financial Times 6th May).
For the first time since 2023 sales volumes of all ABInBev products were up 0.8% in Q1 leading to a 5.3% increase in profits to $5.4bn.
ABIn Bev which makes Stella and Corona said that beer was for moments of celebration looking forward to the World Cup.
Meanwhile on the ground floor Bass is brewed under licence by Carlsberg in Burton. Neither ABInBev or Carlsberg have any real interest in cask beer.
However ABInBev have started promoting Bass and its popularity is such that shortages of supply have been mentioned.
The profits ABInBev are making should hopefully mean that further investment in Bass won’t trouble the accountants.
The results in elections for some Councils in England, all Councils in London, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Senedd won’t be known until Friday afternoon to Saturday.
Understanding the results will be about how many seats the contenders win and lose against what the expectations based on pre-election polling will be. The perception of how parties do, well or badly, is important in determining a political mood.
Not reflected here but of interest is how the various community independent and socialist candidates, some under the framework of Your Party, some not, do. Local elections certainly in England remain local
Beard Liberation Front
Media release 6th May
Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that criticisms of the beard of Green Party leader Zack Polanski are unwarranted.
The campaigners say that as the only main party leader with a beard Polanski faces prejudice from those who dislike or hate facial hair- pogonophobes. This usually leads to the belief that something is being hidden under the beard and The Times seems to have become obsessed with ‘investigating’ this.
Zack Polanski has yet to win the coveted Beard of the Year Award but in the seasonal Beard of Spring 2026 Award held at Easter he polled well.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, we feel that Zack Polanski faces discrimination, often unstated, because he wears a beard. It is a persistent and rather ugly feature of British politics particularly when its considered that there has not been a Prime Minister with a beard since the early 1900s
Its not clear what the reasons behind the above graphic are (assuming accuracy) but it may be that the IPL has been Dun Whackin’
It might also explain why the IPL continues to expand the global footprint of its franchise business model. A Belgian T20 competition has been recently announced.
The Times cartoon changes perspective on Zack Polanski
A Times Editorial (2nd May) on Zack Polanski concluded that there is no evidence that he is personally antisemitic. Given that he is the only Jewish leader of a mainstream political party it seems a reasonable point.
Not so reasonable was the cartoon of Polanski published in the same issue which depicted him as a hook nosed Jew.
Here some historical context is needed. There is no reason why Polanski or anyone else should not be caricatured in a cartoon. The hook nose however is associated with Nazi and other fascist propaganda from the 1930s.
Of course other political leaders of recent decades who are Jewish have suffered related treatment. Think of Ed Miliband and the bacon sandwich or some treatment of the former Tory leader Michael Howard.
This should serve to underline that antisemitism has a very long history in British ruling class circles- The Times was seen as the ‘paper of record’ and can and has been used as a way of dividing people on the basis of prejudice and bigotry.
The Green Party have complained to The Times about the cartoon. It will be interesting to see if there is a response. If it’s that it was unintentional, that really won’t do. Antisemitic caricatures and prejudices have deep roots. They need to be recognised and rooted out not repeated.
Probably needless to say those who have been banging on about a rise in antisemitism in recent times (not without some justification, but, also often without a recognition of the long history of antisemitism in British society) do not seem to have noticed any of this. Perhaps they don’t read The Times.
On 5th May 2026 The Times published another cartoon caricaturing several politicians including Zack Polanski. Noteworthy, perhaps, is that Polanski is depicted with probably his most noticeable feature- a missing tooth or two. Nothing at all to complain about there I would suggest.
Zack Polanski told Laura Kuenssberg on 3rd May 2026
Zack Polanski also hit out at the Times over a caricature of him in the newspaper. The Green party has complained to the editor, saying the cartoon depicted Polanski using the antisemitic trope of a “visibly hooked nose”.
Manchester, 6 May 1868
Dear Moor,
I congratulate ANYHOW on the half saeculum, from which,
incidentally, I am also only a short span away. Indeed, what
juvenile enthusiasts we were 25 years ago when we boasted that by
this time we would long have been beheaded.
The above appeared in The Times on 4th May the 100th annivesary of the General Strike.
A reminder that the politics of the paper has not changed in the last century although under the ownership of Rupert Murdoch the paper itself hardly qualifies for its historic status as the paper of record
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