Starmer has been in Paris today with Macron at the French Armistice commemoration. He is the first British PM since Churchill to attend which if nothing else will annoy Boris Johnson who thinks he is the Churchill of the 2020s.
The occasion of course is a solemn one which makes the above picture, reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch, all the more absurd.
The words of course are from the Talking Heads song, Road to Nowhere, which it must be suspected is where Starmer and Macron may be heading. Given they are meant to be social democratic politicians that is of concern
Well, we know where we’re goin’ But we don’t know where we’ve been And we know what we’re knowin’ But we can’t say what we’ve seen
And we’re not little children And we know what we want And the future is certain Give us time to work it out
Boris Johnson was one of eight former Prime Ministers at the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph in central London on 10th November.
As tradition dictates he was by a long way the worst turned out. He messes his own hair up as a sort of trademark but on Sunday he appeared to be wearing a mop of hair. The reason he does this is to obscure a growing bald patch, a sort of unruly combover.
All that said his appearance in a life imitates art way is growing ever more similar to Steve Bell’s depiction of him. For those unfamiliar Bell draws Johnson as a naked bum topped by a mop of blond hair. In short an arsehole.
Steve Bell who was purged by the Guardian last year has a new book out from Verso carrying his last If cartoons for the paper, together with commentary. Its titled If Stands Up and has a thought provoking (for some) drawing of Starmer as a Crusader in Gaza on the front cover…
In late October-early November 1875, Engels and his wife Lizzie Burns tookLizzie’s niece Mary Ellen Burns to a boarding house in Heidelberg. On their return they stayed at the Lord Walden hotel in Dover.
The hotel was opened in September 1853, essentially as a rather grand railway hotel. Guests who stayed there included Napoleon 111 and Charles Dickens. Engels was another visitor although he had mixed views about the quality of the rooms and breakfasts and it seems the boot cleaning.
(122 Regent’s Park Road) Dear Pauli, We got back here safely last Saturday afternoon, having stopped overnight in Bingen, Cologne and Dover. In accordance with your advice we took the steamer from Bingen to Cologne and didn’t regret it for one instant. The crossing from Ostend was quite good for the time of year, though my wife suffered a little from seasickness for a while. In Dover, where we stayed at the Lord Warden, we recalled how once, in this same hotel, an old Englishman with six daughters had said: ‘THANK GOD, TS THE COMFORTS OF AN ENGLISH HOTEL’—consisting of a good bed and a bad breakfast and unpolished boots, for which they charged us the trifling sum of 16/-, say, sixteen shillings.
Michael Foot The Cenotaph, the Duffle Coat & the media
Michael Foot the former Labour leader died on March 3rd 2010 aged 96.
Well known as an early CND campaigner and someone on the left of the Labour Party, one incident in his lengthy career underlined how the media sees Labour leaders left and right.
In 1981 Michael Foot was criticised for wearing a ‘donkey jacket’ at the Cenotaph. In fact it was a perfectly decent winter coat (see below).
Michael Foot at the Cenotaph in 1981 wore a rather smart and warm coat. It’s now in the National Museum of Labour History (the People’s History Museum in Manchester)
one of the museum’s most striking exhibits – the coat worn by the Labour Party leader Michael Foot at the National Service of Remembrance, held at The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, on Remembrance Sunday, 1981. This coat was depicted in the press as a donkey jacket, which is something a manual worker might wear. As a result, it was widely believed that Foot, whose party then supported unilateral nuclear disarmament, had disrespected those who had sacrificed their lives in defence of the nation. He was, the argument went, consequently unfit to become Prime Minister. Yet, if you see the coat in the museum it is perfectly respectable and indeed Foot was praised by the Queen Mother for his choice. But, as Foot’s private papers held in the museum archive show, he received many letters from those who believed he had worn a donkey jacket.
Justin has been difficult over the lease renewal for the rewilding project, apparently for no other reason than he enjoys it. As a result, and Christmas is coming, Charles Dickens ghosts have been visiting. Martyn Gibson, not sober, in Justin’s car, explained why he now supported a moral economy. Former associate Miranda told Justin he was being a tosser, and Robert Snell did a bit of tech to tell Justin what the future held without rewilding. All very entertaining although quite where Kirsty’s mother Megan fitted into it is less clear.
A week of contracts
After the ghosts Justin offered Kirsty & Rex a new contract at a reduced rent. Everyone knows he is up to something. Justin is also behind the charging station where Fallon has now been offered a different and smaller unit- the third one. Again Justin is up to something
George
Emma and Will have been to visit George in prison. Work in progress
Kirsty and Helen
Location, location etc. The house situation will not go well. A tent on the village green beckons for someone
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that it has launched an inquiry into what appears to be a follicle crisis for Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
The team lost 2-1 to Brighton on Saturday, Guardiola’s fourth defeat in a row and the only occasion this has happened in his managerial career.
BLF experts are investigating pictures of Guardiola’s beard to try and analyse what the cause of his follicle crisis is.
Possibilities include:
lack of proper nourishment at the roots
Uneven hair growth meaning diminished Managerial Beard Power
Waning follicles which can distract a manager from the game
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, while Guardiola’s follicle crisis appears sudden it may be that hairs have been splitting for a while undetected.
Noting that Brains are sponsors of the 2025 Great British Beer Festival I asked on a certain social media platform if anyone knew if what to my mind is by far Brains best beer- Dark- was actually available on cask.
You can certainly get it in bottle in supermarkets. However its appearance on cask was rare- Brains claimed there wasn’t much market for it- and when Brains pubs were leased to Marstons it seemed to disappear altogether.
The range of cask beer available is now hugely larger than when I started drinking it in the early 1970s. Then there was bitter, mild (perhaps) and best or special bitter. This last would be a bit stronger sometimes reaching as much as 4.5% ABV.
Dark mild has not fared well since. Historically it was brewed at a range of strengths- its style not a strength- but by the 1970s it had overwhelmingly come to be a low alcohol beer. It might be drunk in quantity by those involved in manual labour but was increasingly replaced by lager.
The social media answer was that Dark is indeed available on cask in at least two of Brains central Cardiff pubs- the Old Arcade and the City Arms. Both are classic pubs in themselves. Last weekend I had a glass in both (around £4 a pint).
The good news is that the beer tastes much as ever. There are chocolate notes and it remains an easy drinking 3.5%. Hopefully it will continue to be brewed.
Much about Brains remains opaque- at least to me- but one thought is now that Marstons have sold their brewing interests to Carlsberg and become a pub company they have no interest is selling what are now Carlsberg beers in pubs they run. Hence in both the Old Arcade and City Arms the full range of Brains beers was available on cask and there was no sign of Marstons. Others might know more on this.
I continue to wish an imperial version was brewed but before that it’s a pity Brains Dark on cask is not promoted more. Its one of the classics of Welsh and indeed British brewing
Nigel Farage has told Sky News that he has bought a house in Clacton- he owns several other properties in Kent.
The location of the house is unknown but since Clacton Wetherspoons, the Moon and Starfish, has upper floors that seems a possibility.
Farage has not managed to hold a Constituency surgery, likely concerned about a visit from the friends of Stephen Yaxley Lennon who are supporting rival far right party UKIP.
How often Farage will manage to stay in his Clacton residence seems questionable given how much time he spends representing Clacton on the world stage in the US
The Ambridge Socialist has bid a sad farewell to June Spencer (Peggy) who has died at the magnificent age of 105.
She is the last link with the beginning of the Archers in 1950, and became the Matriach of ruling class Ambridge as well as being sponsor of Hilda the cat, an expert in animal class war..
Without question Peggy was the Matriach of ruling class Ambridge & according to Archers fan Camilla a Gangster Granny* (Times 9th November)
Below is an Ambridge Socialist from 2019 where Peggy put her financial backing behind what became the rewilding of Ambridge project
Reaching a significant birthday Peggy called a family meeting on Friday morning. Her aim: to save the planet, well Ambridge anyway. While those at the meeting were perhaps a slightly incongruous group- Brian Aldridge after all managed to pollute the Am and kill thousands of fish- Peggy announced her plan to offer £500K to those coming up with the best scheme to save the environment for future generations. The Ambridge Socialist is working on a proposal
As June Spencer celebrates her 100th birthday, calls for her to be made a Dame supported
The Ambridge Socialist has backed calls for the actress June Spencer, who has played Peggy in the Archers since 1951 continuously to be made a Dame.
The call has been made by fellow Archers actors Charles Collingwood and Sunny Ormonde (Brian and Lilian).
The Ambridge Socialist says that while it is not generally in favour of the honours system, recognising June Spencer who, via the Archers, has been part of national life for almost 70 years would be an appropriate way of recognising the achievement.
Ambridge Socialist Editor Keith Flett said, this is the first and probably the last time that we support something that Brian Aldridge has said.
The Eye is a satirical magazine and this still of a TV sketch from the 1960s works well as a satirical comment on class in Britain in 2024.
Except of course its all male and all white- that is not Britain in 2024
Also I don’t think Starmer does look down on the upper and middle class particularly if they have money to invest (and make profit from).
As for the ‘toolmaker’ (the late Ronnie Corbett) we know that Starmer’s father aside from being a Guardian reader with a beard was a toolmaker. Its a skilled occupation and only a fraction, albeit historically often the most politically advanced, of the working class.
All that said it still works well as satire particularly for those familiar with the original TV sketch…
