Kmflett's Blog

26th August is International Dog Day. Like at the best traditions its an invented one, and quite recently, in 2004. Its clearly been seized on by the ‘Dog Industry’ to promote all things dog related. That said dogs are omnipresent both in life and literature. I had a look through the collected works of Marx and Engels for dog references. There are quite a few, mainly well known examples of how dogs feature in speech i.e ‘raining cats and dogs’ (a favourite phrase of Engels when in London later in life).

I also came across a reference to actual London dogs in a letter Marx wrote to his daughters, who were staying in Bagneres du Luchon on 13th June 1871. The reference to ‘cousins from the country’ refers to refugees from the Paris Commune. Unlike Britain in 2026 they were free to enter the country and stay. The police no doubt kept an eye however hence Marx’s coded reference.

Here in London life is just now dull enough. The cousins from the country are thronging its streets. You recognise them at once by their bewildered airs, their astonishment at everything they see
and their feverish anxiety at the convolution of horses, cabs, omnibuses, people, babies, and dogs.

According to a memoir written by Marian Comyn:

Karl Marx was fond of dogs, and three small animals of no particular breed–of a mixture of many breeds indeed–formed important members of the household. One was called Teddy, another Whisky–the name of the third I forget, but I fancy that, too, was alcoholic. They were all three sociable little beasts, ever ready for a romp, and very affectionate. One day, after an absence of six weeks in Scotland, I went to see Eleanor and found her with her father in the drawing-room, playing with Whisky. Whisky at once transferred his attentions to me, greeting me with ebullient friendliness, but almost immediately he ran to the door and whined to have it opened for him.

The memoir was written in 1922 but Comyn was a friend of Eleanor Marx and visited Marx’s Kentish Town home in the later 1870s

I’m in my later 60s and have never voted Tory and never will, to be honest, its an unusual thing to do for someone of any age in Tottenham. However the Tories do have an age problem both amongst their membership and those that vote for them.

Of course they have done a great deal to create the problem themselves. Thanks to Boris Johnson and his mishandling of the pandemic its estimated that around a million people who voted Tory in 2019 are no longer with us.

The pandemic aside this is a natural process. As more senior voters depart so they are replaced by younger ones. The problem the Tories have is this is not happening at anything like the rate needed to maintain their vote.

On 14th August 2024 YouGov reported the following:

The age at which voters are more likely to become a Tory instead of voting Labour is now 63.

Analysis of last month’s general election result by YouGov found the median age of Tory supporters has risen by 24 years since the previous national poll.

The crossover point at the 2019 general election was 39 as Boris Johnson won a landslide victory for the Conservatives, down from 47 in 2017.

It had fallen to as low as 34 at the 2015 general election as Lord Cameron won over young voters.

But an exodus under Rishi Sunak’s leadership resulted in the tipping point rising to 63.

As of the previous leadership elections in 2022, the average age of a card-carrying Tory member base was 57, meaning the party has an older membership than any of its main rivals.

The median age of a Labour voter is 46, a Liberal Democrat voter 48, a Reform UK voter 56 and a Green Party voter 39.

The Ambridge Socialist

25^th August

George is back with Clive Horrobin. It could have been worse, it might have been Farage

George after a brief absence due to his failure to attend a police station and confess to his role in the bridge crash has returned home with his new special friend, Clive Horrobin.

Clive hasn’t been around in Ambridge for a good while, mostly because he has been in prison. In fact so long has he been away that the BBC had purged mention of him as one of the characters in the Archers.

Suffice to say for those who don’t recall, Clive is not a proletarian hero. He is rather an unpleasant and violent individual who it must be suspected will end up being arrested for his role in far right riots earlier in August.

Clive is now planning to blackmail Emma and Will that he will dob George in to the police. As often with Clive there is a problem with this. Namely (see above) his appearance at a police station will lead to his own arrest.

Changing places

Roy is selling the house Kirsty currently lives in so plans for Denise to move in don’t look good. On the other hand Alistair could buy it and move in with Denise and Kirsty could rewild the Professor. This one will run and run like most Archers stories.

Fete v Stables: which side are you on?

We have eventually reached the annual Ambridge Fete. There don’t appear to be any celebs this year and the focus is on litter picking. This is fine with the Ambridge Socialist. It’s certainly preferable to the relaunch of the Stables which represents ruling class Ambridge at its worst

Eric Hobsbawm’s holidays, the imperial angle

Late August is a time perhaps to consider holidays and for socialist historians where people like E P Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm went on holiday has some historical interest.

Both Thompson and Hobsbawm leased holiday cottages in the Croesor area of North Wales from the late 1960s. They were leased from Clough Williams-Ellis best known for Portmeirion. He was keen to encourage a range of people into the area.

However it was predominantly Welsh speaking which Thompson and Hobsbawm were not. Hobsbawm (and perhaps his partner and family) enjoyed walking in Snowdonia. Also nearby was Blaneau which in the late nineteenth century had been a centre of slate quarrying leading to development of railways and shipping to move the slate.

Hobsbawm while focusing on nationalism and imperialism does not seem to have picked up on this angle.

As Richard J Evans notes in his biography of Hobsbawm from the early 1990s the rise of militant Welsh nationalism saw a significant number of attacks on holiday homes in North Wales that were left empty for much of the year. Hobsbawm gave up his lease and moved south to a property in Hay on Wye where he became a regular speaker at and eventually President of the Hay Literary Festival.

E P Thompson died in 1993 so this didn’t apply in his case unfortunately

King Charles and Camilla have long been obsessed with the English Civil War. Its fair to say that they are not fans of Cromwell and perhaps that can be understood given that King Charles 1st mislaid his head in Whitehall on 30th January 1649.

The King’s obsession however seems to be extending further.

The British Hen Welfare Association looks to re-home hens at the end of their laying life rather than sending them off to be despatched. The King has agreed to house some at his Gloucestershire residence, Highgrove.

He has named one hen Henrietta, after Henrietta Maria of France who was Queen’s Consort to Charles 1st from 1625 to 1649 (see above)

(Times 24th August)

Jeremy Clarkson has opened a pub, the Farmers Dog, in the Cotswold near Burford. He has reportedly barred Keir Starmer who may have other matters on his mind.

A comparison with a Wetherspoons pub in the Cotswolds, albeit 20 miles away in Witey.

At the Farmer’s Dog Clarkson is selling Gammon steak for £19. A pint of Hawkstone lager, a local brewery in which Clarkson has an interest, is £6.50. A meal and pint costs hence £25.50

At the Wetherspoons pub, the Company of Weavers in Witney, Gammon and eggs with a pint of lager costs £13.42.

Choose your right-wing pub owner, or perhaps just drink elsewhere according to preference

Both Engels and Marx spent a good deal of the summer at seaside resorts. Below Engels wrote to Marx from Ramsgate. Marx had earlier been in Brighton. Engels was invariably concerned about the quality of the beer in whichever seaside town he was in. Camden Square was and is central for Ramsgate shops, beaches and the Royal Harbour

It’s still very fine here, moderately hot summer temperatures
and a cool wind off the sea, on top of which the bottled beer is
excellent and salt water bathing ‘a proper treat

Engels to Marx 11th August 1875, 11 Camden Square, Ramsgate

The weather forecast for the late August Bank Holiday is mixed, or to put it another way there will be rain, possibly quite a bit of it

The question is relevant because the August Bank Holiday in Scotland was on 5th August and in England and Wales its three weeks later

Reviewing the date of the holiday is likely to be more popular than trying to change its name to Margaret Thatcher Day, which a small group of Tory MP’s proposed in the House of Commons in 2013.

The August Bank Holiday was set as the first Monday of the month by the 1871 Bank Holidays Act and only changed for an experimental period to the last Monday in 1965. The change was made permanent in 1971 in the Banking and Financial Dealings Act but does not apply to Scotland. It was primarily a result of pressure from the holiday industry who felt that a later holiday would extend the season.

Before legislation in 1938 Bank Holidays were the only official paid holidays available to workers and were seen as a significant advance in working class leisure time.

The August Bank Holiday was the most popular of those agreed by the 1871 Act precisely because it was in summer and the weather was likely to be better for a trip out than the Easter holiday.

Railway companies ran excursions and extra trains to seaside destinations.

The nature of holidays, although still strongly influenced by school terms, has changed considerably in the last 40 years with short breaks at home and abroad more popular.

However the weather and certainly the available sunlight hours are potentially better earlier in August.

Recent discussion of bank holidays has focused on whether the UK should have more, if May Day should be maintained and if there should be an autumn bank holiday. Yet there is something of an historical case now for moving the August Bank Holiday in England and Wales back to its original early August date.

The nature of work and of holidays has changed considerably since 1971 and I suspect that while the period around the current Bank Holiday remains a popular time to take a break, peak holiday time is in the two weeks after schools break up (in many areas) in late July.

In Good Company which brought Fourpure and Magic Rock from Lion/Kirin in 2018 has announced the closure of Fourpure’s Bermondsey Brewery and Tap. Operations will move to Magic Rock in Huddersfield.

In Good Company also owns Big Drop. Fourpure whose presence seems to be mainly cans in supermarkets applied for time to pay its debts in March 2024. Its unclear whether creditors agreed or if this means the existing Company will be wound up and started with a similar name in Huddersfield.

The move mirrors the activities of private equity company Breal who own Black Sheep in Masham, Purity, Brick and Brew By By Numbers without it perhaps being entirely clear what beer is being brewed where.

Part of the logic of craft beer was provenance- that is to be based in a community, a local area. Beer from somewhere rather than beer from anywhere. Fourpure becoming a Huddersfield brewery cuts against its Bermondsey roots, even if I’m a big fan of the former town and no fan of Sarf London. it is however the logic of capital.

The bottom line is or should be people. Apparently Fourpure’s backroom operations will remain in London but there will be job losses in the brewery and taproom. Another reminder of why being in a union is a good idea, not least if it comes to it to get better than statutory redundancy payments.

What will happen to the Bermondsey brewery, revamped in 2021 is unreported so far.

GCSE results: the shadow of the 1944 Education Act still lurks

GCSE results in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were released on 22nd August and the conundrum about who achieves what grade and why continues.

The results were broadly in line with those achieved in 2019 the last year before the pandemic which was what Ofqual the regulator was aiming to achieved.

Those students who passed, having studied during the very difficult pandemic period deserve congratulations.

The proportion of top grades awarded to those at Grammar schools rose to 60.3% from 59.4%. The figure for fee paying schools 48.4% (47.5%) while Comprehensive schools were more or less static at 19.4%

The perhaps obvious point here is that Ofqual in England have determined an artificial quota for those who achieve the top grade. Why is it not the case that anyone student who meets the criteria for achieving the top grade receives it?

A light was shone of Ofqual approach this year when Ofqual determined that top grades for French and German should rise. They did. French has gone up from 5.1% in 2019 to 8.1% now. German has risen from 5.8% to 10.4% over the same period. Well done obviously to the students involved and perhaps hard luck to students who sat the exams in 2019 who would have done better on the same performance 5 years later.

It goes further than just sense of fairness checking between individual examiners to make sure broadly similar grades are given for broadly similar papers. It suggests rather a worldview where only a certain  number can achieve but the number is variable depending on requirements. In the 1944 Education Act it was stated that 25% would go on to University and 75% would not.

The world has changed since then, University education has expanded and there is a much increased demand for those with qualifications. Now of course it might be argued that qualifications shouldn’t matter, capability and aptitude should. In a saner world one would hope so. In the meantime its surely worth asking what the pass/fail mentality of 1944 is doing still lurking in 2024.

Ofqual has a Chief Regulator but who regulates the Regulator