Kmflett's Blog

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

Prior to departing for the US again Farage did actually visit his Clacton Constituency on 21st August.

He has posted a brief video on his Twitter account for anyone bothered.

Obviously a key reason for his visit was to stop by the annual Clacton beer festival. Such festivals organised by CAMRA are inclusive (unlike Farage) and he is the local MP.

A reminder though that Farage and beer are about his public image. He is a lover of fine wines

The Clacton Beer Festival btw runs until Saturday and is well worth a visit. In addition Farage has flow out to his real home-the US- so you won’t bump into him

https://www.tendringcamra.org.uk/clactonfest.html

23rd August

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has launched an investigation into apparent beard trimming by JD Vance, Donald Trump’s current Presidential running mate.

Vance has appeared with a significantly trimmed beard and there is speculation that Trump, a well known beard hater, has ordered Vance to minimise his follicle impact.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, we are closely monitoring the JD Vance beard trimming situation. Frankly if he trimmed off entirely it would be an improvement were it not for the reality that this would just encourage Trump’s beard hatred.

Test Match Special has run two lunchtime Ask The Umpire sessions this summer, one during the West Indies Test series and another at the Old Trafford Test against Sri Lanka on 22nd August.

They have been hosted by John Holder, veteran player and Test Match Umpire, who is now retiring from the role. It will however continue with a new Umpire.

The Beard Liberation Front traditionally poses cricketing beard questions and the two for summer 2024 are below:

On July 26^th it featured the question of whether a player drying a ball in their beard would constitute ball tampering. John Holder ruled that it would. The player may well have used beard oil and this could alter the condition of the ball. Dead ball would be declared the player likely disciplined.

On August 22nd the question was: Conditions are overcast and there is a fine mizzle/drizzle falling. Its not enough for the Umpires to take the players off. However a batsman who is at the crease, and wearing a W G Grace style beard. finds that his beard is becoming increasingly waterlogged. It is hampering his ability to concentrate and play effectively. Can he retire hurt, blow dry his beard in the Pavilion, and then return to the crease at the fall of the next wicket? John Holder ruled that provided the Umpire agreed this would be ok. Jonathan Agnew opined that the player could simply ring their beard out at the crease.

SInce becoming PM on 4th July Keir Starmer has faced several urgent issues, not least a week of riots by far right inspired racists early in August. He subsequently cancelled a summer holiday.

However with Parliament sitting again for the first half of September a key issue remains unresolved, the Downing St cat flap. The Starmers have moved into Downing St from their Kentish Town residence and that includes the family cat JoJo. They have now added a third kitten after lengthy negotiations with their daughter.

How JoJo and the new as yet unnamed kitten will co-exist with the existing No.10 cat remains an open and so far unknown matter. Starmer has confirmed that he planned a cat flap so that JoJo could get out into the Downing St garden at the rear, made famous by Johnson’s COVID parties. Unfortunately so far the theory has not been turned into practice because the heavy security doors make it difficult to fit a cat flap. That no doubt explains why the No.10 cat is always to be seen prowling around at the front of the building.

Will blasting the bloody door off work perhaps?

Starmer’s biographer Tom Baldwin also reported in the Times that while the PM’s daughter wanted a dog, the plan was to acquire a companion cat for JoJo. There could be trouble ahead

Beard Liberation Front pays tribute to John Holder, Ask The Umpire on Test Match Special

22^nd August

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has paid tribute to the cricketer and First Class Umpire John Holder who has announced his retirement from the BBC Test Match Special’s Ask The Umpire feature.

Ask The Umpire a long standing part of TMS takes place in the lunch interval of at least one Home Test Match each summer. Holder answers listeners questions on Umpiring decisions. Given the complexity of the Laws of  Cricket there is always much to discuss.

Questions from BLF Organiser Keith Flett are a regular item each year. Holder provides knowledgeable answers while also grasping that they are not always entirely serious.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, John Holder’s knowledge will be much missed on Ask The Umpire. It is a sign of his knowledge and gravitas that he always deal with beard related questions in entertaining way.

Below is a question from the 2022 Ask The Umpire

We asked if a player with a luxuriant beard had dived to take a catch but it wasn’t clear if the ball was grounded on TV replays would be a player be out if the ball was lodged in the beard and therefore not on the ground.

John Holder ruled that the beard was part of the player and under their control so the batsman would be not out as the ball would be grounded in the beard.

Wiki

John Holder (umpire) – Wikipedia

Does Liz Truss think she is still an MP

Particularly after a stunt by Led By Donkeys (centrists not far leftists btw)who unveiled a joke banner while Liz Truss was speaking at an event in Beccles, there has been a debate about whether she is now a private figure and should be left alone or is still someone worthy of criticism.

Truss is a private figure in the sense she has no current public role. She remains however a public figure, as a former PM.

A rather odd twist to all this has developed after the MP who replaced her in South-West Norfolk Terry Jermy noted that he had not been passed any of her casework.

Data Protection rules apply but the Information Commissioners Office guidance is clear. Casework held by a former MP should either be destroyed if no longer current or passed to the new MP with the consent of the individual concerned.

The fact that Truss has not done this may suggest that she was not really doing casework or that it is in such a mess it cant easily be passed on.

There is a third possibility, somehow Truss thinks she is still an MP

A spokesperson for former South West Norfolk MP Truss told the on Friday: “Liz is diligently completing outstanding casework. Of course, due to data protection laws she cannot simply hand over constituents’ confidential information.”

Ousted MP Liz Truss Accused of Being in ‘Denial’ About Defeat as she ‘Clings to Constituent Casework’ – Byline Times

The media has reports (based on analysts briefings)that Birra Moretti is now the UK’s top selling lager. Sales are up 9.6% on the corresponding quarter in 2023. Its brewed in Manchester by global giant Heineken. It means that Carling’s position as top selling lager has been over taken. Carling is brewed by global giant Coors in Burton on Trent.

Disrupting the big lager market is Madri. Marketed as a Spanish beer it is unknown there and is brewed by Coors at Tadcaster.

Carlsberg reported recently that its UK’s sales were being hit by Madri.

While I normally blog and write for Culture Matters about craft beer, indy pubs and so on, understanding what global big beer and lager is up to in the UK market is also important. It provides the context for how the market is working (if it is) and perhaps explains why there is more craft lager out there.

Following Engels I enjoy a craft Pilsener btw

Beard Liberation Front

21st August

Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett 07803 167266

Campaigners remind Prince William that beards are not just for summer holidays

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that Prince William’s  new beard has now been evaluated by its hirsute standards sub-committee and will be eligible for the Beard of Autumn vote which will take place in a few weeks’ time

It is ran advisory poll of supporters to take soundings on whether Prince William’s beard is, so far, promoting a positive image of the hirsute in the public eye. While most had no particular view, of those who had an interest a majority felt that it was.

The campaigners have also warned against a possible Beard War between William and Harry which would certainly not reflect on the hirsute in a positive way.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, Prince William needs to avoid holiday beard syndrome. He can learn from Jeremy Paxman who kept an August holiday beard even when he returned to presenting Newsnight in September 2013. The BBC did not like it but Paxman stuck to his principles.