Kmflett's Blog

Cats and politicians are connected. After all Larry the 10 Downing St cat is a national celebrity.

Keir Starmer and family do have a cat called JoJo. In an interview in April he noted that his children were more friendly to the cat than they were to him. A familiar syndrome hardly unique to the Labour leader.

Tom Baldwin’s biography of Starmer makes reference to him extracting JoJo from a fight in the back garden and getting a scratch on this thumb as a result.

This does beg the question of whether JoJo is the terror of Kentish Town. Another cat who once lived nearby was known as the terror of Regents Park Rd:

After taking early retirement from the family firm in Manchester Engels moved to London and lived in Regents Park Rd until his death.

Writing to Karl Kautsky on 27th December 1891 Engels reported on the activities of his cat Tidlums:

Tidlums has grown into a large, majestic tomcat, the sultan of all the female cats in Regent’s Park Road and the terror of all competitors and rivals.

The long overdue release of Julian Assange is a victory for the power of protest over the interests of what remains the US and UK military industrial complex. Its also a reminder that although the law is designed primarily to protect the rich and powerful that hasnt worked historically unless the rights of at least some ordinary people are also protected.

Of all the post-1945 figures to have considered the Rule of Law the one who arguably wrote most powerfully on it was E.P Thompson.

He devoted a concluding section of his book Whigs and Hunters to the matter. In the book Thompson looks at the eighteenth century Black Acts which listed a growing number of often petty offences for which offenders could be hanged. It was the period of the ‘Bloody Penal Code’. In practice matters often did not work quite like this as Jurys refused to convict people.

Thompson recognised that defending the Rule of Law from the left was not a popular thing to do He noted that ‘I stand on a very narrow ledge, watching the tides come up’. [p260]. However he argued that ‘it is not possible to conceive of any complex society without law’ [p260].

Indeed as he knew well from his researches, ‘for as long as it remained possible, the ruled- if they could find a purse and a lawyer-would actually fight for their rights by means of law’ [p261].

This was not just an individual thing but a collective position. Thompson argued that the rhetoric of the plebeian crowd, of the free born Englishman’ was centrally focused on ’inviolable privacy.. habeus corpus…equality before the law’ [p264] In other words a workable system of law was basic to a defence of popular rights.

He recognised of course that the law was ‘devised by men of property as a defence against arbitary power’ [p264] but argued that a system that provided defence against arbitrary use of power by authority was important to working people as well as the bourgeois [p266].

In short Thompson saw ‘a whole inheritance of struggle about law’. The Rule of Law and what it means is important in any complex society but it is also something to be argued about, and struggled over not just dismissed.

The S*n & Labour. From Blair to Starmer

The S*n has been having some kind of Election debate featuring Sunak and Starmer and social media suggests that the paper may back Starmer as it did with Blair in 1997.

I don’t read the S*n but I do cast an eye over the Times which is mostly just the S*n with longer paragraphs. The current Editor Tony Gallagher is a former S*n man. The best one could say about the paper’s numerous Editorials on Starmer and Labour policies is that they take the view that Labour will be elected and as many blocks as possible need to be in place to stop it doing anything at all.

The S*n and the Times no longer publish circulation figures but certainly the sales of the former are nothing like what they were in 1997. Influence lies elsewhere.

Starmer said he would not deal with the paper or write for it when he was elected leader but like everything else he has moved on from that. There are good reasons why a labour movement boycott of the paper remains in place.

Alastair Campbell has been too busy playing the bagpipes in Germany to comment so far but here is what he said before 1997:

As early as August 16^th 1994 Alastair Campbell was recording in his diary:

‘I’d read an interview with Murdoch in Der Spiegel in which he said he could see himself backing Blair. TB said he was probably messing around. I wasn’t so sure. The right wing have had it with Major, and I think we can really make trouble. The aim should be to keep the left press on board, neutralise the Mail, and if possible get the S*n to back us’.

Keir Starmer has been out on the farm on the eve of the Election. Clearly he is backing Chris Archer to defeat Bufton Tufton in South Borsetshire. The Ambridge Socialist calls for a vote for Sid Grundy. Our Manifesto is below

The Ambridge Socialist 2024 Election Manifesto

We stand for a workers socialist Borsetshire

1 Unionise Casey Meats, Brookfield & Home Farms

2 Enforce the real living wage across Borsetshire workplaces

3 Ban zero hours contracts

4 Demolish the base of the Borsetshire Hunt, the Stables & build genuinely affordable Council housing

5 Give Eddie Grundy a seat on the Board of Borsetshire Land & give him the casting vote

6 Twin Ambridge with Rafah

7 Erect a statue of Joe Grundy on the Village Green

8 Nationalise Grey Gables

9 Place The Bull under the control of the community

10 Provide a reasonably priced regular bus service from Ambridge to Borchester & Felpersham

11 Nationalise Bartleby under Grundy’s control

From X 23rd June. A picture worth a thousand words

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/02/tories-accused-of-colonising-state-by-granting-public-roles-to-allies

Britain’s system of public appointments needs to be overhauled by an incoming government over alleged Tory cronyism that has seen dozens of former MPs, party supporters and donors given key public roles, campaigners have urged. The public appointments system was reformed in the 1990s, but ministers still retain significant powers during the selection process. Experts say the current system in effect allows a party to “colonise” key parts of the state.

The above appeared in the Guardian on 2nd June. Since then allegations of Tory staffers betting on the date of the Election have appeared while the scandals of Baroness Mone & PPE and the privateering water companies continue

23rd June

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has distanced itself from Bob Geldof after he issued a call to vote Tory on 4th July. Geldof has posted a video supporting Tory candidate for Sutton Coldfield Andrew Mitchell who he says is a friend and decent politician.

Before Parliament was dissolved Mitchell was Lord Dave Cameron’s voice in the Commons on foreign affairs. On current polling his seat is a marginal between Tory and Labour

The Beard Liberation Front is not Party political but instead focuses on promoting positive images of beard wearers. It follows that the BLF does not support clean shaven Tory candidates. When it comes to hirsute Tories, Jonathan Gullis who is set to lose his Stoke seat is barred but the BLF is supporting the Tory candidate in Clacton, Giles Watling as likely to be best placed to defeat beard hater Farage.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, it is regrettable that Bob Geldof has called for support for a clean shaven Tory candidate. He is in danger of bringing the hirsute into disrepute by doing so.

23rd June

For a Workers Borsetshire

The Ambridge Socialist Election Manifesto will be published on Monday. In the meantime we have challenged Labour candidate Chris Archer to a debate on the way forward for the left in Borsetshire

Alice pleads not guilty. A matter of class

When the Workers Republic of Borsetshire is established Alice will be found guilty by a people’s tribunal of being a member of the ruling Archers Dynasty. Meanwhile she has pleaded not guilty to various driving offences at Borchester Magistrates Court. Technically this is correct although solidarity may be in short supply

Mick needs to join a Union

Oliver may be a patrician Tory but Tory he remains, the only known reader of the Spectator in Ambridge. Mick has been living a charmed existence firstly appearing unkempt and annoying one of the snooty Grey Gables guests. Secondly going on the roof with Joy. He needs to join a union before any more indiscretions

Sgt Knacker Burns is still doing God

Knacker Burns has been in secret discussions with Alan Vicar about suitable prayers for what he imagines was his still born baby. Fallon prudently doesnt do God, or babies. There will be trouble ahead

Subjects that interest the BBC’s Ambridge Editor & Scriptwriters

1 Horses 2 ReWilding

Wednesday October 31st 1951

The 1951 General Election was held on 25th October 1951. The Tories narrowly won and Winston Churchill returned as PM.

In his diary Tony Benn recorded that a then young psephologist David Butler had come for dinner

‘He had been summoned to Hyde Park Gate about 10.30 in the morning, where he found Winston in bed drinking a whisky and soda..

He asked David several questions about his chances of success in the Election. David was cautious and indicated that an overall majority of forty or so was likely. Putting it into betting odds he got a more lively response

Beard Liberation Front

Press release 22nd June

Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett 07803 167266

Ian McKellen shaves Michael Rosen to be named Beard of Summer 2024

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that as part of National Beard Week, Ian McKellen has shaved Michael Rosen to be named Beard of Summer 2024

There were two rounds of voting for the coveted seasonal accolade with a final Beard Off vote

Ian McKellen and Moeen Ali won the first round of voting. The second round was won by Michael Rosen and Gareth Southgate.

In the Beard Off Final Ian McKellen shaved Michael Rosen 37% to 33%. Just under 5,000 votes were cast.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, we are pleased that Ian McKellen’s beard survived his recent unfortunate fall, and we hope that recognition that it is the Beard of Summer 2024 will cheer him up.

Beard of Summer 2024 Shortlist

Michael Rosen, Arsenal fan and trade unionist

Michael Eavis, legend

Ian McKellen, actor

Gareth Southgate, football manager

Harry Kane, footballer

Morgan McSweeney, Labour organiser

Moeen Ali, cricketer

Giles Watling, Tory candidate, Clacton

Vote pinned @kmflett X

National Beard Week 2024

Monday 17th June: Hirsute Personality of the Year: the beard wearer who has made the positive public impact during the year. 2024 winner- Jeremy Corbyn

Tuesday 18th June: Beard Friendly Sandwich of the Year: the sandwich that goes in the mouth not the beard. 2024: Bacon or Facon

Wednesday 19th June: Hirsute Broadcaster of the Year: the broadcaster whose beard has had the most public impact. 2024 Aatif Nawaz

Thursday 20th June: Pogonophobe of the Year: the most notorious beard hater of the year; 2024 Nigel Farage

Friday 21st June: Beard Friendly Election Manifesto Liberal Democrats

Saturday 22nd June: Beard of Summer 2024: the third of the four quarterly seasonal Awards 2024 Ian McKellen