Kmflett's Blog

Beard Liberation Front

19th June

contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett @kmflett

National Beard Week 2024 Aatif Nawaz voted Hirsute Broadcaster of the Year

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that vote for the Hirsute Broadcaster of the Year 2024 has concluded with Test Match Special broadcaster Aatif Nawaz taking 44% of  the vote. Last year’s winner Michael Rosen received 29% of the more than 12,000 votes cast

In 2023 the Award was won by Michael Rosen who shared it with Bob Harris in 2022

The campaigners say that the world of broadcasting remains largely Pogonophobic despite Jeremy Paxman’s high-profile comments on the matter in his final months as presenter of Newsnight in 2013

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, we have to go back to the late Bill Frindall to find a TMS broadcaster who featured in BLF Awards. Aatif Nawaz has brought beard power and gravitas to cricket commentary and this is reflected in his support in the annual vote

Hirsute Broadcaster of the Year

Bob Harris, The Country Show

Gary Lineker, Match of the Day

Aatif Nawaz, Test Match Special

Michael Rosen, Word of Mouth

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 TBA

Friday 21st June: Beard Friendly Election Manifesto. TBA

Saturday 22nd June: Beard of Summer 2023: the third of the four quarterly seasonal Awards 2024 TBA

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has warned Boris Johnson, who is 61 on June 19th, to avoid growing the beard of political defeat.

As a Premier Johnson was a clean shaven disaster, such a disaster in fact that he did not campaign for the Tories in the 2024 Election but instead went off on yet another holiday.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, our birthday message to Boris Johnson, is to please avoid doing anything that brings the hirsute into disrepute and that includes growing a beard of political defeat.

Below is a footnote that E P Thompson made to his A Psessay in Ephology about the 1959 General Election. It appeared in the last issue of the New Reasoner, No.9, Autumn 1959. It merged with Universities and Left Review to become the New Left Review in 1960.

The footnote, though over 60 years old, does seem to capture quite well the relation between the media, leaders debate and opinion polls currently:

A psephologist is a man employed by the mass media to research into what people think the mass media has told them to think. An ephologist is a man employed by the ‘Observer’ or BBC to interpret the results of psephology and who makes an ephing good thing out of it

IPSOS has published an MRP poll which shows the current break down of support in each Constituency (except the 6 Counties of the North of Ireland). For those like myself who want the Tories out its good news. There is a Labour landslide coming with even people like Braverman and Truss not safe.

The map closely mirrors one that might have been found 60 years ago. Whatever Starmer’s changed Labour is the strongly working class areas of London, South Wales, the North-West and Tyneside are a sea of red just as they were in 1964.

It is though a one-dimensional politics. Turn-out is not likely to be high and the total share of the poll taken by Labour and the Tories is likely to be the lowest of recent times.There are many independent candidates standing some on socialist and Palestinian platforms. In the interests of wider democracy I hope there are some decent votes. A landslide however does tend to sweep aside all

The ISOS MRP map and analysis

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/uk-opinion-polls/ipsos-election-mrp

June 18th

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has called for the introduction of a Beard Assistant Referee at the European Football Championship to compliment the use of VAR.

The campaigners say that too many beard related events go unactioned at international football games and with many players now hirsute the matter has taken on a degree of urgency.

On Monday Olivier Giroud came on as a substitute for France who were playing Austria and was involved in an incident that narrowly avoided damage to his beard and hair combo. No action was taken by the referee.

The Beard Assistant Referee would be an easy add-on to VAR and could be used to check the following:

Where beards are tugged by an opponent-foul play

Where overly-robust tackling leads a players beard to impact with the pitch causing potential follicle damage

A check to see if a players beard was playing them on or off side

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said,its time VAR entered the 2020s and that means having BAR as an add-on to the technology

London Socialist Historians Group

Press release 18th June

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Historians call for release of Orgreave papers and independent inquiry 40 years on

The London Socialist Historians Group which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research has said that on the 40^th anniversary of Orgreave it is time for all official papers on the event to be released and an independent inquiry set up.

The failure of the Government to act shows disrespect to the miners who were at Orgreave 40 years ago, prevents lessons being learnt on the police riot that took place, and means that the history of the event may not ever be fully told

The historians say that those who were active in the strike and at Orgreave in particular have many questions about what took place that remain officially unanswered.

There is also a matter of recent history involved. While historians will in due course write histories of the miners strike- many contemporary accounts already exist-such an exercise would produce much more accurate history if the matter was reviewed while many of those involved are still alive and active.

The LSHG has called for all official papers relating to Orgreave to be released into the public domain and for these to form part of an independent inquiry

London Socialist Historians organiser Dr Keith Flett said, it’s not just a case of the Government having something to hide but more a signal that they are not really interested or bothered to find out exactly what did take place in an important moment in recent British history. It’s almost as if the history of working people doesn’t warrant too much concern. We don’t agree

Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign

Tony Blair was at the annual Order of the Garter Ceremony at Windsor on 17th June.

The Order which dates back to 1348 has a maximum of 24 members at any one time plus the King and Queen and assorted Royals (but not Prince Andrew)

I voted Labour in 1997 but I don’t remember anything about this being part of the New Labour project

Beard Liberation Front

Press release contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett 07803 167266

17^th June

Bacon named the Beard Friendly Sandwich 2024

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that the annual search for the most Beard Friendly Sandwich of the year has concluded with the humble bacon sarnie being voted the most beard friendly.

With 40% of the votes in an on-line poll it beat the 2023 winner the Chip Butty which got 33% of the poll

Each year during National Beard Week in June the campaigners search for a sandwich that does not have excessive mayo or salad which tends up in the beard rather than the mouth.

With the rise of designer sandwiches the bread around the sandwich filling, whether a traditional slice, flat bread or ciabatta, often fails to contain the contents which can then spill out into the beard even with the most careful eating.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett, if only Ed Miliband had had a beard when eating that bacon sandwich British politics might have looked rather different

Beard Friendly Sandwich 2024

1 Chip Butty

2 Bacon(or Facon)

3 Cheese & Marmite/Onion

4 Salmon

The importance of the vote: the Chartists & Suffragettes fought for it. Register by 18^th June 23.59hrs

A General Election take place on 4^th July. Some have argued that it is an election as decisive as that of 1945 or February 1974. We shall see on that but it matters not if you are eligible to vote but are not registered as in that case you won’t be able to vote for anyone on 4^th July

That said, and I’m far from an obsessive about Parliamentary elections of any kind, participation in  democratic elections is important as a principle.

It’s important because there is a hard right populist party in the field in the shape of ReformUK (which is actually a limited company not a Party) and the Tories are not too far removed from that agenda either. Even if you just cast a vote for any of the other parties it will make a point.

It’s also important because the Chartists fought for the right to vote for men, not finally achieved until 1918, and the Suffragettes did the same for women, achieved in 1928.

In the 205^th anniversary year of Peterloo it’s important to remember the sacrifices that people made to win the vote and it’s also important to remember that even today the hard right in the US is making extensive efforts to prevent working people from voting now echoed to some extent by the Tories here.

If you are not registered you can do it here:

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote