We shall of course see and I’ll post more seriously on this. I’ve already seen posts saying he will move left once in Office. That kind of idea has a very long history..
But it is more about what trade unions and socialists and campaigners do at the grassroots than what Burnham does at the top that will determine how things will develop. Does he know that? Again we shall see…
Lord Hannan is a Tory Peer and former MEP with the kind of whacky political ideas that make Count Binface look mainstream.
This may explain why Hannan devoted a page in the Telegraph recently to attacking Binface. It might pass as satire if Hannan himself was not also part of the satirical tradition (he may not concur).
One particular oddity is Hannan’s mention of the Wigan kebab. Capping the price of this delicacy was part of Count Binface’s programme in the Makerfield By-Election. It is not part of his Clacton manifesto where, rooted in local realities, he promises to cap the price of a 99 flake at 99p, (99 flakes are not beard friendly btw).
Hannan claims that capping the price of a Wigan kebab would create a shortage as it would no longer be profitable to make and sell them. That perhaps would depend on the price cap level but such realities of market capitalism are beyond the Brexiteer.
Whether Hannan has a kebab on his way home from the pub or not, what he fails to grasp is that a Wigan kebab is in fact a pie in a buttered bread roll, sometimes with beer foam. The pie is often a meat and potato variant. Give me pie, mash and green liquor any day which Count Binface might keep in mind for any future London By Elections.
After the World Cup Final Keir Starmer will no longer by Prime Minister and Andy Burnham will be.
One of the things Burnham has already done is to issue a statement noting that Labour had got it wrong on Gaza.
The statement left quite a bit to be desired but also important was that it was made at all. It was a recognition both that Starmer’s policy on Gaza had cost Labour support and also an understanding that there is a powerful Palestine solidarity movement that has kept on keepin on despite increasingly authoritarian measures on the right to protest.
As the political obituaries of Starmer are written a range of issues are mentioned (and also some of the positives such as nationalisation of rail companies and changes to employment law-albeit more is needed- are passed over) but one that is rarely touched on is Gaza.
The YouGov poll is hardly definitive but it gives a sense of where Burnham needs to go to attract the support of the many disillusioned by Starmer.
You don’t need to be in a pub or cafe for too long to hear conversations to the effect that all politicians are somehow ‘on the make’.
While some are that is of course not true of many, even the occasional Tory.
However Farage and Reform are, rightly on present evidence, seen as far sleazier than others. Does that matter to their core vote? Mostly, probably not. But to a wider layer who ‘might’ vote for them it may look rather different.
Farage’s trick of claiming to be for the many not the few while in practice doing the complete opposite may be in some trouble. The trouble can be increased by grassroots campaigning around genuine ways to improve people’s lives.
What were Stuart Hall. Ralph Miliband and E P Thompson doing on 30th July 1966, the World Cup Final at Wembley?
The social historian David Kynaston has a new book out in September looking at 1965-66 based on memoirs and diaries of the time.
The Sunday Times (12th July) has an extract of the pages covering the 1966 World Cup Final at Wembley. England beat Germany 4-2.
Possession of a TV (black and white) was then far from universal. The TV would usually be rented rather than owned.
Kynaston notes
In Birmingham the writers David Lodge and Malcolm Bradbury, neither of them possessing a TV, are watching in the flat of the absent cultural theorist Stuart Hall.
BBC highlights were broadcast at 10.20pm. Kynaston records
The cream of the New Left including E P Thompson and Ralph Miliband were gathered at the writer Mervyn Jones house off Blackheath Common; and once it starts, they get so irritated by the American essayist Clancy Sigal’s exuberance over a German defeat, his lamentable lack of ‘comradely internationalism’ that eventually Thompson and Sigal have it out in fisticuffs in the back garden
With Brendan McCullum sacked as England Men’s Test Coach (during an England Women’s Test Match) the Beard Liberation Front has said that Bazball, the style of playing Test cricket that McCullum pioneered, ended up bringing the hirsute into disrepute.
The BLF has consistently called in the recent period for McCullum to shave off his beard in the hope that this might help to address what became a failing impact of BeardBazBall Power.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, Brendan McCullum started as an excellent example of Beard Power in cricket but eventually his tactics were found out by other teams and now he has ended up shaved.
The Borsetshire Show dredged up the Duchess of somewhere to announce the Awards. The Ambridge Socialist team booed but the BBC report obviously ignored it. It was followed on Friday by more grovelling to the Royals, this time Camilla.
A new shower scene
Leaving aside the fake tan Chris and Lotte almost managed a classic shower scene in his modern horsebox. Perhaps it happened but the BBC report swerved that too.
Bert Horrabin is back
Bert has returned from Clive’s place. The BBC have reported he has a beard. In fact he has worn a beard for many years. He remains as grumpy and irascible as ever, very much in the great Archers tradition of rural old codgers. That is not to say that it is a good tradition of course.
Ian goes nuclear
Adam has found out how much lawyers fees are and a 2026+ version of Jarndyce v Jarndyce with Brian now seems unlikely although Ian remains keen. In the meantime he has confronted Brian and told him that he knows Rory bottled George and he will tell him unless Brian gives Adam the money (amount unknown). Interesting times
In Other News
David has worn an ill-fitting bowler hat
Lynda has decided she doesn’t want to volunteer in the village shop because the shelf layout is wrong.
‘One of my farm hands’ Brian on Ed Grundy
The Ambridge Socialist tribute to Jill Archer (Patricia Greene)
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that after consulting its supporters it is backing Count Binface in the forthcoming Clacton By-Election.
In a poll 64% backed support for Count Binface with only 7% opposed, while 28% wanted a statement that he is Beard Friendly.
The campaigners say that since Count Binface’s public persona involves covering his face with a bin it is not possible to determine if he is hirsute. However a campaign video does suggest that this is the case.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said the approach of Count Binface and the BLF are aligned. We both have a light hearted perspective on events but with a serious undertone. When it comes to Clacton opposing perpetually clean shaven Farage is an important campaign for us.
While it is entirely possible that Sunday Telegraph Editor Allister Heath will write something similar to the above it is in fact a New World meme generator
