Kmflett's Blog

Picture: PA
The above picture accompanied an FT article on 14th May underlining that the reasons the Tories are doing so badly at the polls is their own policies.

Sunak gave his latest culture wars speech on Monday and the growing list of global enemies suggested that a real shooting war was the key Tory policy for the period to come.

His list of enemies that the UK faced was nowhere near as entertaining at that provided and frequently added to by Liz Truss. He did not of course mention the Tories record in Government since 2010 or try to defend it. Perhaps even he understood that no one would listen to that even most Tory MPs.

The central problem the Tories face however are the three Prime Ministers they have had since 2019, Johnson, Truss and Sunak. Each of their periods at No.10 has been chaotic in quite specific ways and all the while policy has slid every rightwards.

The result is that YouGov has the Tories under 20% in the polls and the Guardian has reported that the Tories election focus has shifted to seeing what they can salvage from seats where they currently have a 20,000 majority or less.

If amongst all that can’t also be detected the possibility of a reconfiguration of ruling class politics it would be surprising but not without historical precedent, albeit not since 1945

In the M&S craft beer section..

When it comes to drinking at home I either order beer directly from breweries (i.e small indy breweries) or buy from bottle shops. I should add that when I’m in North London I don’t drink at home, I go to the pub. There are plenty of good choices. When I’m in Cardiff that is unfortunately less the case

If I’m in a supermarket I’ll glance at the beer shelves, but wouldn’t be going in specifically for beer, unless it was one of Lidl’s Belgian or German beer weeks.

The range of beer in supermarkets has improved significantly with the arrival of craft beer. Of course big craft beer- Brewdog, Camden, Beavertown dominates(I swerve) and as Tim Martin regularly points out the price points usually undercut even Wetherspoons prices.

Waitrose arguably has the best beer selection and give that it is perennially in competition with M&S for a certain type of customer so does the latter.

I don’t go in M&S as much as I used to thanks to its continuing focus on shutting stores. M&S foodstores  are not so interesting that I need to make a special visit when other supermarkets are nearer. Who knows if that thought has occurred to M&S suits at their Paddington HQ.

On Tuesday I stopped by M&S in Central Cardiff- a three storey edifice with a food shop on part of the ground floor. I was actually buying cat sticks (the cat has a particular preference here) but also checked the craft beer range.

As everywhere else there is Brewdog and Camden. M&S continues its welcome focus on bottled beers from Adnams and Oakham. When It comes to craft cans change seems to be taking place. With the takeover of Brew By Numbers and Brick their beers had gone. Northern Monk and Vocation remain as do Pollys and for the moment Fourpure (a 7.4% dipa at £3.50). Beers from London brewers Gypsy Hill and Two Tribes have appeared as had 500ml bottles of Five Points Best, as what was an exceptionally reasonable price.

I’d more often be drinking some beard friendly niche craft beer in a bar or at home but its interesting to see what there is beyond the niche, because that’s where most beer drinkers, including those that like craft, are

Controversial histories: Revisiting E P Thompson & Women’s History

Barbara Taylor has an important and thought provoking piece on E P Thompson, gender and women’s history on-line at History Workshop

As she points out the writing and understanding of the history of working class women remains very much a work in progress.

Thompson’s Making of the English Working Class focuses on men, and criticisms of the absence of women as active makers did make an impact on him as Taylor notes.

Two points stand out for me in particular.

Firstly that while Thompson did come to engage with women’s and feminist histories he was less enthusiastic about actual socialist feminist activists (particularly in North London it seems!) in the 1970s and 1980s. It might be suggested that without such activists there would be a lot less of a focus on women’s history today.

Secondly Taylor refers to Thompson’s essay on Wife Sales which can be found in his collection Customs in Common. Thompson argued that these were essentially a means of divorce before it became legal.

There followed an exchange of letters in early 1990s editions of History Workshop- the last was in 1994 just after Thompson had died. Raphael Samuel argued that Thompson had ignored the reality that wife sales often had a background of rape and adultery. Thompson in a response justified his research.

I was also part of the exchanges, though understandably Taylor passes over my Fletter. Thirty years it only just about stands to be revisited. A summary of my argument is that Thompson might have found other matters to research balanced by the point that socialist historians should not avoid the awkward questions of history. From a 2024 angle this looks like some uncomfortable fence system. Samuel’s criticism had weight and one of the reasons Thompson didn’t accept it I suspect was precisely because he was not open enough to the research and arguments of socialist feminist historians of the 1970s and 1980s. His perspectives had been formed in earlier generations and it just did not compute..

Spurs play Manchester City on 14th May and this is an occasion which unites North London. If Spurs win they make progress towards a Champions League place, and they also help Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premiership.

Of course there will be splitters who want Spurs to lose even if that result only unites North London in the experience of defeat

Key to the battle will be which manager has greater Beard Power, follicles will be fundamental

E
Rishi Sunak gave his latest culture war speech on May 13th. He reeled a long list of threats which he claimed would impact the UK in the next 5 years. Very few people take this or Sunak seriously but even in that context he should have had a flick through Liz Truss’s memoir.

Where for example are the threats posed by North London and tofu eaters?

Harold Wilson was resolutely clean shaven although he did once mock Tony Benn when he briefly grew a beard in the late 1960s. He was however a model for the Pipe, Shorts and Sandals Season (here on the Isle of Scilly) long before its modern equivalent, the Beards, Shorts and Sandals Season came into being

13th May

With the British asparagus season now peaking after poor weather the Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearer, has drawn up a brief guide on how the hirsute can eat asparagus without causing follicle issues.

1 Steam or grill the asparagus according to taste.

2 Trim the end to make sure that the whole spear will be edible

3 Hold the asparagus spear between forefinger and thumb and place in the mouth.

4 Depending on the length of the asparagus spear a snood may be appropriate to avoid any flaking into the beard

4 Repeat to taste

5 If Hollandaise sauce or other dips are used it may be more appropriate but not essential to use a knife and fork. Generally a small amount of sauce should be able to be accommodated within steps 1-4 above.

Part of Keir Starmer’s interview with Tony Benn

Monday May 20th 5.30pm on Zoom

Benjamin Schoendorff The Socialist Alternatives experiment: an 1980s attempt to search for a new revolutionary subject

Free: Book at this link

https://www.history.ac.uk/events/socialist-alternatives-experiment-1980s-attempt-search-a-new-revolutionary-subject

the then Editor of Socialist Alternatives Benjamin Schoendorff looks at what the project was trying to achieve and reflects on the input of its most well known contributor, Keir Starmer

University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff

Lots of NHS people helped save my life in 2022. Last autumn I met one of them again

From exactly two years ago this weekend I spent several months in the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. I was very ill and needed four operations. It’s fair to say that consultants weren’t sure if I would make it. Of course such matters are not talked of directly. One did say to me shortly before I was discharged that if I was a cat I would have used up one of my nine lives.

Lots of people gave me expert care and assistance from porters and catering and cleaning people to nurses, doctors and consultants.

Last autumn I was back at the UHW Heath in Cardiff seeing a dear friend who was getting expert care in sorting out an issue.

While there I met Geraldine (Gerry) who nursed me in 2022. Gerry was not born in the UK but has been here for a good while and is a dedicated professional nurse. One of those that makes the NHS such a great service even now.

It was an emotional moment. I was so pleased to see a nurse who had helped me and she in turn that all that NHS care had been successful perhaps rather against expectations.

A reminder that at the core of the NHS are people values that the profiteers and privateers will never understand

12th May

Lenin noted that there are decades when nothing happens and then there are weeks when decades happen. Ambridge has experienced the latter this week

Indeed it has been a week when the Archers met Eastenders and the various Archers threads on Facebook went into overdrive- an interesting subject in itself, as various Ambridge residents featured in calls for vengeance.

Alice hit the bottle, George drove her car while she was mostly comatose, and it collided with a car that had Mick, Joy and Fallon in it. The scene was discovered by Alistair and Denise returning from an evening which did not include a shower scene.

Fallon was declared to be pregnant but lost the baby, possibly to her relief (in a way) and to the angst of Sgt Knacker Burns who daily grows more like a real policeman. That is an unreliable maniac.

Ultimately as often it comes down to class. Is working class George primarily in the frame here or is it down to Ambridge ruling dynasty Alice?

Beyond all that, and this won’t please the Archers Anarchists, there has been some superb acting.