Kmflett's Blog

Workers Memorial Day: COVID, London bus drivers & Boris Johnson. Not forgotten

There is a plaque at Braham St in East London to all the London Transport workers who died during the pandemic period.

There is unfinished business here on Workers Memorial Day

Whether or not Boris Johnson did say ‘let the bodies pile up’ before the third national lockdown, this was sadly and disgracefully exactly what happened.

One area was that of London bus drivers who helped keep essential matters running in the Capital during the pandemic.

It was established during the first wave of COVID-19 in the spring and early summer of 2020 that the disease had a differential impact depending on class and ethnicity.

There were more infections and sadly more deaths amongst ethnic minorities. This was briefly highlighted and was occasionally referenced by ONS studies but of course nothing was done by the Johnson Government.

It appears that some ethnic groups are more susceptible to COVID than others but there are many other factors in the mix including social class, occupation, geography and so on.

In 2021 the matter was highlighted again. Unite the Union which represents London bus drivers noted Transport for London figures that 54(October 2021) London bus drivers had died of COVID-19.

Bus driving in London where many key workers use the bus to get to work in London is an occupation where bus drivers in a cab for a lengthy period were more likely than many to be exposed to COVID-19.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56455845

It’s worth keeping in mind that the then Tory Government did nothing on raising sick pay to a level where lower paid workers could actually afford to self-isolate and eat. It then cut Universal Credit benefits. Those hoping that a Labour Government would address the issue have so far been disappointed at best.

The average salary for a London bus driver varies depending on hours worked but it is a bit above the average wage at around £30K, perhaps about or a little below the London average wage.

Many London workers from supermarket employees to cleaners and security guards earn less. They will often live in shared housing and need to earn a living come what may.

These are the people Boris Johnson didn’t know existed.

Not only they but that reality must be remembered on Workers Memorial Day 2025. And acted on.

28th April

As the Tory Government fades away in a barrage of culture war nastiness, many find life tough. Ambridge is no exception either for the ruling order or the proletarians

Injury

Ed has worked out that becoming a tree surgeon could be dangerous, will take a lot of work, cost a lot of money and might end in serious injury

Drink

Harry has gone to rehab, thats for the drink not his other issues. Alice has started drinking again. She is a member of the Ambridge ruling class but also a reminder that drink issues are not particularly anything to do with ‘feckless’ workers

Relationships

The very long running liaison between Alistair and Denise has sort of resumed. Eventually something may happen but it is the Archers

In Other News

Denise is still running dance classes at the village hall

The Times Diary (27th April) reports that well known psephologist John Curtice as told the Changing Europe think tank that the coming General Election will be the most boring since 1945. He argues that ‘all of the parties are led by somebody that is pretty dull and doesn’t excite the electorate.

He is clearly right. Sunak, Starmer and Davey are three clean shaven middle aged men in suits. They have some different policies but not that different.

Curtice claims that in the past the LibDems could be relied on to inject some interest. Referring to the late LibDem leader Jeremy Thorpe he notes ‘this lot would really be improved by a dog murderer’.

Thorpe faced trial in 1979 on a charge of being involved in an attempt to murder an alleged former lover Peter Scott, whose dog Rinka had been shot and killed. Thorpe was acquitted but the matter ended his political career

With 72 matches played over 1260 sixes were hit in the 2024 IPL.

Abhishek Sharma hit the most-42 with Heinrich Klaasen and Virat Kohli next on 38 each.

In 2025 there were xx matches played and xxxx sixes were hit

Nicholas Pooran topped the six hitting chart with 40

The reasons for the ever increasing number of sixes in games range from shorter boundaries to heavier bats being used and players who are more skilled at hitting them.

Michael Atherton (Times 25th April 2024) noted that John Arlott described six hitting as the most companiable act in cricket because there was a direct bond between player and spectator- particularly if the latter caught the ball.

Now so many are hit that its more like a game of whacker. The balance between bat and ball is destroyed. Indian crowds certainly love the spectacle as do, mostly, crowds in England and Wales in T20 games.

In my view there is a place for excitement in cricket and it can sometimes be very exciting. The six hitting deluge is turning what was once exciting into a commonplace.

The 2025 IPL started on March 22nd 2025. There are 74 games with the final on May 25th 2025

In its first week of publication sales of Liz Truss’s new book placed it 70th in the best seller lists. Just 2,228 copies were sold. The Times now reports (21st June) that the book has sold 5,242 copies so far.

By contrast sales of Call Me Dave Cameron’s memoir reached 74,196 and Tony Blair 351,478

As Bob Dylan noted, there is no success like failure and failure is no success at all

Alternatively perhaps nearly everyone who had any interest heard or read quite enough in Truss’s promotional tour for the book in the Spring

12^th April

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

2024 Beard, Shorts & Sandals Update as poor weather continues

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that the 2024 Beard, Shorts and Sandals Pre-Season remains open but extra care must be taken due to cold and wet weather in many areas.

The 2022 pre-season opened on 20^th March but with March 2024 one of the wettest on record and April likely to be similar only with improving weather will it appropriate for the full season to get underway.

2024 Pre-Season guidelines

1] Shorts should ideally be three-quarter length-‘culottes’ for the 2024 season. The length of shorts is particularly important as climate change may mean that unprotected legs get sunburnt. UV remains high even when the sun is absent

2] Footwear should be casual. There is a considerable range of sandal type footwear now available. Some leave parts of the feet and toes open to public view, while some do not. The BLF is not prescriptive about the matter.

3] Socks should usually not be worn. However in the pre-season they are optional

3a] If the beard, shorts and sandals are to be displayed in relatively busier urban areas it is likely to be prudent to wear closed rather than open casual footwear and ankle socks, not visible to others may be worn.

4] There is no prescription or definition on what type of beard may be worn, or how this may match with the shorts and sandals. This is left up to the individual.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, the Beard, Socks and Sandals season has been a major influence on summer fashions in recent times and we expect the 2024 season to be no different. After carefully studying the Met Office’s beard friendly guidance we continue to urge caution with poor weather conditions likely

 Marx & Engels & Hedgehogs. A tradition

It is something that has been noted before but perhaps too little remarked upon in recent times. I refer of course to the relationship between Marx and Engels and hedgehogs.

It is not known if the Marx household had a hedgehog but Engels, living with Lizzie Burns in Manchester, certainly did. In Victorian times hedgehogs were associated with a clean house as they ate insects such as black beetles.

Volume 43 of the Collected Works of Marx and Engels (Letters 1868-1870) has exchanges on hedgehogs.

On 3^rd January 1868 Jenny Marx wrote to Engels in German. Eleanor Marx then a teenager added a footnote in English:

‘you bad boy, why haven’t you answered my letters, I suppose you and the hedgehog have been on the spree again’

Eleanor was right as Engels, with or without hedgehog, had recorded that he had been over eating and drinking over the holiday period

Writing to Marx a few months later on 10^th April 1868 Engels noted that he had a death to announce,  ‘the poor hedgehog at a round hole in his blanket, put his head through it, and got so stuck in that he was found yesterday morning. Peace to his ashes and BETTER LUCK TO THE NEXT ONE

Engels reported below that he had been celebrating Paul and Laura Lafargue’s wedding with ‘the dogs’, a tea party for six children and a punch bowl for the adults. The  ‘poor hedgehog was made drunk for the last time’

Marx responded to Engels on 11^th April 1868 D’Abord, the general condolations, about the departed RIGHT HONOURABLE HEDGEHOG

This rather begs the question as to whether the hedgehogs Megan and myself see in the garden are Marxists. Since they are known to travel around up to two miles at night, one wonders what Suella Braverman and friends might do about it

Labour & Employment Law

Keir Starmer has got rid of or watered down nearly all of the headline policies that Labour had prior to a General Election. The only one left is a pledge to address worker’s rights and abolish Tory anti-union laws. A particular focus is on the right to strike where current Tory law could force workers who have backed action to work to ‘maintain service levels’. Rachel Reeves in a recent speech to City suits said that Labour would get rid of Tory employment laws back to 2010. Starmer has also underlined that action on rights at work would take place within 100 days of the election of a Labour Government.

Many, cynical of Starmer’s Great Moving Right Show, suggest that changes will end up not happening. The CBI is demanding that a ban on zero hours contracts, which it sees as restricting employers use of flexible labour, a polite phrase for exploitation, is watered down. Labour seems to be ready to review this and indeed to seek approval of business for the changes. Peter Mandelson has said that time must be taken while the Murdoch Times-a product of the Wapping dispute- has complained in an Editorial that changes to labour law represent Labour dancing to the tune of its ‘militant paymasters’. Those on the left might think the term really applies to business donors

We have been here before and some of the key players remain influential. The 1997 Labour Government headed by Blair promised to address the years of Tory anti-union laws by reinstating what it claimed would be a level playing field at work. The bigger issue was the introduction of a National Minimum Wage. This was opposed by many business interests on the basis that it could not be afforded, would not work and so on. However it was implemented and remains in force, albeit many would argue it should be higher.

The second was a Parliamentary Act on Employment Relations. Its notable that this did not become law until July 1999. It was not seen as a priority and there was a fair bit of time spent listening to business about it. It did not repeal any Tory anti-union law but instead gave legal force to trade union recognition and representation. It was a step forward from the Thatcher years but a very modest one.

Cabinet Papers available at the National Archives give an indication to what had been going on.

In the autumn of 1997 there is a file note of what is described as a ‘long and fractious discussion’ between Tony Blair and John Prescott on Fairness at Work. Prescott said that changes had been bought as a package by the TUC and if changes were planned this would need to be agreed by the Cabinet. Blair responded that the changes were practical ones because of what he claimed were genuine problems in how they would work. Blair wanted to allow a right of appeal to the measure, eventually implemented, which would mean that if 50% of workers voted for union recognition it would be automatically given. Prescott again argued that he did not think what the TUC had put forward was up for negotiation.

Employment rights were not part of Prescott’s Ministerial brief and the matter does not appear again until we find a file note from Peter Mandelson on 9th March 1998. It says ‘Union Recognition. Moving in the direction of the CBI. Ideal response for the TUC to be grumpy but not refuse to co-operate’.

Both Blair and Mandelson are of course still around and still influential. They have form on union rights so before Starmer’s changes are trumpeted it will be prudent to keep a close eye on what they are up to.

We can see the issue with Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves. She has no experience in private sector industry at all but has told the Times (25th April) that the next Labour Government will be even more pro-business than Blair. When it comes to reforms to employment law she is listening to the concerns of business and there is no rush (Starmer had promised changes within 100 days.

Additionally she claims that the people who understand what it takes to unlock business investment are of course business leaders. One might think that those who actually do the work know something about this, trade unionists who fund the Labour Party. It also sounds very 1997

An earlier version of this post appeared in the Morning Star