From New to Newer Labour on Wealth Taxes (1993-2023)
The statement by Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves that a future Labour Government will not introduce a wealth tax or indeed do anything at all about taxing wealth has rightly attracted criticism. There is nothing even mildly social democratic about the proposed inactivity.
It is however not new. Tony Benn noted in his diary 17th August 1993
Gordon Brown, the Shadow Chancellor, was on television saying that Labour is not a high-tax, high-spend party and certainly does not intend to penalise the rich. The most ridiculous statement ever..
The late Jean Baudrillard argued that the first Gulf War only happened on TV. It didn’t of course but the point was the way it was seen was a media construct.
The Hundred can be seen in a similar way.
I watched, at least some of, many of the women’s and men’s games. The standard of cricket seemed better than in 2022 and at the same time there seemed little difference to T20 formats. Of course its true that Hundred games do mostly keep to time (and TV schedules) rather than the four hour epics the IPL sometimes manages.
There have been record crowds for women’s games in big stadiums which is a major plus. Crowds in general have looked quite mixed though probably not so different to T20 games.
Aside from Sky and BBC who have contracts to broadcast the matches publicity and coverage has been minimal. Looking at the Observer and the Sunday Times there was no coverage at all of Finals day. It does suggest a limited impact.
Jos Buttler interviewed by Atherton in The Times noted that the value of The Hundred was to give new and younger players big match experience. He noted that the IPL had done the same and the result was numbers of new Indian Test players. He seemed to suggest that the Hundred’s future was more likely to be as a T20 franchise competition.
If so the key role of the women’s game needs to be fully factored in.
The Guardian has published an Editorial on crosswords underlining that they are not just for men of a certain type. I’m not one of the type since I’m useless at them, although if you want to know how the concept of dialectical materialism works I can explain it.
One of the Guardian’s best known crossword setters Araucaria, (John Graham) once set a clue to which Fletter was the answer. My partner Megan Davies explained to me again how the clue and answer are related. She’s good at crosswords (and not bad at dialectics)
The Guardian also published an Editorial in praise of Araucaria’s (John Graham) crosswords (16th February 2011) and noted his skill in setting crosswords that ranged from, amongst others Lady Gaga to Keith Flett
A final word. The link here is from a 2013 article by Alan Connor looking in part at the experience of appearing as a clue in a crossword. Perhaps it fits into Andy Warhol’s ‘famous for fifteen minutes’ dictum although given how long it takes some to solve clues fifteen seconds might work better..
Historians call for review of August Bank Holiday date
The London Socialist Historians Group, which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, has called for a review of the date of the August Bank Holiday.
The 1871 Bank Holidays Act fixed the date as the first Monday in August. This remains the case for Scotland. However from 1965 to 1971 the holiday was moved to the last August of the month in England and Wales following a campaign by the travel industry and the TUC amongst others.
The logic was that a Bank Holiday at the start of August after schools broke up led to huge demand for holidays which caused increased cost for holidaymakers. A Bank Holiday at the end of August was meant to spread the holiday period over the entire month.
However the historians say that following the Bank Holiday being moved permanently to the last Monday it has simply caused peak demand to move from the beginning to the end of the month.
An on-line poll run by the historians in 2023 showed support for two Bank Holidays in August at the beginning and the end of the month.
LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, the argument always is that Bank Holidays cost the economy money. In reality they provide a boost to the travel, retail and hospitality industries. Britain has the fewest Bank Holidays of any country across Europe and its time for the 1971 decision on the August Bank Holiday to be looked at again.
In a usage that may have confounded some listeners there has been discussion about the Influencers George Grundy may have been paying attention to on his smart phone. The view, not unreasonably, is that this may be part of the reason why he is a sexist and misogynist.
The reality is that the late Joe Grundy was the Influencer in Ambridge. He dictated the social and moral codes for the village’s proletarians. He was usually on the right side of things. Eddie Grundy tries but he can’t meet Joe’s standards.
The Tea Rooms
Natasha has decided that the tea rooms need to be modernised, with more tables, more profit and hence more business also for the farm. While this is not directly her business its better than having Tony Archer decide
Sexual Politics in Ambridge
There probably aren’t too many Telegraph readers amongst those who look at the Ambridge Socialist. We can reveal however that the Telegraph is in favour of lesbian characters in the Archers and would like Pip and Stella to get it on and get on with it as it were. Shower optional. Perhaps someone could tell the BBC that some Woke things are ok
Keir Starmer has been speaking a lot about ambition in recent weeks. The core of it is a broad aim that people from less privileged backgrounds, as he was in Woking, should be able to get on in society but many at the moment don’t.
Of course it being exam result time the point might be made that a system which fails a certain number of candidates on a quota basis irrespective of whether or not they have actually met a wider standard doesn’t help.
Starmer’s use of ambition seems to oscillate between the self-made man (lots of others, not named are usually involved) and the reasonable point that people would like to see a better Britain. That is improved services and chances to progress.
The question then comes as to whether this is a collective or individual ambition. Collectively it could be about better pay and conditions, better housing and transport, achieved by union organisation and political reform. Starmer’s usage may have something of this but in the Fabian sense of doing it from above by State action, rather than by people organising from below.
A check of Raymond Williams Keywords will find no mention of the word ambition. There is a sense as above of individuals wanting to get on, get promotion, do well for themselves. Starmer often seems to have this ‘I’ve got the foreman’s job at last’ focus.
But there are other senses of self-improvement, of professionals from teachers to scientists seeking to gain more knowledge and expertise. It may help their careers but it will certainly help the public and the general good.
The nineteenth century understanding might be along the lines of ‘light more light’. That is a desire to seek more knowledge about society and the world and how it works with a view to changing it for the better. I’m not sure this meaning is in Starmer’s vocabulary but we’ll see.
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that it has reviewed suggestions that Donald Trump’s prison mugshot would have been improved with a beard and rejected them.
The campaigners say that Trump’s notorious combover is already underlining that his appearance is as dodgy as everything else about him. A beard would simply play into the pogonophobic trope that the hirsute are hiding something behind their beards. In Trump’s case this would be true.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, the last thing we need is Trump bringing the hirsute into disrepute
Tribute paid to former Beard of the TUC Kevin Courtney as he retires from National Education Union
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers has paid tribute to joint General Secretary of the National Education Union Kevin Courtney as he stepped down from the role on Friday.
He was named the Beard of the 150th TUC in 2018
The campaigners say that Kevin Courtney’s work brought beard power not just to the National Education Union but to the whole trade union movement.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett, Kevin Courtney may be retiring from the NEU but we’re sure that his beard will continue to add gravitas to many labour movement projects
On that Manchester Monday soldiers on horseback cut down protesters for the vote leading to deaths and injuries.
The reaction meant that the State’s tactic was not repeated.
However during the Miners Strike of 1984/5 at Orgreave on 18th June 1984 there was a similar episode, although fortunately there were injuries rather than fatalities.
Again men on horseback, this time police officers, charged working people- miners- determined to protect their jobs,
While it was an industrial dispute there was a linked political issue about opposing the industrial policies of the Thatcher Government.
BBC coverage notoriously showed miners charging police- it was run back to front.
The use of such tactics as at Peterloo is always one that can backfire on the State.
Interestingly The Times carried details of a report that their late political editor Julian Haviland had filed after Orgreave. He had been present when the Queen saw footage of the police charge at Orgreave and reported that she said ‘that’s awful, we shouldn’t do that’. The report was not printed at the time because of the possibility of the Queen being identified as the person who made the comment (The Times says).
Even so it reflects an understanding amongst the ruling class that while Peterloo could happen again there would be consequences if it did.
