Its something that doesnt seem to have surfaced in the UK yet but The Times (5th August) reports that President Macron is going to the EU Court of Justice in an attempt to ban the use of the term burger in anything that does not contain meat.
There are several agendas running here. Firstly The Times has an obsession with French eating habits. It would require someone more expert in the specific historical context than myself to fully decipher why this is. However the British ruling class has seen French cuisine (rather than British)as the symbol of fine dining. One needs to look no further than the cookbook Churchill’s chef prepared to underline the point.
Secondly Macron’s move is dictated by the economic and political clout of French agriculture and in particular the meat industry known as the ‘breeding lobby’.
Figures from 2020 suggest that the French consumed more meat annually- 113kg than the British-98kg and Germans 92kg. However Americans consumed 149kg and Australians 145kg. These statistics should probably taken with a pinch of salt.
The real story here is the start of a culture war against the Veggie Burger
The Ambridge Socialist thought and thinks that a ferret based Ambridge fete is just the thing to bring a piece of proletarian glamour to the village. However for an unknown reason Eddie Grundy claimed that organising the fete had got beyond him. He has been forced into a partnership with leading Ambridge petty-bourgeois Lynda Snell.
The Ambridge Socialist Fete Tips: enjoy the ferrets and visit the rewilding stall
The Youth
Socialists know that the youth are the way forward. They have energy, time and ideas to change the world (sometimes). Clearly the Archers scriptwriters share this view hence we are hearing more from Mia, Chelsea, Brad and er George. Whether this will actually attract younger listeners is one thing but it’s certainly true that the Ambridge generations need to move on.
Cheese
Helen and village idiot Tom are trying to secure the cheese contract for the new Grey Gables. Ardil who for unknown reasons has decision making powers (surely it should be the head chef or would be if Ardil hadn’t just sacked them) seems to have a range of producers in mind. The Ambridge Socialist suggests threatening Ardil with a local boycott unless he features local produce.
Dogs
Ed who seems to specialise in dispensing with the dogs of Ambridge has hit Weaver with a trailer(accidentally it should be noted) and the greyhound has had to be destroyed. Paul (sous-vet) had taken photos of the dog just before the accident and it was all a bit sad. The Ambridge Socialist however thinks there should be more cats in the Archers.
Meanwhile however the Daily Mail thinks Friday’s episode which featured Weaver being put down showed that the Archers is Woke. The Ambridge Socialist will investigate…
Figures released by the Royal Collection Trust (Times 4th August) note that visitor levels at Royal Palaces are returning to pre-covid levels. 300,000 visited Buckingham Palace while 1.1m toured Windsor Castle.
Total income for 2022-23 was £61.9m compared with £24m in the previous year giving a surplus of £8m. The previous year saw a deficit of £15m.
Its good to know that Buck House and Windsor Castle are back in profit even if this may seem rather at odds with the reality of a cost of living crisis
Greene King Abbot a 5% beer described on the pump clip currently as rich and malty was judged to be runner up Champion Beer of Britain at CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival this week .
Cue complaints on social media. Greene King, now Hong Kong owned, definitely counts as UK Big Beer. As several people pointed out including beer writer Pete Brown you can dislike that but still appreciate a well brewed glass of Abbot
I was at the Festival on Wednesday and tried a glass likely from the same batch that had been judged. I noted raisin and fruit, not hugely malty but a rich mouthfeel. In short, enjoyable.
The judges don’t know which beers they were tasting and are from all old blokes with beards like me who might remember the 1970s. Then Abbot was not so easy to find(nowadays in Wetherspoons) and 5% was very strong.
Did Greene King brew a special batch for the GBBF? Perhaps but there is only one way to find out which is to try a glass. This Champion Beer has the virtue of being easily available on cask to test if the judges were right
Update: Michael Rosen has raised concerns about whether Charles Dickens would have wanted to be included in the poll while the Bernie Grant Trust has suggested that the late Tottenham MP would not have wanted to compete against Jeremy Corbyn. The Beard Liberation Front has committed to reviewing these issues and will provide an update on Sunday
Update Sunday 6th August.
1 It has been determined that Charles Dickens would have been pleased to be included in a poll for London’s Most Iconic Beards
2 The BLF accepts however that to discriminate between the most Iconic London Beards is against the spirit of beard liberation and that the title should therefore be collectively shared between the four beard wearers named
London Beard Week 2023 Jeremy Corbyn, Charles Dickens, Bernie Grant & Michael Rosen named as London’s most Iconic Beards
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that London Beard Week which ended on 5th August marks the continued growth of beards in the Capital.
It coincides with the Campaign For Real Ale’s Great British Beer Festival at Olympia often the source of anti-beard stories in the media.
The annual vote for London’s most Iconic Beard featured Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, Charles Dickens, Bernie Grant and Michael Rosen. They collectively shared the coveted title
The campaigners say that aside from the many more beards seen in workplaces, shops and pubs, there is also a growth of specialist beard care shops and hairdressers offering beard trims and treatments, although the BLF advises against beard trims in barbers shops.
London Beard Week is a celebration of London, now one of the most beard friendly Capital cities in the world, and of London’s great hirsute heritage from Charles Dickens to Karl Marx through to modern day beards such as England football captain Harry Kane and author and Arsenal fan Michael Rosen.
As part of the week the BLF is running a poll to find the most impactful and impressive figure with a beard who is associated with London.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, we congratulate the top London beard wearers whose iconic beards add gravitas to the Capital’s life and culture.
London Beard Week poll to find London’s most Iconic Beard.
There was controversy at the Great British Beer Festival this week (still on until 5th August at Olympia) when Greene King’s Abbot was judged runner up Champion Beer of Britain.
I tasted it at Olympia and will post on that. Meanwhile what about Greene King?
Greene King is a leading British brewer and pub operator, now Hong Kong owned, but previously and recently associated with the Beerage- brewers who back the Tory Party (as they traditionally have).
In 2020 it apologised and agreed to make reparations for the reality that part of its historical wealth was based on the slave trade.
In 2021 it decided to rename several of its pubs which were called the Black Boy
Greene King acknowledged that there is no definitive evidence to link the names to the slave trade but having consulted customers have noted that many will assume this is the case, changing the name makes a degree of sense.
This BBC reported the possible origins of ‘Black Boy’ pub names, the importance of changing them and who was consulted on this together with details of some of the pubs involved:
Their press release also references a number of other measures they are taking around BLM.
These all look fine, but as a trade unionist I know that while fine sounding policies and consultation are better than nothing getting things to actually happen is much harder. Measures on equal pay and ability to raise issues of discrimination and get them reviewed seriously for example are part of the real bottom line here.
Fortunately Greene King recognises Unite the Union for its brewing operations and disputes on pay and conditions occur and are settled sometimes with recourse to strikes.
The action on BLM and union recognition is what would be expected from a major employer keen to avoid reputational damage. Its the political representatives of business- the Tories- who are out of step with the modern world. None of this makes me love Greene King or their beer particularly but staring reality in the face does no harm
The Stupid Stunts of Oliver Dowden: there’s no success like failure
Oliver Dowden is currently the acting Prime Minister with Rishi Sunak on holiday in America. On Thursday he condemned Greenpeace for ‘stupid stunts’ after they protested about the Government’s energy policies at Sunak’s empty North Yorkshire house.
Dowden himself is something of a master of stunts
When he was Culture Minister (February 2020-September 2021 Oliver Dowden opined on his then favourite subject-culture wars. He wrote in the Sunday Telegraph (16.5.21) that he was not a Maoist but a Moreist.
By this he meant (he claimed) that he was in favour of more statues not less and more history. Dowden’s statements are invariably amusing. There seem to have been very few (if any)statues erected on his watch any more than, despite his insistence, there was any great move to take statues down. Further the ‘more history’ Dowden wants most definitely does not include any more detail about British imperial activities.
Dowden also noted that he believed that museums and cultural institutions should be free of Government meddling and to make sure he set up a committee to, er, well meddle. Its primary purpose was to promote Dowden’s Moreist perspective.
He purged the wrong kind of person from Trustee Boards. Indeed so blatant was he that Charles Dunstone, who is believed to be not unfavourable to the Tory Party, resigned as Chair of the Royal Museums, Greenwich in protest.
In one of many Tory re-shuffles Dowden was replaced as Culture Minister by Nadine Dorries and he then became Chair of the Tory Party (September 2021-June 2022) In this role he produced a range of baffling waffle although in context this was during the latter days of the Johnson Premiership.
He was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 25th October 2022. He has certainly cultivated the Tory Hard Right particularly when he was Culture Minister but his Ministerial career suggests someone promoted far beyond his competence who can only last for a limited period before the sack occurs.
With luck and determination current industrial disputes may mean he has to look for his next job outside of Parliament even though his Hertsmere seat appears a safe one
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that the numbers of beards on display at the Campaign For Real Ale’s Great British Beer Festival is in decline.
The festival promoting living beer is at Olympia until 5th August.
BLF observers at the festival have noted that while there are still fine follicles on display those attending represent a wider and more diverse range of beer lovers
The BLF runs London Beard Week at the same time as the festival to promote positive images of the hirsute.
BLF organiser Keith Flett said while we promote the importance of beards we regard their decline at the GBBF as good news. It reflects the diversity of appearance we support. Of course there are still lots of beard friendly beers on sale at Olympia
The summer of 1880. Engels (Bridlington Quay) to Marx (Ramsgate).17th Sept. ‘we shall be returning at the end of the week. Wet weather since the day before yesterday’
The Summer of 1881, Engels, Bridlington Quay 17th August ‘the weather pretty well continously overcast, threatening & cold; since yesterday it has been decidely wet & in conditions like that Bridlington Quay becomes a downright bore’
Boris Johnson’s attempt to have a 11×4m swimming pool built at his new Cotswold mansion faced issue with planning permission. The area is inhabited by great crested newts, a protected species.
When he was PM Johnson complained that newts were holding up house building schemes in a precursor to the Culture Wars.
Much of the media is bad at historical context so only a few reports of the Johnson Newt stand off have mentioned former London Mayor Ken Livingstone.
Livingstone owned newts from an early age including the great crested variety before it was protected and is a noted expert on them
Perhaps Johnson should hire Red Ken as a newt advisor
Update. Johnson has capitulated and he claims he will create a Newtopia and Newt Motels as his mansion
A survey has found that understandably all great crested newts have fled the Johnson Estate. He can now have his pool provided as agreed with South Oxfordshire Council he plants some trees elsewhere on his land. The sort of compromise Johnson had no knowledge of while in Downing St
