Duncan Stone, author of one of the most insightful cricket books of recent years, Different Class, speaks on the Gentleman Amateur in cricket 60 years after Gentlemen v Players was abolished and the 60 over a side Gillette Cup started. The seminar looks at the much wider issue of amateurism in British sport and its impact
The Socialist Gardener: We Welcome Woke Chelsea Flower Show
Special Issue 21st May
The Socialist Gardener the occasional bulletin that promotes gardening from the roots up has backed the decision of the Chelsea Flower Show to support plants previously demeaned as weeds as an essential part of a progressive garden.
Plants like dandelions, brambles and bindweed can be a source of pollen for insects and bees and they are also important to the soil infrastructure of the garden.
Socialist Gardener Editor Keith Flett said, we say, hands off weeds. They have been downtrodden for long. They can now take their rightful part in a fully inclusive garden.
The 2023 Manifesto for a Socialist Garden
We demand that the Government launches a massive programme of investment in public parks and provision for allotments so that all may enjoy the pleasure of gardens and gardening
We believe in the right to roam over the gardens of the rich
We support the nationalisation of the land and the creation of public parks and gardens as a matter of priority
We believe that real gardeners should eschew the use of garden centres. If you need a new plant, simply liberate it from the garden of a wealthy neighbour.
We support the hop family as the ultimate in grass roots garden plants
Martin Amis who has died at 73 was the author several novels which spoke to our times, or at least the times they were written it.
Someone tweeted me that he was right-wing. That could be debated but he was certainly not as right-wing as his father Kingsley. That said his well-documented Islamophobic outburst, ably deconstructed by Terry Eagleton, remains inexcusable. His book on Stalin (Koba 2002) caused a temporary rift with his long-time friend Christopher Hitchens.
Even so in the 1970s he was literary Editor at the New Statesman, when Hitchens was also associated with the magazine and during a period when it was more clearly identified with the left than it is now.
In the issue of 6th July 1973 Amis reviewed a concert by David Bowie at the Hammersmith Odeon.
He concluded:
Bowie does appear to be a focus for the vague, predatory, escapist reveries of the alienated young. Although Bowie himself is unlikely to last long as a cult, it is hard to believe that the feelings he has aroused or aggravated will vanish along with the fashion built around him.
Amis was definitely better off when sticking to fiction. His attempts at grappling with the actual from Bowie to Stalin were not so happy
The Sunday Times Rich List for 2023 which estimates the personal wealth of the richest at least notionally UK based people suggests that in global Big Beer the personal fortune of the owner of Heineken is doing rather better than the owner of ABInBev.
Of course both are public companies so the personal wealth of the owners, while interesting, and concerning to many,does not particularly reflect how Heineken and ABInBev are doing
Charlene De Carvalho-Heinken and Michel De Carvalho have risen from ninth to eighth in the Top 350 with a personal wealth of £13.122bn (£11.421bn in 2022)
Meanwhile Alejandro Santiago Domingo and Lady Charlotte Welleseley languish at No.80 with a personal wealth of £2.167bn (£2.41bn in 2022)
The Earl of Iveagh is at 172 with wealth of £983m (£1bn in 2022). The Earl owns the Norfolk Estate that supplies the King’s Christmas tree at Sandringham
Big Beer is still very good business, for the owners anyway
Radio 4 audiences on the decline. The Archers bucks the trend
Audiences listening to Radio 4 are on the decline. In particular Today has lost thousands of listeners. Given its essentially a radio version of the Daily Mail this is hardly surprising. Gone are the days of Redpath and Naughtie. The Archers however is by far the most popular download on the IPlayer. By contrast with Today it grapples in an interesting and balanced way with the issues of the day whether its electric cars and climate change, modern and historic slavery, or, indeed, the class struggle
Is Erin Homophobic?
Erin, Adam’s sister, sharing a father in the late Paddy Redmond, has been in Ambridge. Understandbly this may have been a rather boring experience. However she resisted all attempts by Adam for a return visit to Dublin. It raises the question of whether she is homophobic
George Grundy bosses man
We thought Will Grundy was one forelock tugging Grundy too many but now we have George. He has been appointed by Martyn Gibson to cover at Berrow Farm while Jazzer is off. As Neil has underlined he was most certainly not the best qualified candidate for the job. In fact he was the least qualified but when you’re in the pocket of the boss it doesn’t matter
Tom, Natasha & capitalism
After Tony and Pat castigated him for taking money from an exploiter, Tom has threatened to move operations to Evesham. Such splits in the Ambridge ruling class should be exploited
Titchener is back..
Not heard from since 2016 but Rob Titchener’s brother Miles has appeared in Ambridge. He claims Rob has changed. No doubt Sgt Knacker Burns will be on the job
Primrose Hill restrictions disrespect famous former resident Friedrich Engels
The London Socialist Historians Group, which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, has said that efforts to restrict evening access to Primrose Hill park in North London disrespect one of the area’s most famous former residents, Friedrich Engels.
According to reports in May 2021 in the Camden New Journal and the Observer, Keir Starmer, who is the MP for the area, played a central role in getting the Royal Parks, who are responsible for Primrose Hill, to erect temporary 9 foot high gates to stop evening access during pandemic lockdowns.
The move came after complaints from some local residents and Tory Councillors that young people were causing night-time disturbances. Other local residents launched a petition demanding that access to the park is maintained for all.
The Guardian (20th May) has reported that the issue has arisen again with the Royal Parks determined to press ahead and erect permanent gates to prevent night-time access. Its unclear if Keir Starmer has and any further involvement from the report
Engels lived opposite the park for many years until his death in August 1895. There is a plaque at 122 Regents Park Rd where he lived. In 1894 he moved to 41 Regent’s Park Rd as he noted ‘closer to the entrance to the Park’.
London Socialist Historians Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, Keir Starmer, although the local MP, is not thought to be too well up on labour history but free access to Primrose Hill has a long history, which was enjoyed for many years by Engels who walked across the park to visit Marx in Kentish Town. Marx was less keen on the return journey.
The Times (20th May) reports that there is a continuing crisis over Prince Andrew’s occupation of the seven bedroom Royal Lodge at Windsor. His former partner Sarah Ferguson also lives there (reportedly) but what the other bedrooms are used for is unknown.
King Charles is pursuing a Royal economy drive (Coronation aside) and wants to reduce the cost of running the Royal Family (aka The Firm). To this end he wants Andrew to move to Frogmore cottage, also at Windsor, which has two fewer bedrooms. It has been vacated by the Sussexes.
Andrew is reported to have a 80 year lease on the Royal Lodge from the Crown Estate (not the King) but is responsible for annual maintenance costs for the house and grounds, believed to be around £1M annually.
Whether Andrew who has been unemployed since 2019 has the money is unknown.He has an annual stipend of £250Kplus a £20K pension from the Navy and an unknown amount left to him by Queen Elizabeth.
Meanwhile back in the real world there is a cost of living and housing crisis…
The names of Boris Johnson’s children. Is the new baby Octavia or Nonus?
The lives of Boris Johnson’s children are of no public interest, unless they themselves decide to make it so, but their names as decided, one hopes between Johnson and his partner of the moment, have some passing note.
Sonia Purnell’s biography of Johnson, Just Boris, reports that he wanted to call one of his children with his ex-wife Marina Wheeler, Lettice. It is as Laeticia a Latin name used in Medieval English, meaning joy, the modern translation of which is either Lettice or perhaps Letitia*. Ms Wheeler’s preference won-out and the baby was named Lara.
Other children with Marina Wheeler were called Milo, Cassia Peaches and Theodore Apollo.
He also had a child with Helen Macintyre in 2009 called Stephanie. This was revealed by Stanley Johnson in 2020.
His first baby with Carrie Symonds is called Wilfred, Old English, which seems like a modest step forward from the Latin. Wilfrid (634-709) was an Anglo-Saxon Saint and Bishop of York. The name fell into disuse but was revived from the nineteenth century on having nowadays perhaps an association with Victoriana.
Carrie’s second baby- a girl saw both Margaret and Allegra swerved and the baby was called Romy Iris Charlotte, its seems relatively restrained by Johnsonian standards.
The eighth child now announced as imminent should following the Latin be called Octavia. However Nonus is a possibility as based on Johnson’s history of lying there is no guarantee that the existence of all the children he has fathered is known in the public domain
National Conservatism Conference: Provisional List of the Enemy Within
The country is going to the dogs. That is the message from the National Conservatism conference and there is a long list of people to blame. People who do not have children. Unmarried people or married gay people who have children. (Not to mention people who think gay people should be allowed to get married.) Unassimilated immigrants. The godless. The cosmopolitans and the metropolitans. The free traders and globalists. Enthusiasts for the financial services and tech sectors. City-dwellers. The south-east of England. The managerial classes. The university graduates. People who don’t tweet using their real name or fail to change their child’s school to one that is less woke (yes, really).
The Guardian (19th May) has reported that former England Test Captain Michael Vaughan will return to Test Match Special and TV highlights coverage for this summer’s Tests starting with England v Ireland at Lords.
Vaughan was dropped from appearing in 2022 after he was charged with making racist remarks in a Yorkshire game while still playing. Vaughan denied he had made the comments and a subsequent hearing found that there was not sufficient evidence to suggest that he did.
While Vaughan’s social media of 10 and more years ago did suggest at best some inappropriate comments on cricket in general he has subsequently been very clear that there is no place for racism in cricket.
He has also detailed the impact of the allegations on his personal and family life, although this may be balanced, albeit he was not involved,with the continuing issue of racism and Yorkshire cricket and the impact that has had.
His return to TMS is the appropriate and right thing to do. That said TMS is not the programme it was when I first started listening in the 1960s. At that stage John Arlott was the voice of liberal reason but in recent times TMS has diversified significantly in respect of its commentary team. In my view this is an entirely positive development
While I thought Vaughan was a shrewd England Test captain I’ve never been a great fan of his commentary. That said at least he doesnt shout.
