Kmflett's Blog

Frank Furedi: from revolutionary communism to national conservatism

In 2023 Frank Furedi was scheduled to be one of the speakers at a hard to far right National Conservatives Conference in Brussels.

It was supported by the internationally focused Edmund Burke Foundation which has organised events across the globe often with far right speakers such as Meloni and Orban.

Furedi was in the 1980s the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party which published the monthly magazine Living Marxism. I had a personal interest there because while a socialist I was certainly no enthusiast for the RCP. However the Guardian published a front page article where it named me as the Editor of LM. Fortunately a correction was promptly printed.

Even in the 1980s the RCP had contrarian policies. It supported a ballot in the 1984/5 miners strike, was against no platforming fascists and its view on AIDS does not bear repetition.

Since then many of the leading figures in the RCP- long since defunct- have appeared on Spiked with their political positions moving steadily rightwards. Furedi is now a mouthpiece for Hungarian leader Orban and at the 2023 National Conservatism conference he moaned about people who say things are outdated, claiming that they are culture warriors. No actual evidence for this rather odd point was provided such as who had said it.

He rightly pointed out that thinkers like Aristotle and Plato are not outdated and nor of course is Marx, though Furedi didn’t mention his name..

Of course moves from left to right are far from unknown. The God That Failed genre has its historical place and in more recent times some of the radicals of 1968 have turned up as neocons, often proving that social being determines consciousness.

Furedi does not seem to find a contradiction between his views now and those of 40 years ago. Perhaps this is because he actually was and still is never a Marxist but always a contrarian.

London Socialist Historians Summer Term Seminars 2023

Monday 22^nd May 5.30pm Duncan Stone: Gentlemen v Players 60 years on. Deconstructing the Gentleman Amateur

Free on Zoom Link to Book https://www.history.ac.uk/events/60-years-gentlemen-v-players-deconstructing-gentleman-amateur

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

Tory MP’s ‘Dystopian Fantasy of John Lennon & the Beatles Come Together

Danny Kruger, a Tory MP, speaking at the hard right National Conservatives conference on 15^th May has referred to the ‘dystopian fantasy’ of John Lennon. This may have provided pause for thought amongst older voters and puzzlement from anyone much under 60

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport compiled a Spotify Playlist for King Charles Coronation. What the purpose of this was, remains unclear but it could just be the invention of yet another Royal tradition.

The list was compiled broadly on how popular, in terms of numbers of people who listen to or download them, songs are. No doubt however Come Together appealed as a song title symbolising national unity. ELO’s Mr Blue Sky came second although a long way behind Come Together.

Except of course the song isn’t really about that at all. Ian McDonald in his survey of every Beatles track, Revolution in the Head, noted:

Come Together is the key song of the turning of the decade (60s to 70s)isolating a pivotal moment when the free world’s coming generation rejected establishment wisdom, knowledge, ethics and behaviour for a drug inspired relativism which has since undermined the intellectual foundations of western culture.

Other interpretations of the song are available but on McDonald’s take Come Together seems like an interesting and perhaps appropriate choice

Perhaps Kruger also had a point, at least for right-wing Tories

London Socialist Historians Summer Term Seminars 2023

Recording of Keith Flett: The Coronation. Inventing and Reinventing Royal Traditions.

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/XX4_vn6MK0fTLhUCRl6GPEtqbXSxV5PSrPtXN9vDkHow1UVZjm4DsnTi5qtBiPMJ.Q2vJT3yWbKd9IMva

This seminar was given at the Institute of Historical Research on Monday 15th May

Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger argued that all traditions are invented and the British monarchy have been experts at it for centuries.

The seminar looks at what is real and what is invented in the Coronation of a monarch and grapples with what this means for an understanding of British history beyond patriotic posing

King Charles is reportedly trying to decide which of his many palaces and castles he actually wants to live in. Apparently he finds Buckingham Palace too big and prefers Clarence House, also in London.

One residence he often visits at this time of year is Zalan Castle in Romania. It is not a castle in the Windsor mould but more of a guesthouse which is usually rented out to visitors.

The King reportedly became interested in the area when the previous Romanian regime was planning to destroy the natural habitat and he bought the residence in 2008. The area has a large range of flowers, which the King probably chats too, and he supports local craft industry.

Its not known if he has shown interest in other important natural areas which have been under threat such as the Amazon rainforest..

In the religious calendar the days before Ascension Day (14th May in 2026) are marked by Rogation.

This refers to a religious ceremony where the local vicar and parishioners walk around the parish boundaries and in doing so bless the crops. Like many Church of England ceremonies it was taken over from a Pagan one. Hutton in Stations of the Sun notes evidence of the ceremony being carried out up until the nineteenth century when enclosures of land began to make it problematic.

How far religious symbolism was associated with Rogation varied with religious edicts of the day. However as often the ceremony was invariably marked with cakes, ale and feasting. Its popularity and survival no doubt rested a good a deal on this.

E P Thompson in Whigs and Hunters notes that the marking out of parish boundaries was also one of rural class struggle since it determined where local villagers could graze their animals for free on common land.

Rogation in 2026 is largely antiquarian although in 2023 the Archers featured it and again in 2026, perhaps underlining the point.

Eton v Harrow at Lords. A badly attended culture war

The annual Eton v Harrow cricket match was played at Lords on Friday.

It was a 55 over a side game but rain intervened and a 30 over game was played with Harrow winning by 4 runs.

The MCC had proposed to stop hosting the match at least partly on the grounds that it didn’t exactly speak to a modern image of cricket. It has been played at Lords since 1805 (before the current ground existed) and has been a one day affair since 1999.

Some MCC members, the Historic Fixtures Group, campaigned to keep the fixture at Lords. A vote of members found 44% in favour of keeping it and 43% against. It will be reviewed again in 2027. Guy Smallman of the Group has claimed that its what Lords is all about- a sort of cricket museum. The Oval is for Test Matches it seems.

The Telegraph moaned that the fixture was not properly publicised and had been downgraded by being moved from June to May.

In fact the attendance was 800 (capacity 20,000) with very few of the members who voted to keep it at Lords in evidence.

So important was the game that no scorecard appeared and the actual result was buried deep in the Telegraph’s report.

There was live commentary by Eton and Harrow masters and students. That at least was broadly competent, although the commentator doing a Michael Holding impression, might want to think about what they did.

In short this was a badly attended outing of the Tory Culture wars

The self styled Conservative Democratic Organisation held a one day event in Bournemouth on Saturday.

It was apparently all about taking back control, although later on the dance people could apparently get out of control.

It was in practice a joint meeting of the Boris Johnson and Liz Truss fan clubs. It might be thought they don’t get on but the Guardian reported in the week that Johnson and Truss had been seen meeting at the Mayfair Club 5 Hertford Place.

In any case neither was present. Truss is pursuing a world tour of destruction- in Taiwan next week. Johnson is not likely to pitch up anywhere that doesn’t pay him thousands to be there.

The conference was streamed on-line. Attendance was difficult to judge because only the platform was lit. Further only the platform had access to microphones. It didn’t seem that democratic.

The speeches were of the Bufton Tufton genre. Johnson andTruss had been removed by coups, and there were LibDem entryists in the Parliamentary Tory Party apparently.

Those attending were united in a dislike of the present Tory leader Rishi Sunak.

The concern was that he was appointed rather than elected by Tory members which on this showing one might think was just as well.

That said there is a wider historical point. While local Tory politics historically would probably not pass as democratic in any serious understanding of the word, they were left to get on with things with relatively little central intervention. The issue now I think is with the control exerted by the Parliamentary Party as much as Tory Central Office.

Even so, it reflects broader trends in society that a gathering of Tories can meet to consider democracy, even if its not democracy as we know it

The Ambridge Socialist

14th May

Is Freddie being victimised for Slavery painting damage?

A painting depicting slavery which was removed from display at Lower Loxley has been found slashed. Suspicion seems to be falling on Freddie Pargetter who had to face opposition in his efforts to get the picture taken down. Certainly that appears to be the view of the Daily Telegraph readers group, sometimes known as the Trustees of Lower Loxley. The Ambridge Socialist says there is no evidence that Freddie was involved and plenty that he is being victimised.

Eurovision

The arrival of former Beard of the Year winner Rylan at The Bull was awaited by some but in the meanwhile the Archers was heavily promoting Eurovision this year. Full marks to Eddie Grundy for a humorous song about Sgt Knacker Burns, even if he did like it. Sadly we didn’t get David Archer’s version of Forever Young.

Rylan declined to stay at either Ambridge Hall or Brookfield and instead found lodgings with Mick

Electric Cars

Jazzer has been hit by an electric car and his leg is in plaster. Meanwhile Ardil has revealed to Lilian that his late wife was killed in an electric car collision. Are electric cars more dangerous than others? Perhaps it’s just the people that drive them… In Jazzer’s case the car driver was surely Justin Elliott

Spectre of The Titchener

Titchener looms. Once again Tory law and order fails

Beard Liberation Front

13th May

Conchita Wurst’s 2014 Eurovision win remains Farage’s worst moment

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that with Eurovision 2023 underway in Liverpool it’s time to celebrate again one of Eurovision’s greatest moments, the 2014 victory of Conchita Wurst.

The BLF statement made on the night of 10th May 2014 is below

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, Eurovision 2014 continues to mark Nigel Farage’s wurst moment.

Conchita Wurst went on to be voted Beard of the Year 2014

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The Beard Liberation Front the informal network of beard wearers has welcomed the win for Austria’s Conchita Wurst in the Eurovision Song Contest as a victory for a diverse Europe over transphobia and pogonophobia.

The BLF has long campaigned for the right of people to be able to dress and appear as they want.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said Conchita Wurst’s victory is Nigel Farage’s worst nightmare, a beard friendly tolerant Europe