Kmflett's Blog

E P Thompson on the right to protest: ‘the impatience of the more luxurious part of society'(William Morris)

Rishi Sunak wants yet more powers to ban protests. The late socialist historian E P Thompson looked at why the rich hate protest so much

….The Chartist, Radical Liberal, Irish Nationalist and formative Labour movements were distinguished by their sensitivity to libertarian issues, and their suspicion of the polity of statism. When the police forces were enlarged and rationalized (or, as some would have it today, ’modernized’) in the mid-nineteenth century, this was a victory for bourgeois utilitarian bureaucratic policy in the face of intense resistance extending from old Tory localism through Radical Liberalism to outright Chartist opposition— for Chartists and trade unionists very well understood what kind of imperatives dictated government policies. As a consequence of this opposition, the presence of the police in British public life remained unusually subdued. They must be seen as ‘servants’ of… either the gentry or ’the public’, and they must in no circumstances exhibit a brash public presence. And, as a more concrete evidence of the old libertarian tradition, which endures to this day, the British police (at least in Britain) must go about the streets unarmed.

There were some anticipations of the statism of the twentieth century in the increasingly intrusive and punitive presence of the police in Britain in the 1880s. This was a natural reaction of the propertied classes, who reacted to the rumour that there were now socialist agitators in the streets (making speeches against their property!) with seemly terror. In general the police were impartial, attempting to sweep off the streets with an equable hand street-traders, beggars, prostitutes, street-entertainers, pickets, children playing football and free-thinking and socialist speakers alike. The pretext, very often, was that a complaint of interruption of trade had been received from a shopkeeper. William Morris remarked on the impatience of ’the more luxurious part of society’ to ’clear the streets of costermongers, organs, processions, and lecturers of all kinds, and make them a sort of decent prison corridors, with people just trudging to and from their work’….

E P Thompson, the Secret State

Tories, barons, bosses & union leaders. Eric Hobsbawm on how to spot the difference

The Tories persist in calling trade union leaders barons or bosses. They were at it again yesterday when their latest piece of anti-union hate was unveiled in the Commons. The reality is that they have very short memories. The Thatcher Governments of the 1980s passed legislation to make sure that trade union leaders are democratically elected by members, in a postal ballot, whether that happened to be the tradition of particular unions or not.

By contrast actual bosses- Chairs and CEOs of companies are not elected but appointed. Large shareholders may sometimes force a change but it wont go out to a shareholders ballot.

Eric Hobsbawm in Images of the Left noted a caricature of a boss. ‘Most bosses were not only conceived as males but were males. It does not follow that all capitalists were fat with top hats and cigars, though these were attributes readily understood as specifying one particular form of wealth and privilege’.

By contrast union leaders Hobsbawm argued were ‘one of the few prominent citizens of Britain whose accent can be immediately localised is that of the trade union leaders’ (the Formation of British Working-Class Culture)

Its quite a simple guide although perhaps still too difficult for many Tory MPs.

Beard Liberation Front^th January

contact Keith Flett      07803 167266

Snow & Ice Guidelines for beard wearers. Act to prevent freezing follicles

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has issued updated guidelines to beard wearers after many areas of the UK have forecasts for snow and ice for the next few days.

The BLF says that while beards have been protecting against cold weather since 1854 it is also important to protect the beard itself against snow and ice penetration.

One way to do this may simply be to remain indoors and away from all possible contact with snow and ice.

However this is not possible for all including many workers and those who venture out for essential reasons.

When venturing out in the ice and snow, the following guidelines for beard wearers are advised-

Snow and Ice Guidelines for Beard Wearers

1] Protect the entire beard with a scarf or roll neck jumper. If snow is heavy a snood is advised.

2] Sweep any drifting snow from the beard on a regular basis. Do not allow snow to accumulate in the beard under any circumstances.

3] Comb the beard through regularly to remove any residual snow

4] If the beard becomes chilled or frozen due to snowy or icy weather it is essential to thaw it out slowly.

5] When temperatures drop below zero freezing follicles can be a significant issue

6] If follicles do freeze or develop icicles these should be thawed slowly as quickly as possible

5] Brief immersion in a glass of imperial stout may help the thawing process but this is optional

6] Dry the beard slowly in a warm room and check for any damaged hairs and follicles

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said snow or ice in the beard can cause serious damage to hairs and follicles and the hirsute are urged to make sure they are protected before venturing out in snowy weather. If snow does accumulate in the beard or follicles become frozen it is essential to follow the BLF guidelines to prevent serious damage. In particular if the beard suffers from icing, gradual thawing following the guidelines is equally important to avoid damage.

Beard Liberation Front

16^th January

Is University Woke List also an index of Beard Friendliness?

The ‘think tank’ Civitas has published ‘research’ in which Universities are the most ‘woke’. The research is based mainly on media reports and it places Cambridge and Oxford at the top of the Woke List with Bristol third and UCL fourth.

The Beard Liberation Front considers hirsuteness to be a key indicator of Wokery but has questioned whether Oxbridge is really a beard bastion in 2022.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, Civitas is based at 55 (Bufton) Tufton St in central London so the research is unlikely to have been of a scientific nature and we strongly suspect that beard wearing was not part of the Woke List. It should have been though.

The past weighs like a nightmare. The Tories, strikes & the 1970s and 1980s

Marx noted that the past weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living and that certainly seems to be the case with current Tory attitudes to industrial action on the cost of living as Rishi Sunak promises yet more anti-union legislation.

The Murdoch owned Times paper for example as opined on numerous occasions about trade unions, strikes and what union members must do-primarily stop it and get on with their work.

Yet nowhere in The Times commentaries or indeed those of Tory Ministers and MPs is recognition of what the Thatcher Governments did on trade union law.

The memory is of the 1970s when Tory Prime Minister Ted Heath called an Election in February 1974 asking electors to decide who ran Britain, the Tories or the trade unions. The answer was the latter and Labour was elected. There is also a memory of the big industrial battles of the 1980s- the miners and printers. Of the legislation of that period there appears to be a complete memory loss, except for the ban on unions at GCHQ, reversed after a long campaign but now again in the Tory mindset.

A Times Editorial on 14^th September 2022 was headed Spanish Practices. While the term was not further explained it went on to moan that rail workers won’t accept ‘modernisation’. By this was meant driverless trains- which it mentions, no ticket offices and no staff on stations to help passengers. These are some of the ‘Spanish practices’ the rail employers (and actually the Government) want rail unions to agree to in return for a small pay rise.

The term ‘Spanish practices’ was used in the 1970s and 1980s and refers to industrial practices which were agreed between employers and unions because it suited both. If that changed then the way to deal with it was not by diktat but negotiation.

In fact Thatcher introduced six pieces of anti-union legislation during the 1980s.

The 1980 Employment Act limited  pickets to six during a strike. While the provision is still sometimes enforced by zealous police officers the Tories seem to have largely forgotten about it and large pickets are common.

The 1982 Act removed an immunity that had been in place since 1906 and allowed employers to sue unions for damages if unofficial action was not repudiated by a union. It also outlawed political strikes and restricted secondary action in support of a dispute. Again current Tory Ministers have no memory of this piece of legislative vindictiveness

By the time the 1988 Employment Act came along the Tories had moved on to requiring that not only union executives but also General Secretaries were elected by membership ballot whatever the tradition of a particular union had been. This requirement remains in place. Turn-out is often low because while the Tories happily use e-mail for their internal ballots it remains banned for unions.

It is his aspect of Tory union law that Tory MPs and media find hardest to grasp. Trade union leaders are referred to as ‘bosses’ or ‘barons’. Yet while, unfortunately, such people are not elected, General Secretaries are. There is also frequently a call for union leaders to call off strikes or tell members to return to work. But the days when such orders came from the top have passed at the Tories behest. Strikes are voted for by union members with far more stringent requirements for success than any other balloting process in the UK.

In reality whatever the Tories may dream of the working class and industrial action cant be legislated out of existence

Blue Monday & fake news

According to at least one ‘expert’ 19th January is Blue Monday the most depressing day of the year (the date varies according to ‘expert’). You can read how the concept has developed here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Monday_(date)

It is not exactly fake news but if you take it too seriously you may wish to think again. Mondays are traditionally rather depressing and January when it’s cold and dark doesn’t help. Neither of these things however is exactly news

Blue Monday was started by an academic who now markets himself as a happiness consultant or similar. Certainly, checking my case load as a trade union officer, I note that January can be depressing (& it’s not part of my job description to make people happy anyway), but then, depending on context, so can lots of other times of the year.

This stuff is not perhaps entirely made up but neither is it actually true either. Between reality and fake is a vast grey area.

Take care out there.

Rosa Luxemburg 5.3.1871-15.1.1919: scourge of bureaucrats, cynics & empty rhetoricians

Rosa Luxemburg who was murdered by far right German Freikorps on 15th January 1919 was a leading member of the socialist Second International but unusual in the grouping in opposing the First World War.

On the 50th anniversary of her death on 15th January 1969 The Guardian published an appreciation by its European Editor John Palmer* the first couple of paragraphs I repeat below:

Rosa Luxemburg is a strangely unsung martyr in the official Socialist pantheon. An outstanding leader of the Second International, she has been quietly forgotten by the official Social-Democratic Labour parties. A Marxist theorist and revolutionary on a par with Lenin, she has alternatively been regarded with suspicion and indifference by official Communist historians.

Yet her ideas, along with those of Trotsky, are having a renaissance among the young revolutionary New Left which is making itself felt both west and east of the Iron Curtain. This is no coincidence. In her lifetime Luxemburg was the scourge of bureaucrats, cynics and empty rhetoricians..

Verso are in the process of publishing Rosa Luxembourg’s Collected Works

Cost of Living crisis: Boris Johnson couldn’t manage on £164,000 a year so he got £800,000 credit from a relation to help

As we enter 2023 many are struggling to get by thanks to sky high energy prices and the economic impact of 44 day Truss.

The former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is just one of the many. Since he was given the boot as Tory leader and PM in July 2022 he is reported to have earned over £1 million from speeches. Certainly his speeches are entertaining, full of anti-woke jokery, even if they never make coherent sense- deliberately so. Whether that act is worth any money is another matter.

When he was PM Johnson was paid £164,000 a year. It was a significant drop from the £275,000  a year he had been paid for 10 hours work a month at the Telegraph. The Sunday Times(15^th Jan) reports that Johnson was in financial difficulties. There was after all the divorce from his wife Marina Wheeler. Then there is the question of maintenance money for an unknown number of children.

To address this issue Johnson came to an agreement with a distant Canadian relation and billionaire Sam Blyth to be able to draw down on a credit facility of £800,000. This was OK’d by Parliamentary authorities on the basis that Johnson had no other links with Blyth. In fact he had applied for a top role at the British Council but was rejected for it when the link with Johnson was discovered (rather than declared).

More recently Johnson has stayed at Blyth’s Dominican holiday home but not declared it because, conversely to the above, its regarded as a family favour.

It perhaps answers the question of how the perpetually ‘broke’ Johnson could ever afford to be PM again. Many Tories no doubt are content that the wealthiest MP in the Commons Rishi Sunak is currently PM

Update

Johnson has registered a £510,000 advance from Harper Collins for his memoirs and noted that he has so far spent 10 hours on them. £50,000 an hour is quite modest by Johnson’s statement

Ivor Cutler at 102: Scottish North Londoner

Ivor Cutler was born on 15^th January 1923 and died on 6^th March 2006 aged 83.

Some will know him from his appearance in the Beatles 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour, others may recall sessions on the John Peel show perhaps particularly his Life in Scottish Sitting Room.

Cutler was in one sense quintessentially Scottish, albeit he exaggerated this in his public persona but in reality he was a North Londoner. He lived in Gospel Oak in what is now the Parliamentary Constituency represented by the Labour leader (do not expect to see Starmer’s tweet on the anniversary).

I never met Cutler in person but heard him perform quite often and even more frequently saw him cycling in North London, dressed somewhat eccentrically for many parts of the country, but perfectly normal for Camden Town.

His Harmonium and slow measured delivery of words that were often both amusing and sometimes perplexing was a perfect North London dialectic, Scottish though Cutler was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivor_Cutler

The Ambridge Socialist

15^th January

St Stephens set to pay reparations for the slave trade

The Church Commissioners have set aside £100 million for reparations for the slave trade. They have discovered that the Church was involved in the activities of the South Sea Bubble Company which was an important part of the slave trade. The irreligious right such as the Mail’s Andrew Pierce have of course moaned about it but the Archbishop of Canterbury has provided lines from the Bible to underline it’s the Christian thing to do. St Stephens has a very long history so hopefully the Vicar is already making plans

Village Shop in crisis

Maureen, one of those Ambridge characters, has quit the village shop after an incident in the stock room. Susan has blamed the Professor but there is a crisis over a replacement. Both Joy and Justin have  volunteered but do either have the patience to work with Susan? We say the shop should be a proper community co-operative

Erik

Erik is said to be Jakob’s brother but his accent suggests someone who might have been a resident of The Bill and Eastenders as indeed he has. There is no news on whether he has a beard, but in general he seems rather too normal to be hang around in Ambridge for long. However a liaison with Kirsty has started. Shower scene?

Who are the Guardian readers in Ambridge?

Susan opined that the village shop couldn’t deliver a Guardian to a Telegraph reader. No doubt, but who are the Guardian readers in Ambridge? We say:

Vicar Alan Franks

Professor Jim

Pat Archer

Lynda Snell