Kmflett's Blog

Royal Funerals: Invention, Innovation and Improvisation

The more credulous of the media commentators on the Queen’s funeral on 19^th September will tell those interested that it is all about long cherished traditions.

In part it is. While all traditions are invented some of those around a Royal funeral do go back a very long way. Most stretch back no more than a century and quite a few have been made up recently.

The first monarch to receive a miiitary send off in London was Queen Victoria in 1901.

The fact that her coffin was transported on a gun carriage was an innovation that she had dictated  after previous issues

The monarch did not lie in state in Westminster Hall until King Edward VII in 1910.

It’s worth noting in that respect that the most reported aspect of mourning for Queen Elizabeth, the queue to pass by her coffin in Westminster Hall by definition is a tradition that has only existed for just over a century.

Prof John Wolfe (Open University) has noted that the ‘past two centuries of state funerals is also a story of innovation’. Many of the features of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral had only recently been introduced when she was born in 1926

As the Financial Times noted (17^th September) there is no fixed template for a Royal Funeral. It noted that the ‘sovereign’s funeral has been used and adapted to reinforce the monarchy’s legitimacy and deliver timely messages about the state’s priorities’

Beard Liberation Front

18^th September

Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett 07803 167266

Campaigners say that by tradition there is no shaving on the day of a Monarch’s funeral

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that by tradition dating back, it is thought, to the seventeenth century, people should abstain from shaving on the day of a Monarch’s funeral. In addition barbers shops should be closed for the day as a mark of respect

The campaigners say that while it is appreciated that not all will wish to participate in the day of mourning as the Queen is laid to rest that is no reason not to respect the tradition

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, the whole tone of 19^th September is that people should abstain from what they normally do as a mark of respect and that includes shaving.

Campaign for Real Conkers

Against bans on conker playing

Press Release 29^th September Contact Keith Flett, 07803 167266

Campaigners say grey squirrels pose threat to 2023 conker season

The Campaign for Real Conkers, the group that opposes bans on conker playing, has said that with the 2023 conker season in full swing, grey squirrels are again posing a threat to conker supplies.

The campaign says that numbers of grey squirrels in many areas of the country are increasing. The squirrels can be seen carrying off and burying conkers on a regular basis leading to a shortage of the nut for players to pick up.

Squirrels don’t eat conkers but few seem to realise this and either collect and bury them or bite into them, destroying them as game conkers.

Campaign organiser Keith Flett said, we have nothing at all against squirrels but those who want to play conkers this year face a race against time to collect the nut before they are carried off by squirrels.

Notes

The CFRC believes that conkers is one of the few sports that can be played for free. All that is required is a conker and some string.

It is opposed to championships, rules, regulations, separate teams for men and women and commercial sponsorship.

It seeks to encourage young people to play conkers. It should not be the preserve of those of mature years

Their mourning & ours: Thousands queue, Truss engages in ‘international funeral diplomacy’

Not all will be mourning the Queen but thousands have been queueing in London to file by her coffin in Westminster Hall.

Meanwhile one person who is not mourning is Liz Truss. She has been engaged in what the Observer describes as ‘international funeral diplomacy. The paper explains that this is a feature of modern politics thanks to global air travel and, er, ‘refrigeration to preserve the deceased’ while world leaders fly in.

Truss met Australian PM Anthony Albanese and New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern at Truss’s official residence Chevening on Saturday. She will meet Poland’s President Duda and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau at Downing St on Sunday.

She won’t be meeting President Biden. A meeting will apparently take place at the UN on Wednesday, although the Sunday Times reports that a meeting was cancelled due to issues that the US has with Truss’s Head of Staff.

Meetings around funerals are hardly unknown. The miners Broad Left did a fair bit of organising in this way. After the funeral…

The Ambridge Socialist

18^th September

David Archer & King Charles find common ground on badgers

Well known badger murderer David Archer and King Charles have a significant connection. One of the King’s ‘black spider letters’ written when he was a Prince to Government Ministers demanded a badger cull. The fact that the new King is a known listener to the Archers and David Archer’s murderous activities are surely not unconnected.

Young Kenton’s Diaries: the redacted passage

Josh has discovered the diaries of Young Kenton hidden in the skirting board in Josh’s bedroom. The BBC has revealed that Young Kenton admired a farm worker Janet Adkins. It has not revealed a passage where Kenton notes a discussion with David relating to a plan to ‘get rid of’ Nigel Pargetter so that the Archers Dynasty could rule the area unchallenged.

Call Me Russ continues to act out a Thomas Hardy novel

It appears that Call Me Russ is on his way out of the Archers as he continues to act out passages by Thomas Hardy. He claims that he has been spurned by Lily because she once slept with someone else. One wonders how his now ex-wife feels about the new moral Russell Jones

Chelsea’s baby

A woman’s right to choose…

The Financial Times (17th September) has published a chart comparing the pay of leading central bankers around the world- usually people in charge of the State bank.

They have looked at salaries but the chart is based on a comparison between how multiples of the average wage each is paid. Top is Italian banker Ignazio Visco who earns 17 times the average wage. Next is Bank of Engand boss Andrew Bailey who earns 14 times the average wage.

Given the Chancellor is reported to be looking to lift the cap on top bankers bonuses he might want to have a look at the chart. It is of course not just bankers but a much wider problem. 40 years ago someone starting a job could see how their salary related to those at the top and the route,albeit one rarely travelled, to get somewhere near that level. That link is broken.

The FT comments:

wage indexation is less common than in the past. So is union membership. These factors lessen of a self-reinforcing wage-price spiral. But labour markets are tight. Businesses with pricing power will be able to pass wage increases on to customers. Central bankers wishing to earn their keep need to crack that conundrum rather than chastise workers asking for more.

Beard Liberation Front

17^th September

Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett 07803 167266

Beard Liberation Front updated Mourning Guidelines for Queen Elizabeth. No shaving in the queue

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has updated official Mourning Guidelines for the hirsute following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The campaigners say that the guidelines are entirely voluntary and some may wish to pay their respects in other ways or not at all:

1 During the Mourning period of 10 days the beard should not be trimmed except for safety reasons

2 Beard care, including washing and removal of split ends should continue as normal

3 Growing a Mourning beard is also encouraged but care should be taken to ensure that it looks tidy

4 If queueing to see the Queen lying in State no shaving of facial hair should take place. This will be regarded as disrespectful

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, we also anticipate that on the day of the funeral all barbers shops will be closed. Further guidance will be issued for the day of the funeral itself

Crisis, what crisis? Big Beer continues closures of breweries

Some may be distracted by other matters currently but those running breweries and pubs will have a sharp focus on energy cost and a huge hike in the cost of CO2 which is used in both breweries and pubs.

Of course not all are that concerned as Roger Protz has reported:

https://protzonbeer.co.uk/news/2022/09/07/global-lager-brewers-on-the-rampage

Global Big Beer can assimilate rising costs by charging more for beer, deciding where to pay taxes and making ‘efficiencies’. This last of course means brewery closures. Heineken shut Caledonian in Edinburgh a few months ago and more recently Marstons shut Jennings in Cockermouth. Of course the beers will continue to be produced at a mega-brewery somewhere but will taste different, as a key ingredient, water, will be different. The jobs lost will of course not be replaced.

Most recently Molson Coors has decided to shut the National Brewing Museum in Burton. It came to agreement with the local authority that its existing offices in the area would be vacated as part of a redevelopment plan. It then decided that instead of acquiring or renting a new office it would shut the Brewing Museum and use that for offices.

Of course the Museum exhibits will be preserved but quite where and how, doesn’t seem to have been part of the plan.

There is a petition https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-62902920

In the meantime if you’re not a member of CAMRA its an idea to join. No other organisation exists that will fight the onward march of Big Beer and has decades of experience of doing so

Beard Liberation Front

16^th September

Beard Liberation Front says it is relaxed on follicular language including use of the Oxford Comma

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers,  has objected to Therese Coffey’s diktat on the Oxford comma. It notes that follicles, beards, and beard power may, for example, be features of cultural Marxism, an issue that seizes the minds of a number of Government Ministers, but far from exclusively so.

The campaigners say that in general they are relaxed about the use of language. For example the official term for anti-beard prejudice is pogonophobia but the BLF has long used the shorter term beardism.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, as long as we can be understood we are relaxed on the use of follicle related grammar. Meaning and impact trump spelling and punctuation. Within reason.

The Murdoch Times (15th September) published details of the 20 Royal residences that various Royals live in at various times of the year. Most are in fact paid for by the taxpayer though the King owns Balmoral and Sandringham directly.

Many of the palaces and ‘cottages’ have architectural and historical interest and some are open to the public from time to time. The cost of insulating them and heating them must be considerable.

This will perhaps be of little interest to those many who not only can’t afford their heating bills but struggle to keep a roof over their heads at all