The Beard Liberation Front the informal network of beard wearers has said the England football manager Gareth Southgate has been the victim of beard hatred, pogonophobia, following England’s 4-0 home defeat to Hungary on Tuesday.
The campaigners say that while it was a poor result Southgate’s beard had no central part in it. By contrast England captain Harry Kane did appear to be suffering from tired follicles.
The BLF says that overall Gareth Southgate’s period as England manager has shown great beard power and he deserves praise for that.
BLF organiser Keith Flett said, hands off Gareth Southgate’s beard!!
A flight of refugees to Rwanda has been halted by various legal challenges. Several involved the European Court of Human Rights set up in 1959 based on the post 1945 Declaration of Human Rights.
Home Secretary Priti Patel will no doubt continue to pursue her racist policy just as protests and challenges will.
Writing in Whigs and Hunters the historian E P Thompson made an unfashionable defence of the law. He agreed the law was a class instrument used to defend the rights of the rich. Yet these rights could be and often were challenged by the poor.
On occasion the poor won and as Thompson noted at this point the rich often discreetly withdrew. The occasional defeat underwrote the ‘fairness’ of their system.
The alternative? See arbitrary power and Priti Patel
Jonny Bairstow become the fastest ever England cricketer with a beard to score a century at Trent Bridge on 14th June. Bairstow hit a 77 ball hundred
Gilbert Jessop scored a century in 76 balls against Australia at the Oval in 1902 but he wore only a moustache. However the maximum runs that could be scored off a single delivery was limited to 4 at that time.
BLF organiser Keith Flett said, Bairstow shows just what can be done with properly deployed beard power in cricket
The Beard Liberation Front the informal network of beard wearers has said that Australian football goalie Andrew Redmayne used Beard Power to see the Socceroos reach the World Cup finals on Monday.
Redmayne saved a Peru penalty by distracting the taker as he waved his arms and full organic beard about.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said Redmayne’s example of Beard Power has set a new gold standard
An electoral alliance fronted by Jean Luc Melenchon has topped the poll in the first round of the French Parliamentary elections held on 12th June. A second round takes place on 19th June. Melenchon probably won’t get more seats than Macron’s loose centrist grouping but enough for the left to have a voice in Parliament.
The French political system is different to the UKs but Melenchon’s alliance of the declining Socialist and Communist parties, the Greens and his own support might best be seen in UK terms as broad left. The interesting thing is that its political demands come from the left of the alliance not the right.
The French far left which got millions of votes in the Presidential election is not part of Melenchon’s alliance though no doubt some will vote for it.
Others may think that while electoral politics has importance battles in the workplace and in the streets may still be decisive in pushing back Macron
Meanwhile one wonders what Starmer’s Great Moving Right Show makes of electoral success from the left across the Channel?
Tony Blair is due to get the Order of the Garter today at Windsor. There will be protests.
It’s the highest and most select honour the State hands out. It can be argued that its Blair’s turn but as likely its an attempt to draw a political line under the 2003 Iraq War.
Blair was not a popular figure with Tories because he kept on winning elections. On the left though he became unpopular as massive election victories led to some but not enough domestic reform as attention focused on foreign wars
Iraq however remains an open political account Order of the Garter or not. So much so that the BBC has reported that Blair was given it secretly last week, awareness of protests clearly in mind
Beth, Ben’s partner has got a bonus from Graham Ryder(yes, him) & celebrated in The Bull with Ben, David and Vince. What did they drink?
Beth, lager
Ben, lager
David, Shires cask beer
Vince, whisky & ginger
A better summary of Ambridge in June 2022 would be hard to find. Let’s hope Shires lager is decent and plenty of work for Borsetshire CAMRA to do too.
They’re moving home.
Jazzer has mostly moved out of Jim’s to Tracey’s across the green taking his bong with him. Steph Casey has split up with her latest boyfriend and moved in with Beth. Cue a tiresome storyline..
Brian sees profit in yoga
Brian’s health issues have persuaded him to give Kate’s yoga a try. Unsurprisingly it’s not for him. However he now understands that yoga is profitable so it’s a good thing anyway
Katharine Birbalsingh is the Government’s Social Mobility Tsar. Its a Culture War job whose main purpose is for the holder to say things that annoy people and get media headlines.
On Thursday Ms Birbalsingh announced that working class people should forget going to Oxbridge & just focus on improving their existing lot a little bit.
One can understand that Ms Birbalsingh (BA Oxford) does not want Oxbridge places filled up with oiks that could otherwise be filled by her friends and family.
I never thought of going but did my first degree at Teesside University in the late 1970s. Perhaps the skills of organising demos, speaking at mass meetings and dealing with the media weren’t on the curriculum as such but they’ve stayed with me over 40 years (I got an upper second btw)
Even so Oxbridge is a key route to influence in society so why shouldn’t working class students aim to go? It could only improve the place
Ms Birbalsingh’s wider points were that more attention to improving skills particularly for the 50% who don’t go on to any form of education after they leave school is key. Indeed so. This has been an issue in Britain since the late nineteenth century. Many things have been tried around technical education, polytechnics etc etc but the challenge to engage, find what is relevant for a new generation of young people is key. Working with unions who know the challenges would be a start.
Here Ms Birbalsingh offers only really useless knowledge
Bruce Kent who has sadly died at 92 was one of the best known peace campaigners of the post-45 period not just in the UK but internationally. His death has seen obituaries in the Guardian,Times and Telegraph but elsewhere silence.
I suspect he would have rather relished that even in death he could cause awkwardness for an Establishment promoting a war with Russia in Ukraine.
Bruce Kent was a North Londoner living off Green Lanes in Harringay. Despite his many commitments he was always active locally. A 1988 picture shows him with Bernie Grant, Sharon Grant and others launching Haringey as a nuclear free zone. Later in 1988 he went on a 1000 mile walk from Poland to Brussels to promote peace.
Bruce Kent should be an inspiration to new generations of peace campaigners but don’t expect Boris Johnson to say so…
The Beard Liberation Front the informal network of beard wearers has said that New Zealand’s effort to win the 2nd Test against England at Trent Bridge will be seriously impacted after captain Kane Williamson tested positive for Covid.
Williamson is one of the best known beard wearers in world cricket and a leading exponent of beard power cricket a 2020s update on body line.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said we wish Kane a speedy recovery and trust that the Kiwis can still operate his beard power system at Trent Bridge
