Kmflett's Blog

A cricket season like no other: Hats Off to Test Match Special coverage

A cricket season like no other ended with rather a damp squib on Friday at Lords with Warwickshire beating Lancashire by an innings on the 4^th day of a highly unusual 5 day game.

Test Match Special covered every ball, just as it did of every game of women’s and men’s cricket in the Championship, Rachael Heyhoe Trophy, the 20 and 50 over competitions, the Hundred and of course the Tests.

That was a lot of cricket, yet TMS covered on the radio, national and local and on-line.

 Sky (now owned by Comcast) have the TV rights to most of the above but the Hundred aside (where separate arrangements applied) they show little of the men’s game. Whether there are other broadcasters who would, particularly now that many games are livestreamed, is a moot point.

Anyway in terms of ball by ball radio coverage, TMS did the BBC’s tradition of public service broadcasting proud.

Its not currently a popular form of broadcasting in a climate where the emphasis is on commercial provision of one kind or another. However as the Sky example underlines commercial channels will never provide the kind of coverage TMS has done this summer.

Further TMS has changed since the days when I first started listening in the 1960s. Presenters are (mostly) younger and closer to the game now played and there is a much improved (previously hardly existing) ethnic and gender balance of commentators. That is welcome and offers greater insights on commentary too.

Of course I didn’t find everything to be great. The rise, in common with many sports commentaries, of unwanted facts, I find irritating. As a research historian I know that modern technology makes researching things much easier. But that doesn’t mean that every finding is either relevant or worthy of attention.

Lastly the Hundred, where I was more critical. It was of course ‘amazing’ and TMS did actually provide some well balanced perspectives. Sometimes though I thought commentary erred a little on the side of promoting rather than reporting.

Finally to those who feel inclined to do it: please stop shouting. I am not, yet, deaf.

125^th anniversary of the death of William Morris, socialist & beard wearer (1834-1896)

William Morris the socialist and beard wearer died 125 years ago today, 3^rd October 1896, died peacefully aged 62.

E P Thompson in his political biography of Morris (Romantic to Revolutionary) noted:

Almost his last words were ‘I want to get mumbo jumbo out of the world’.

His GP reported with ‘unhesitation’ that Morris’s death was due to him being a victim of ‘his enthusiasm for spreading the principles of socialism’.

Another Doctor suggested that the cause of death was ‘simply being William Morris, and having done more work than most ten men’

Keir Starmer was at the Wapping mass pickets in 1986. Today he writes for The S*n

In the mid-1980s Keir Starmer was one of those involved in producing a small circulation magazine called Socialist Alternatives. I was active on the left then (& still am) but I don’t recall it. At this distance opinions seem to vary as to what the precise political character of the magazine was. Red/Green might cover it, although some of those involved were orthodox Trotskyists and the controlling spirit was that of Michael Raptis, also known as Pablo.

I suspect the numbers who care about this, beyond historians of the left, is very small indeed. More will be interested in Wapping one of the totemic disputes of the post-1945 era, where Rupert Murdoch busted out the print unions from the Sun and Times. The print unions from the perspective of 2021 were not entirely marvellous but they were well organised and hugely better than anything Murdoch had in mind.

I was often at the Wapping picket line on Saturday nights in 1986, as it seems was Keir Starmer. Who knows we may have met, either at the picket or in the nearby Artful Dodger pub where people stopped for a beer.

Keir Starmer as Labour leader has written a piece in the Sun today, despite saying he would never do such a thing during the 2020 leadership contest and using a video of himself at Wapping as part of his leadership campaign.

After Wapping Starmer went on to defend the McLibel Two (who I also knew and know well) so perhaps the next step is an appearance in a McDonalds advert.

Whatever, red lines have been crossed here..

Keir Starmer, Socialist Alternatives July/August 1986

Trade Unions in a Wapping World

The struggle for workers control means.. effective defense of the unions, supporting national and local pickets and a principled advocacy of solidarity action

The Ambridge Socialist

3^rd October

Home Farm for sale. Brian takes back control

Faced with the possibility of Chris Carter getting a share of Home Farm when Alice divorces him, Brian has decided on a scorched earth policy. He is thinking of selling the farm and retaining the ability to divide up the proceeds himself.

Of course if he hadn’t fallen out with Adam then he would have had a succession plan, although its clear Adam would have driven the farm into bankruptcy in short order in the first place.

It seems clear that Brexiteer Brian has now grasped what taking back control actually means.

What should socialists say about Aldridge’s plan. The Ambridge Socialist quiz?

No middle-class solutions for Blake

Blake returned to Ambridge hoping to find his former owner gangmaster Philip Moss still in situ rather than in jail. Kirsty thought he would appreciate the help of Sgt Knacker Burns. Understandably except to Kirsty he did not. This led to him being run into by Chelsea while she was taking a driving lesson and spending time in hospital. Cue the arrival of Lynda who offered him a chance to stay at her house. Faced with a three course meal for dinner, Blake made off, no doubt overwhelmed. No doubt too often he was lucky to get anything to eat. The efforts of Ambridge’s LibDems to help Blake were well meaning but underlined their inability to grasp the scale of the crisis facing people like Blake in 2021 with no welfare state left to help them get by

Beth bakes a cake

Its Jill’s birthday and Ben and Josh between them have persuaded Beth to bake a cake for the occasion. This she does admirably but couldn’t they also have had a go themselves??

In other news

No fuel crisis in Ambridge as the village runs on hot air

Boris Johnson (or rather a media advisor) has tweeted a picture of him on his way to the Tory Conference in Manchester. Unfortunately he is pictured at Kings Cross station about to board an LNER train. This will take him to York and Newcastle. For Manchester, Euston up the road is the station required.

Perhaps Johnson would be better advised if rail was nationalised. Still, what a way to run a railroad…

85^th Anniversary of Cable St. A reminder from history on how to fight fascism

Sunday is the commemoration of the 85th anniversary of the battle of Cable St when an attempt by  Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists to march through and intimidate Jewish communities in London’s East End was stopped by a mass mobilisation of thousands of ordinary Londoners, Jews and non-Jews, trade unionists, socialists, communists and many others.

It was not a protest that received the support of any part of the Establishment. It was organised from below and it worked.

David Rosenberg the socialist historian who has done so much work on the radical East End has written in the Morning Star about why Cable St remains important.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/battle-cable-street-85-march-us-weekend

As he has noted the fight to stop fascists from marching and intimidating communities is not something that is over. It needs to be done again and again.

There were many post-1945 battles against Mosley’s fascists but by the 1970s they had been replaced by the National Front. The Battle of Wood Green in April 1977 saw another mass mobilisation to stop a Saturday afternoon fascist march along a busy North London High Rd.

Similar battles and mobilisations were needed against the British National Party and the English Defence League and the far right and fascism remain something that needs to be opposed in 2021.

Cable St on 4th October 1936 may be 85 years ago now but it set the template on how to do it

The Campaign for Real Conkers

Media Release. Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

2^nd October

Concerns raised over shortage of conker players. Campaigners call on Boris Johnson to act

The Campaign for Real Conkers, that opposes bans on conker playing and unnecessary rules and regulations in games, has said that that the with the 2021 season now in full swing there are significant concerns over a shortage of players.

2021 has seen a good crop of conkers but many lie uncollected on the grounds as interest in the traditional autumn sport appears to be in a continuing decline, with numbers favouring App based virtual games.

In many areas the main collectors of conkers are grey squirrels. The squirrels can’t eat the conkers but that doesn’t stop them from trying and many uncollected conkers can be found with squirrel tooth marks.

The campaigners say that while they are maintaining their usual ‘anything goes’ approach to conker games, to encourage people to play without arbitrary rules, in 2021 some COVID-19 safety guidelines still apply.

Campaign Organiser Keith Flett said, the continuing decline in conker collecting and playing in many areas is now a cause for serious concern. Its something that clearly needs Boris Johnson’s attention.

Guide on how to play real conkers safely in 2021

1] Select your conker. Do this yourself. DO NOT use a conker provided by someone else who may give you a poor specimen.

2] There is no specific kind of conker that makes a good game winner. Large conkers may more easily splinter for example. Some prefer conkers with flat and sharp edges

3] You may use the conker ‘as is’ known as ‘organic’. Alternatively you may seek to harden it by baking it, soaking it in vinegar etc. There is no guarantee that an artificially enhanced conker will perform any better than an organic one.

4] Drill a small hole through the conker. A nail will often achieve this. Again you must do this yourself

5] Thread the conker through the hole you have drilled. A strong chord, perhaps a shoelace or garden twine is best

6] You are now ready to play.

7] Make sure that the chord is long enough to allow you to stand at least 1 metre plus away from your opponent. This would generally be the case as space is required for the conker swing.

8] Players take alternate turns to try and hit and destroy their opponent’s conker

9] Those with poor aim may hit the knuckles of their opponent more often than the conker so you may wish to wear gloves.

10] The winner is the player who determines their opponents conker unusable in further rounds, usually by causing it to splinter into two or more pieces.

In defence of Keir (Hardie) and genuine Keiths

I’ve spent a life on the left and so in general I vote Labour, although I sometimes vote to the left of Labour where there is a credible candidate and the Tories stand no chance.

I’m not an enthusiast for Parliamentary Socialism(see Ralph Miliband) so I dont have great expectations of Labour leaders. I’m no fan of Keir Starmer but then again one thinks back to the days of Hugh Gaitskell and Harold Wilson (indeed I am 64).

All that said the Labour leader is named after the first leader of the Party Keir Hardie.

He is not called Keith except on social media where he increasingly is.

Nor is Keith an Anglicised imperial alternative to Keir. In fact Keir is the English variant of the Gaelic name Ciar.

It may be a joke but it’s one I dont find all that amusing. Nor one reads does Starmer.  

The discussion surfaced on Facebook this week. One quote from the thread:

‘Keith is often applied to people who are generally viewed as quite boring, whatever their class’. 

The Fletts originate from Orkney and I’m named after the north-east Scotland town of Keith.

Its home to a brewery and whisky distilleries which may explain something of my later development

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith,_Moray

If Keir could stick to his name I’ll stick to mine.

Please keep in mind that while I do speak in public its never for 90 minutes and I welcome hecklers. It’s a sign someone in the audience is listening. Further I do have a sense of humour and a beard.

Beard Liberation Front

1^st October

Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett 07803 167266

Graham Potter & David Tennant on shortlist as Beard of Autumn vote opens

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that the vote for the Beard of Autumn 2021 is now open.

There will be a two preliminary rounds followed by a Beard Off final where the top two beards from each of the earlier rounds try to beard the others.

The winner will be announced on 15^th October

The Beard of Autumn is the final quarterly award of the year with the vote for the coveted Beard of the Year 2021 getting underway at the beginning of December

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, the Beard of Autumn list reflects some of those whose beards have shown the hirsute in a positive light in the last few months. Obviously not all will agree which is why there is a vote!

Beard of Autumn

Graham Potter, football manager

Moeen Ali, England cricketer

Michael Rosen, author & Arsenal fan

Andy McDonald, Labour MP

Tim Dunn, railway historian

David Olusoga, historian

David Tennant, actor

Bob Harris, broadcaster

Wetherspoons still needs a trade union

Wetherspoons has reported a substantial loss for the financial year to July 25^th:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58758701

The report of course set off the usual Remainiacs who claimed it was all to do with Brexit, as they hadn’t bothered to actually read it.

I didn’t agree with Tim Martin (I voted Remain) on Brexit anymore than I did with his dalliances with Johnson and Farage. He was however hardly unique in industry or hospitality in that.

The losses were of course due to the fact that Spoons pubs were either operating under restrictions (on numbers and opening times) or shut altogether for much of the year from July 2020 through to May 2021.

The picture will apply across hospitality where I suspect numbers of those still furloughed when the scheme ended on September 30^th were to be found.

The report indicates that Wetherspoons has increased staff numbers in the recent period quite considerably, which might tell you something about working conditions elsewhere in hospitality.

Martin claims there are still recruitment issues and Brexit may be a factor there. Another factor however that he can do something about is recognising a trade union and making sure that pay and conditions are negotiated with the aim of retaining workers and allowing them to advance in the company if that is what they want to do (a minority where bar work is often a short term matter, one of the reasons why unionisation is difficult and why it would also help to stabilise matters all around by promoting retention of workers)