Kmflett's Blog

Tweets from a riot. Tottenham Saturday evening 6^th August 2011

I’ve lived in central Tottenham since 1992 (indeed I’m a born and bred North Londoner) and I still do (although since the pandemic has seen me more in Cardiff).

On Saturday night 6th August 2011 I had been out for a meal and drinks with my late partner Megan at the White Horse in Parsons Green. 15 years on (and these were the early days of craft beer in London) we’d have gone nearer home-quite probably in Tottenham itself.

I received a tweet from a friend noting that a riot was taking place in Tottenham with a picture of a burning car. It was perhaps not entirely unexpected (but riots are not predictable) following the police shooting of Mark Duggan two days earlier in Tottenham Hale just a few minutes walk from my Tottenham residence.

We headed back pronto and arrived back late evening. Below I’ve retrieved a few tweets I did at the time.

I should emphasise that I was endeavouring to make my way to my central Tottenham flat which I did safely, albeit there was considerable turmoil. Buses down Tottenham High Rd were diverting at High Cross so we had to walk from there- around 5 minutes. There were large crowds in the street, no police, and some things on fire.

As a socialist historian I’ve also researched the history of riots (there are many studies) and a collection of papers I edited was published as the History of Riots (2016).

I think however its unlikely that many who have written about riots have actually been in one..

Just been in Tottenham High Rd; Very serious situation. Buildings ablaze, no attempt being made to deal with fires 11.38pm Saturday 6^th August 2011

btw for those not in Tottenham tonight a riot looks exciting but for those who live in central Tottenham as I do its not quite so romantic 12.14am Sunday 7^th August 2011

For those who imagine central Tottenham is in total uproar tonight, I’m in my flat 5mins from riot area & it is completely peaceful outside 12.26am Sunday 7^th August 2011

Boris Johnson & the August 2011 riots. ‘It’s a chaotic scene’

On Saturday August 6^th 2011 following the police shooting of Mark Duggan on 4^th August in Tottenham and heavy handing policing of a protest a riot broke out on Tottenham High Rd. Protest and riots spread around the country in the days to come.

The Mayor of London at the time was Boris Johnson. A new account by David Cameron’s Comms man Craig Oliver has appeared in the Times.

Johnson was on holiday ‘thousands of miles with his wife in a massive RV. Johnson’s’ advisors suggested he could not return as he leave his wife, a distinguished lawyer, to drive the ‘unwieldy vehicle’. Hmmm

Dave Cameron returned overnight on the Monday on a military flight and chaired a COBRA security meeting on the Tuesday. Johnson still hadn’t returned.

Oliver notes that at the Wednesday COBRA meeting: ‘fifteen minutes in the door flies open and Johnson bursts in. His mop of blond hair is particularly messy and he is carrying a battered rucksack. For most of the time he stares straight ahead…

When the meeting finished Oliver looked at a TV screen ‘and Johnson is on the steps of the Cabinet Office. It’s a chaotic scene. He is surrounded by tourists and media taking pictures. Later he will be seen, brush in hand, helping with the clean-up’

Boris Johnson has been Prime Minister since July 2019

Beard Liberation Front

Media Release

7th August

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

London Beard Week 2021: Karl Marx & Michael Rosen voted Best Ever London Beards

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that as part of London Beard Week which marks the continued growth of beards in the Capital, Karl Marx and Michael Rosen have been voted Best Ever London Beards in an on-line poll.

Karl Marx topped the vote in the Classic London Beards category while Michael Rosen won the Contemporary London Beards poll.

It is the second year the two beard wearers have jointly topped the poll.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, the Best Ever London Beard is not about the length of the beard or its style but the positive impact that the follicles of the wearer have made on London life. Clearly Marx and Rosen are amongst the most well-known hirsute Londoners of the modern era, although so far only one has a statue

The campaigners say that aside from the many more beards seen in workplaces, shops and pubs, there is also a growth of specialist beard care shops and hairdressers offering beard trims and treatments, although the BLF advises against beard trims in barbers shops.

London Beard Week is a celebration of London, now one of the most beard friendly Capital cities in the world, and of London’s great hirsute heritage from Charles Dickens to Karl Marx through to modern day beards such as England football captain Harry Kane and author and Arsenal fan Michael Rosen.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, London is striking a decisive blow against pogonophobia, the irrational dislike of facial hair. It’s now respectable to wear a beard in London but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for hirsute rebellion as well.

London Beard Week poll to find London’s Best Ever Beard.

Charles Dickens, author

Karl Marx, philosopher and activist

Michael Rosen, author & broadcaster

William Morris, socialist & designer

William Cuffay, Leader of London Chartism

Bernie Grant, London Labour MP

Tim Dunn, railway historian

Billy Bragg, musician

September 1874. Marx writes to Engels on a daily diet of spring water, coffee & pilsner

MARX TO ENGELS IN LONDON

Karlsbad, Austria, 1 September 1874 Germania, am Schlossberg

Dear FRED,

By next Wednesday I shall have been here for two weeks and my powder, ALIAS MONEY, will just suffice for a third week. If you should write to me, please use the above address, but put Miss Eleanor Marx on the envelope. The cure has done wonders for Tussy; I am feeling better but my insomnia has not yet been overcome.

We are both living in strict accordance with the rules. We go to our respective springs at 6 every morning, where I have to drink seven glasses. Between each two glasses there has to be a break of 15 minutes during which one marches up and down. After the last glass, an hour’s WALK, and finally, coffee. Another cold glass in the evenings before bed. I am not allowed to drink anything but pure Pumpenheimerb; Tussy, on the other hand, DAILY receives a glass of Pilsner beer, which makes me envious.

Marx was in Karlsbad taking a health cure. The town was well known for its water springs and its Pilsner beer.

Beard Liberation Front

Media Release

6th August

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

London Beard Week 2021. Call for review of all statues with beards in the Capital

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that as part of London Beard Week which runs until 7th August it is calling for a thorough review of statues with beards in the Capital.

The campaigners say that some statues such as that of Henry Tate, erected at the Tate Library, Brixton in 1905, have associations with the slave trade and bring the hirsute into disrepute.

Meanwhile other well-known London beard wearers such as the black leader of London Chartism in 1848 William Cuffay do not have statues.

London Beard Week is a celebration of London, now one of the most beard friendly Capital cities in the world, and of London’s great hirsute heritage from Charles Dickens to Karl Marx through to modern day beards such as England football captain Harry Kane and author and Arsenal fan Michael Rosen.

As part of the week the BLF is running a poll to find the most impactful and impressive figure with a beard who is associated with London. The result will be announced on Saturday 7^th August.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, it’s time for a review of statues with beards in London. Some are bringing the hirsute into disrepute, while other well-known London beards do not have statues at all.

Beard Liberation Front

Media Release 5th August

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

London Beard Week: East London voted most Beard Friendly area of the Capital

The fifth London Beard Week which runs from 3rd-7th August is designed to highlight the place of London as a leading world centre for beard wearers. The result of a poll to find the best ever London beard from Karl Marx to Michael Rosen will be announced on Saturday

Another key issue is in which part of the Capital are you likely to see the most (and arguably) the best beards?

A BLF on-line poll has found that Shoreditch and Hackney Wick are thought to be the most beard friendly areas of the Capital with their mixture of culture, arts spaces, eateries and bars.

They shaved South London locations Streatham and Croydon in the vote

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, the verdict is in. If you want to flaunt your beard in London, Shoreditch and Hackney Wick are the places to be. South London is comparatively follicle free by comparison

The one thing Boris Johnson has been consistent on: he hates miners

Boris Johnson has remarked that Thatcher did a lot to address climate change by closing pits after the 1984/5 miner’s strike.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58107009

Thatcher’s record on climate change was better than Johnsons but that is hardly difficult. She did not however wage war on the miners to save the world but as part of a bitter class war to break the organised working-class in the 1980s.

Of course it can be agreed that over time closing the pits was something that needed to be done due to climate change. No doubt there will be twerps out there that find Johnson’s remarks unproblematic.

The issue was not closing pits it was doing so in a way that *deliberately* devastated working class communities most of which remain areas of high unemployment and poverty.

Johnson, not known for political consistency, has however always been consistent on his hatred for the miners.

He wrote in the Telegraph in 2004 (23^rd September) how he had been approached for a donation to support the miners while he was at Balliol in 1984. He refused.

I wont give any dosh to these blasted strikers because as far as I can see they are being execrably led, haven’t had a proper ballot, and are plainly trying to bring down the elected Government of the country’.

Nothing one notes about climate change..

Johnson has a long history of apologising for the offence his remarks frequently cause while sticking to their substance.

On this occasion he hasnt even gone that far:

Asked on Friday if the PM would be apologising for his words, his official spokesman said: “The prime minister recognises the huge impact and pain closing coal mines had in communities across the UK.

Workers Sport

The 2024 Olympics has, as often, drawn criticism on the basis of its promotion of nationalism in sport tempered with admiration for the achievement of individual athletes who are not tied up with such agendas.

But what of the history of working class organisations and sport? It is one that is largely forgotten.

Perhaps the only moment of dissent now recalled is the powerful black power salutes at the 1968 Olympics, a symbol that echoed around the world.

But the history of working class sport goes much deeper and broader. It was not just a question of protest at officially organised events but a whole alternative sporting structure.

In 1914 as the First World War broke out there were 350,000 workers in sports organisations in Germany. By 1928 this had risen to two million. There were 60 sports papers with a readership of 800,000. These structures were organised by the socialist party the SPD. However by 1931 the German Communist Party KPD also had a separate sports organisation of 100,000 members.

The extent of these organisations was considerable. For example the German workers cycling association had a co-operative cycle production factory. In Austria in 1930 the workers swimming association gave 100,000 free swimming lessons

By contrast in Britain there was more space to operate inside the system. The origins of team sports often lay with works or factory side sponsored by employers. There was no systematic attempt to exclude socialists or trade unionists.

The highest profile aspect of workers sport were the alternative workers Olympics.

The Barcelona workers Olympics of 1936 which had to be cancelled at the last moment as Franco’s forces advanced has had the largest historical profile.

The first, unofficial workers Olympic was in Prague in 1921 but the first official event was in Germany in 1925. 150,000 were said to have attended. Vienna followed in 1931with 100,000 competing from 26 countries and Antwerp replaced the ill-fated Barcelona games in 1937.

All these events were organised by the social democratic  Socialist Workers Sports International which by 1931 had 1,300,000 members.

The Communist influenced Red Sports International held festivals in Moscow in 1928 and Berlin 1931. After that as fascism became a serious threat and political positions changed the impetus for separate events was less.

It is the story of the failed Barcelona Olympics of 1936 that is perhaps best known

They were termed the People’s Olympic Games and scheduled for 19-26th July 1936 in opposition to the Nazi dominated Olympics in Berlin. The idea was to hold a ‘popular sports festival which does not hope for record feats but intends to preserve the true Olympic spirit of peace and cooperation between nations’

Despite the most difficult of circumstances 10,000 athletes from 20 countries including the UK, Canada, France and Holland arrived.

Shamefully Avery Brundage declared them the ‘communist games’.

The British Workers Sports Association sent 40 athletes including some quite well known ones such as the Welsh 100 yards champion EG Cupid and the tennis player Bernard Bamber as well as the chess player AR Northcott from Acton Labour Sports Section. There was a delay in getting agreement from the UK Amateur Athletics Association but it was agreed the games were an officially organised event, permits were issued and the British team left Victoria station on 17th July 1936.

Their arrival coincided with the final and successful assault by Franco’s forces on the Republican Government and the British team were evacuated by the Royal Navy.

Some who had gone to Barcelona stayed on to become part of the International Brigades

Beard Liberation Front

Media Release

5th August

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

London Beard Week 2021 revolting into style in the Capital

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that London Beard Week which begins on 3rd August will mark the continued growth of beards in the Capital.

The campaigners say that aside from the many more beards seen in workplaces, shops and pubs, there is also a growth of specialist beard care shops and hairdressers offering beard trims and treatments, although the BLF advises against beard trims in barbers shops.

London Beard Week is a celebration of London, now one of the most beard friendly Capital cities in the world, and of London’s great hirsute heritage from Charles Dickens to Karl Marx through to modern day beards such as England football captain Harry Kane and author and Arsenal fan Michael Rosen.

As part of the week the BLF is running a poll to find the most impactful and impressive figure with a beard who is associated with London.

In Round One, classic London beards, Karl Marx shaved the opposition. Round Two is now open and closes at midday on Friday.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, London is striking a decisive blow against pogonophobia, the irrational dislike of facial hair. It’s now respectable to wear a beard in London but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for hirsute rebellion as well.

London Beard Week poll to find London’s Best Ever Beard.

Charles Dickens, author

Karl Marx, philosopher and activist

Michael Rosen, author & broadcaster

William Morris, socialist & designer

William Cuffay, Leader of London Chartism

Bernie Grant, London Labour MP

Tim Dunn, railway historian

Billy Bragg, musician

Prince Charles, the Tory Treasurer & Boris Johnson’s No.10 flat. A tale of ‘Old Corruption’

In the wider story of the links between Prince Charles, his nephew and Tory fund raiser Ben Elliott and Boris Johnson the Sunday Times reported an interesting detail that hasn’t had coverage.

Prince Charles successfully raised funds to save the historic Dumfries House in Scotland. Part of the plan was to build Knockroon a model community similar to Poundbury near Dorchester. After the financial crash of 2008 this proved problematic and only 34 out of 770 houses were built.

A donor bought 9 of those houses. He was Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row. He is a property developer. Lord Brownlow, a friend of Prince Charles, also paid the £58,000 for the renovation of Boris Johnson’s flat that it had become clear could not come from public funds and from which also Tory Treasurer Elliott steered clear. Lord Brownlow was Vice Chair of the Tory Party 2017-2020.

There was nothing obviously corrupt in a legal or financial sense about this. It was Old Corruption in the sense of William Cobbett, a political system based not on merit or democracy but on who you know.