Kmflett's Blog

The complexities of English patriotism. When & why the Roast Beef of Old England was the national anthem

The national anthem, God Save the Queen or King, first became common in the 1790s when ‘Church and King’ mobs backed by sailors were keen to oppose radicals who supported the French Revolution.

The traditional English anthem had been the Roast Beef of Old England, and the playing of the new national anthem did not always go down well. A riot took place in Sheffield in 1812 when naval officers insisted it was played at a theatrical performance.

The politics behind the anthem was that good food-in this case roast beef-was seen as part of the birth right of the ‘Freeborn Englishman’.

Of course for many it was anything but. E P Thompson notes in the Making of the English Working Class that after 1820 while the artisan might be able to afford roast beef for a Sunday dinner, it would have been at best a special occasion for many urban workers and largely impossible for rural labourers.

The point of the anthem then was to highlight the difference between what England claimed to be and what it actually was.

As the media and politicians boosted up flag waving English patriotism as England played the European Championships final on Sunday some might reflect how the rhetoric looks next week as furlough winds down and the Government presses ahead with a return to ‘normal’ as COVID infections rise once again.

The Ambridge Socialist

11^th July

Scarecrows rule

There is progress in history and Lynda Snell’s long grip on the Ambridge fete committee has been weakened. Joy, who like Vince is now appearing as a more rounded character than might have been thought, has suggested that people be asked to make scarecrows to display outside their residences. Villagers could then perambulate, view them and decide on the best.

Lynda Snell did try to claim the idea as her own but was forced to concede that it came from Joy.

The Ambridge Socialist sees a close competition between Scarecrows featuring Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer….

Alice is in Rehab

The Rev Richard Coles whose partner David sadly died from alcoholic liver disease has praised the way the Archers has written episodes featuring Alice’s descent into alcoholism. It has sometimes been hard listening particularly for anyone who has had a loved one overtaken with a condition, physical or mental, that leads them to act in ways that are both not of their usual character but also often outside expected ‘normal’ behaviours as well.

Anyway this week Alice has finally entered Rehab where she is meant to be for a month. We shall see..

Brian and Eddie: Patrician Society

Brian Aldridge is an exploiter and member of the Borsetshire ruling class. Eddie Grundy is a mostly landless labourer. Their interests are directly opposed. That didn’t stop them from having a discussion this week about the personal impact when an a crisis hits an offspring- Alice and Will. In Ambridge at least the patrician society that E P Thompson researched still exists.

In Other News

Shula has returned Neil’s secateurs which he had been using to prune things in her garden. As it were

Football is not coming home in Ambridge. It’s the cricket season

Beard Liberation Front

10th July

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Southgate & Kane Beard Power key to England challenge to Italy

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that Beard Power, as displayed by England football manager Gareth Southgate and captain Harry Kane is likely to play a key role in determining whether England can beat  Italy in Sunday’s final of the European football Championships

Calls in the Guardian for England football manager Gareth Southgate to shave his beard off got a decisive thumbs down in a special BLF poll.

96% of those voting backed Gareth Southgate’s Beard Power with just 4% saying he should shave for victory.

Southgate is the first ever England football manager, going back to Walter Winterbottom in 1946, and 1966 aside, his clean shaven predecessors have not been notable for their significant success.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, The combination of Southgate & Kane’s Beard Power could be crucial in the final if it is appropriately deployed. The clean shaven revisionists demand for him to shave completely ignore the reality that Beard Power is a key part of the England’s team’s strategy

Guardian 2nd July 2021

What a shave! Must Gareth Southgate’s beard go for England to win Euro 2020?

While agreeing wholeheartedly with Keith Flett’s Marxist analysis of the England football team’s prospects (Letters, 30 June), I cannot help noting that no bearded manager has ever led England to success in an international football tournament. Perhaps a barber might offer advice?

Richard Loder

Manchester

Beard Liberation Front

PRESS RELEASE

10th July

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Beard Alert issued as flying ants swarm threatens Wembley final

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers which campaigns against beardism, irrational prejudice against the hirsute, has issued a rare Beard Alert covering the whole of Greater London as flying ants have swarmed across the Capital.

The campaigners say that according to a report the flying ants may be a particular issue at the European football final at Wembley on Sunday.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jul/10/flying-ants-could-swarm-euro-2020-final-at-wembley

The campaigners note that the ants have a tendency to fly into and become lodged in the beard thereby feeding the oldest pogonophobic prejudice that the hirsute have things stuck in their beards.

The BLF says that the Flying Ant crisis while important is also temporary and will last only for a few days. However during this period beard wearers are advised to wear a snood to protect their follicles against flying ants

BLF organiser Keith Flett said, there have been doubters on social media claiming that flying ants are a ‘local’ problem. The BLF does not issue Beard Alerts lightly and for the moment beard wearers need to take the flying ant swarms very seriously indeed.

London Socialist Historians Group

Press Release 10^th July

Contact Dr Keith Flett 07803 167266

Historians say England football results make no difference to political fortunes

The London Socialist Historians Group that organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, has said that despite claims an England football victory on Sunday will benefit Boris Johnson, poll evidence back to 1966 suggests this won’t be the case.

The historians looked at opinion poll evidence for three key England football games.

The World Cup final in July 1966 which England won, the World Cup quarter final in June 1970 and the European Championship semi-final in 1996 both of which England lost.

When England beat Germany at Wembley in the World Cup final on July 30^th 1966 Harold Wilson claimed England only won under a Labour Government. Labour had won the March 1966 General Election. A poll taken on July 27^th 1966 gave Labour 48.1% of the vote and the Tories 38.8%. Another at the end of August gave Labour 44% and the Tories 44.5%. The change was likely to have been related to economic problems rather than the football.

On June 7^th 1970 England lost to Brazil in a World Cup quarter final. Tony Benn worried it wouldn’t help Labour in the forthcoming General Election on 18^th June which they lost. A poll taken on June 6^th gave the Tories 44.4% and Labour 48.1%. A poll on June 11 saw Labour with 49% and the Tories with 42%

On June 26^th 1996 England lost the European Championship semi-final to Germany after Gareth Southgate missed a penalty. Yet John Major’s Government was already doomed irrespective of the result. On June 24^th the Tories polled 31% and Labour 50%. By June 28^th this was 32% to 52%

The historians say that while big football occasions spark much interest and debate the historical evidence suggests they don’t influence political fortunes which are determined by more ‘bread and butter’ issues in the main.

London Socialist Historians convenor Keith Flett said, the evidence back to 1966 is that if England do win at Wembley Boris Johnson won’t get a football bounce and neither should he-he is a rugby fan.

Statistics from Mark Pack’s poll database

PollBase: Opinion polls database from 1943-today

If England win on Sunday Boris Johnson won’t benefit

Boris Johnson was at Wembley for England’s semi-final victory against Denmark. At least we now know who was booing the Danish anthem.

Johnson was wearing an ill-fitting England shirt over his ill-fitting shirt and jacket.

He does not of course actually like football.

The Tories made an Election ‘pledge’ in 2019 to provide funding for grassroots football to promote a bid for the UK to host the 2030 football World Cup.

The funding of course just replaced some of the money the Tories had cut from this area since 2010.

Johnson has also given media interviews underlining his love for football but as many will know, he is a politician who is incapable of telling the truth

Sonia Purnell author of the best biography of Johnson, Just Boris, writes of his attendance at the South African Football World Cup (in an earlier bid to get a future World Cup for the UK):

‘no great football fan himself, he is more of a rugby man’.

Johnson will no doubt try to reap some electoral benefit if England win on Sunday.

It seems most unlikely. Many football fans will already know that it is not the favoured sport of the Old Etonian and most will recall that only a few weeks ago he was relaxed about ‘fans’ booing the England team for taking the knee against racism.

Keir Starmer who is a genuine football fan (even if it is Arsenal) and has attended previous England games over the years as a fan might perhaps benefit except for the unfortunate reality that he seems incapable of turning any occasion to Labour’s advantage

Ever the Old Etonian- Boris Johnson mask-less in Wembley

A picture has appeared of Boris Johnson being driven away from the England’s European football semi-final on Wednesday. All the occupants of the car are wearing masks except Johnson although doing so in confined spaces (such as transport) is current Government guidance.

The official response was that Johnson was about to put his mask on which seems unlikely as the picture suggests he was comatose after over-celebrating at Wembley.

Johnson can never seem to transcend the class perspective he learnt at Eton

Sonia Purnell’s 2012 biography of Johnson, Just Boris, contains some interesting extracts from his school reports at Eton which suggest that he learnt what he could get away with there and has not changed since.

His personal tutor Andrew Hobson wrote a report which says in part ‘I think he honestly believes that it is churlish of us not to regard him as an exception, one who should be free of the network of obligation which binds everyone else’.

Beard Liberation Front

9^th July

Guardian slammed for anti-beard prejudice

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has slammed the Guardian for anti-beard prejudice following its Pass Notes on ‘improbable facial hair’ published on 8^th July

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/shortcuts/2021/jul/08/phenomenal-facial-hair-are-you-ready-for-the-circle-beard-and-double-moustache

The paper is critical of new trends in beard wearing including the monkey tail and chin beard.

The Beard Liberation Front’s long standing policy has been to support the right of people to dress and appear how they want, although it has been consulting on whether to advise the hirsute against wearing chin beards without taking advice on the possible impact.

The Pass Notes conclude with the claim that ‘all facial hair is terrible’.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, the Guardian seems to have been specialising in alienating sections of its readership in recent years but we warn them that without the support of beard wearers there will be few readers left.

Beard Liberation Front

9^th July

Media Release

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Poll finds 90% back beard wearers continuing to mask-up after 19^th July to protect themselves & others

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that a specially commissioned poll found that 91% of respondents backed its guidance to the hirsute to continue wearing masks in appropriate contexts and settings after July 19th, even if the requirement is lifted in England.

The campaigners say that mask wearing has seen a rise in follicle health over the past year, as beards have been protected from the elements and accidental exposure to noxious substances.

They also say that mask wearing protects others, hirsute and clean shaven, from anything that the beard wearer themselves may transmit, via the occasional splutter, groan or cheer.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, Its clear that beard wearers put the duty to protect themselves and others against clean-shaven fools like Boris Johnson first and will continue mask wearing where appropriate after July 19^th.

Brewdog still resisting trade union recognition. Sign the Megaphone petition

I argued several weeks ago that the only long term answer to the complaints of harassment and poor treatment of workers at Brewdog was union recognition.

Since then they have announced a number of what might seen as PR measures but have in effect actually done nothing about it (a far from unfamiliar situation).

Unite who have members at Brewdog have offered on a number of occasions to enter into a constructive discussion with the brewer but have had no response.

There is now a Megaphone petition which you can sign here:

https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/brewdog-your-workers-deserve-collective-recognition?share=00f02677-100f-4a94-8314-2a38f966e718