Kmflett's Blog

The London May Day demonstration 3^rd May 1891. Demanding the 8 hour day

The first ever London May Day demonstration was in 1890 after the idea had been agreed by the Second International in 1889. Obviously May Day, more broadly, had been a day of celebration for much longer.

In 1890 there were two London May Day demonstrations, one on the day itself and the other on the Sunday. By 1891 a more united effort took place, which is not to say of course that it was entirely united.

Engels wrote about his participation in the 1891 May Day which was in Hyde Park focused on the demand for a legal 8 hour day. Behind that lay much discussion, planning and organisation.

Between 1890 and 1891 the TUC had agreed to officially support the 8 hour day demand and the demonstration was jointly organised by the London Trades Council whose secretary George Shipton was chief steward and socialist organisations headed up by Edward Aveling.

Shipton was an opponent of the new unionism according to Engels put numerous bureaucratic obstacles in the way of organising a successful demonstration

On the day, well before amplification, there were a range of speakers platforms and Engels had a ticket for one. This however did not guarantee total unity. The Social Democratic Federation which had been involved in organising the event had withdrawn and set up its own platform, or at least according to Engels, stood on chairs at the edge of the main gathering.

Engels noted that the SDF had withdrawn due to a requirement of each branch of participating organisations to pay 25p towards the cost. In his view this would have meant the SDF contributing money for branches which existed in name only. They decided not to and split.

The headline of course was a significant demonstration for the 8 hour day a demand long since won but actually still hugely relevant in 2025 in practice. The small print reveals the same need for patient and painstaking organisation to achieve such demonstrations and of course the existence of those who for one reason or another don’t participate.

London Socialist Historians Group

1^st May 2021

Contact Dr Keith Flett 07803 167266

Socialist Historians say on May Day moments can spark movements that change the world

The London Socialist Historians Group, which convenes the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London, has sent May Day Greetings to all those organising and fighting for a better world free of profiteers, privateers and exploiters.

This year our May Day message looking back over the events of the last year pays tribute to the impact of the Black Lives Matter and Climate Change movements.

Some have dismissed protests as moments that have no wider significance.

History shows that particular moments of protest can often spark movements that can change the world.

Website:

http://londonsocialisthistorians.blogspot.com/

The Spycops Inquiry and the Tottenham Red Circle

The latest round of hearings into police surveillance of left-wing and radical groups and campaigns, and trade unions, is currently underway in central London.

It is covering some very serious matters indeed, including where police officers deceived female activists into relationships. It also downloads on to its website on a daily basis a large amount of reports broadly relating to the witnesses that are appearing that day.

While a good deal of the reports detail is redacted they are still of interest to historians of the left and activists who were around at the time.

I have a look daily both on an historical basis and because I expect at some point my name to feature in walk-on role. Suffice to say I have never used an assumed identity or done anything that should be remotely worthy of police surveillance but that’s not really how these things work.

This should be clear from a report I found relating to the hearing on 29^th April of the Tottenham Red Circle.

Its not really clear what the relevance of the report was or is-except there is mention of Ireland (the meeting doesn’t seem to have actually discussed it) and in the early 1970s the police were particularly interested in campaigns around Ireland and the role of British troops, internment and so on.

The meeting took place at the Bricklayers Arms on Tottenham High Rd (near Spurs and still open as a pub) on 7^th April 1972 and the report suggests it contained 6 people. That is 5 people and a police officer or a ‘reliable source’ as the report suggests. It notes that the meeting didn’t really discuss anything much due to sustained interruptions from someone who was known for such things. It notes that a document on Cyprus was however circulated.

It’s not entirely clear who the Tottenham Red Circle were (there may be some still around who can remember)but it seems they may have been related to the then International Marxist Group.

The report raises some wider questions. The left in Tottenham at this point had a significant presence of the Communist Party and International Socialists and there were certainly Irish Republican activists. So far however no reports on any of the three have appeared.

Perhaps they were simply weeded out over the years or remain secret. Why the report of the 6 people of the Tottenham Red Circle was made and remains is unclear.

‘If’ cartoonist Steve Bell makes social history

It’s the last ‘If’ cartoon strip for the Guardian today(29^th April) although Bell has held out the prospect in an interview with Press Gazette that it might continue elsewhere- pending a suitable offer. He also noted that doing a colour cartoon strip four days a week- which he has been doing for 40 years at the Guardian- is a lot of work and he and his beard turned 70 earlier this year.

He is not though of course giving up or retiring but will be drawing one off cartoons for the paper. While the Guardian’s issues with some of Bell’s cartoons- which have a long history (see link below) are well known Bell pointed out to Press Gazette that the reason for the change and his new contract with the paper was due to financial constraints particularly in the COVID era.

Anyway while Bell is not history his cartoons certainly form part of the social history of Britain since the 1970s.

I first came across his work while teaching in Birmingham in the late 1970s (Bell had been doing the same- though I did history and politics not art) when he drew a strip in the Birmingham Broadside one of a number of alternative press publications that then flourished in the UK post 1968.

His Maggies Farm strip (first in Time Out then City Limits) was an important part of the left’s reaction to Thatcher while his Lord God Almighty cartoons for the Leveller were equally striking.

Then of course came If. The characters and caricatures are a commentary on modern times. The penguins and Kipling are from the Falklands era but are in today’s last strip, Major with his underpants displayed firmly outside and the Inner London Wildlife branch of the Labour Party- again still going and very much needed in times like these.

As Bell has noted(again see link) while print culture is held to be in decline (the print edition of the Guardian doesn’t sell much more than 100,000 on average and that figure is boosted by a much higher sale for the Saturday edition) we live in an increasingly visual culture and cartoons are ideally suited to it.

So not only has Steve Bell made history his cartoons will continue to do so.

https://www.cartoons.ac.uk/cartoonist-biographies/a-b/SteveBell.html

Beard Liberation Front

PRESS RELEASE 29th April

Contact Keith Flett      07803 167266

HIRSUTE PREPARE FOR TRADITIONAL, SOCIALLY DISTANCED, MAY DAY BEARD WAGGLE

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that the ancient May Day tradition of Beard Waggling will be revived once again on Saturday May 1st as, with the weather set reasonably fair in many areas, the hirsute will celebrate the coming of Spring by waggling their beards

The beard waggle, a traditional British May Day custom, involves shaking the beard vigorously from side to side and in doing so stimulating air currents that can cause objects to levitate slightly.

In 2021 beard wagglers are instructed to make sure that their beard waggling is out of doors, socially distanced and each waggler is at least six beard lengths away from anyone else.

A mask may also be warn and separate guidance will be issued on this

BLF Organiser Keith Flett, the Beard Waggle is one of the great May Day traditions but it went into decline with the rise of the safety razor. Now with the hipster culture of beards, the waggle is firmly back and is gaining in popularity each year, albeit this year it MUST be socially distanced.

Beard Liberation Front guide on how to train for May Day beard waggling

1] Ensure the beard is supple. This may be done by moistening is slightly with water or, if preferred, craft beer.

2] Choose a suitable location to waggle, preferably in the sun rather than the shade. Keep distanced from other wagglers

3] Move the beard vigorously from side to side and then up and down while otherwise standing still. Repeat several times. You may prefer to wear a mask for this.

4] While waggling the traditional chant is, Hail the Beard, Hail Spring, Johnson Out

5] Alternatively beard wagglers may simply intone Om, Om, Om

Beard Liberation Front

Media Release

April 29^th

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Campaigners call for first ever hirsute Northern Ireland First Minister

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that with Arlene Foster set to stand down as First Minister in Northern Ireland it is time for a clean break, and the appointment of a hirsute FM.

While the gender balance of First and Deputy First Ministers since the Good Friday agreement in 1998 has been better than several other UK nations, there has never been an incumbent with a beard.

The campaigners say while Northern Ireland has traditionally been a clean shaven culture, in recent times beards have bristled and politicians from across the spectrum have featured in the annual Beard of Ireland vote:

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, obviously there are many factors which go to determine who will be the next First Minister but we believe diversity should be one of them. Even if the leading contenders don’t currently have a beard there is time, in most cases, for one to be grown.

Beard Liberation Front

28^th April

Campaigners pay tribute to the Beard Power of Steve Bell’s Guardian ‘If’ cartoon strip

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has paid tribute to the Beard Power of Steve Bell’s Guardian ‘If’ cartoon strip for being consistently on the side of the hirsute over 40 years.

The last strip in the Guardian will appear on 29th April

Bell drew one of the great hirsute cartoon figures Monsieur L’Artiste but he also vigorously attacked the clean shaven revisionism of New Labour, for example in his January 2010 strip ‘Man with a beard’.

He drew the original logo for the Beard Liberation Front as far back as the mid-1990s.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, Steve Bell has been of the great ‘nearly’ people of numerous Beard Award votes over the years but when it comes to If he has been an outstanding ambassador for the power of beards

Workers Memorial Day: COVID, London bus drivers & Boris Johnson

Whether or not Boris Johnson said ‘let the bodies pile up’ before the third national lockdown, there is sadly and disgracefully that this is exactly what happened.

One area has been that of London bus drivers who have helped kept essential matters running in the Capital over the last year.

It was established during the first wave of COVID-19 in the spring and early summer of 2020 that the disease had a differential impact depending on class and ethnicity.

There were more infections and sadly more deaths amongst ethnic minorities. This was briefly highlighted and is occasionally referenced by ONS studies but of course nothing was or is being done by the Johnson Government.

It appears that some ethnic groups may be more susceptible to COVID than others but there are many other factors in the mix including social class, occupation, geography and so on.

In 2021 the matter has been highlighted again. Unite the Union which represents London bus drivers has noted Transport for London figures that so far 51 London bus drivers have died of COVID-19. The Union has successfully got safety measures in place and is now arguing for some additional precautions

Bus driving in London where many key workers use the bus to get to work in London is an occupation where bus drivers in a cab for a lengthy period are more likely than many to be exposed to COVID-19.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56455845

It’s worth keeping in mind that the Government has done nothing on raising sick pay to a level where lower paid workers can actually afford to self-isolate and eat. It is also still planning to cut Universal Credit benefits.

The average salary for a London bus driver will vary depending on hours worked but it is a bit above the average wage at £30K upwards, perhaps around or a little below the London average wage.

Many London workers from supermarket employees to cleaners and security guards earn less. They will often live in shared housing and need to earn a living come what may.

These are the people Boris Johnson doesn’t know exist..

Beard Liberation Front

27^th April

Beard Liberation Front cautions Tony Blair against growing a beard after shoulder length hair photo

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has cautioned leading clean shaven revisionist Tony Blair against trying to grow a beard to match the shoulder length hair he has been pictured with recently.

The campaigners say that Blair cannot hope to cover up his clean shaven past by growing a beard now.

It was during Blair’s time as Labour leader that Frank Dobson, Labour candidate for London Mayor in 2000, was ordered to shave off his trademark beard. He refused.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett, it looks like Tony Blair is trying to revive his Ugly Rumours image and hairstyle but he didn’t have a beard then either. History will record him as a clean shaven revisionist and he must learn to embrace the verdict.

Marx & Engels on Hampstead Heath.

2025 sees the 154th anniversary of the Hampstead Heath Act which became law on 29^th June 1871. It was the result of much campaigning pressure to stop the then owner of the land from building on it. It remains a familiar story and battle.

The area of the Heath then protected is just a small part of what Hampstead Heath now covers. Parliament Hill Fields and Kenwood came later.

It’s a reminder too that just as now the Heath in the second half of the nineteenth century was a popular place for leisure activities.

Two noted Heath goers were Marx and Engels.

Marx’s friend William Liebknecht wrote that he often met up with the Marx family who walked to the Heath from their Kentish Town residence. Marx it appears enjoyed donkey rides then a regular feature on the Heath and a picnic invariably featured:

Jenny Marx often packed a picnic basket with roast veal, tea to which they added purchases from vendors on the Heath. Favourites were of shrimps, watercress, periwinkles, bread, butter, and cheese. For drinks, they bought hot water and milk for the tea and an abundant supply of beer.

http://www.picnicwit.com/timeline/18001899/hampstead-heath-donkey-ride-karl-marx-1850s-gustave-dore-1972/

While the picture above is noted as being taken on the Heath in 1864 there is nothing in the Marx and Engels correspondence which covers this. However since the correspondence invariably relates to when Marx is in London and Engels in Manchester this cant be definitive.

Once Engels retired and moved to a house in Regents Park Rd not so far from Marx there is no doubt both walked on the Heath and environs. Indeed their correspondence notes from time to time visits to the Heath and underlines a perhaps little understood aspect of Engels, his focus on exercise and keeping fit and of trying to make sure that Marx did the same.

He wrote to Sorge on 14th February 1874

This morning we(Engels and Marx) went out walking on Hampstead Heath, something he ought to do every day