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Beard Liberation Front

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2^nd September

2019 BEARD, SHORTS & SANDALS SEASON EXTENDED

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that after the temporary suspension of the 2019 Beard, Shorts and Sandals season due to inclement weather earlier in the summer a better weather forecast has prompted a decision to extend it until the end of September.

The season was suspended for 10 days in June due to inclement weather

It is only the third time the season has been extended beyond the end of August.

The campaigners say that the image of organic beard, shorts and sandals is one of the key male fashions of 2019 but it does depend on the weather.

The official season traditionally runs until August 31st. During the season the wearing of shorts and sandals- preferably without socks unless special dispensation is given-is permitted for BLF supporters.

The BLF says that ‘beards, shorts and sandals’ is often a stereotype deployed by pogonophobes and so the wearing of shorts and sandals by the hirsute is best done within an agreed and defendable framework.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, we don’t expect uniformly good weather in September of course but we are reasonably confident that the weather for the next few weeks will allow the comfortable wearing of beard, shorts and sandals on most occasions

Five years this week since Johnson was booed at the Oval cricket ground

Lest we forget it is five years ago this week since the man who was Prime Minister Boris Johnson was booed by a crowd at the Oval cricket ground as he was noticed asleep during the final Test between England and India on September 8^{th 2018}

https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/08/boris-johnson-booed-by-cricket-fans-as-cameras-catch-him-snoozing-7926702/

Don’t expect Mr Johnson to draw attention to the anniversary this week but it is a reminder that political popularity can go down as well as up and can do so remarkably quickly.

Just last week US Presidential challenger the far right Ron DeSantis was booed in Jacksonville after racist murders

My 2018 thoughts on the wider context of political booing are below:

https://kmflett.wordpress.com/2018/09/08/boris-johnson-booed-at-the-oval-the-end-of-the-affair/

Broadstairs: no home but the struggle

Bleak House

As part of at least 80 or so ‘stop the coup’ demonstrations held in the UK on 31^st August it is reported that around 100 protesters gathered in Broadstairs at the office of the South Thanet Tory Party.

The report indicates that the Labour Party were involved and its worth remembering that even in areas where the Tories generally dominate politically Labour remains organised and active. That is more than can be said quite often in Labour dominated areas of the Tories

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/protestors-gather-to-stop-the-coup-211456/

Without therefore visiting the enormous condescension of posterity on left of centre politics in somewhere like Broadstairs the fact that a sizeable protest took place underlines the strength and breadth of feeling about the actions of Johnson in proroguing Parliament.

Broadstairs is perhaps known firstly as the location of Dickens’ Bleak House and secondly, more recently, for an association with the late Tory leader Ted Heath who, from memory, used to sail his yacht, the Morning Cloud, in the area.

Trying to find an historic association with the left is rather more difficult than it is for nearby Ramsgate and Margate, where both Marx and Engels stayed.

However Volume 50 of Marx and Engels Collected Works reveals a letter written by Engels in Eastbourne (his favourite seaside residence) on 14^th August 1894 to one of the leaders of the German SDP Eduard Bernstein ‘in Broadstairs’. Engels adds a PS ‘are the Mendelsons also in Broadstairs?’. Mendelson was a Polish social democrat (i.e. Second International Marxist).

What the attraction of Broadstairs to European social-democratic politicians at the end of the nineteenth century was I have yet to discover, but it throws an interesting sidelight on Brexit debates.

Update

Checking the Clarion for 1894 (now on-line at the British Library for those with a readers pass) the Christmas edition for 1894 (24th December) does mention Broadstairs, essentially as a place where people might go to see naval ships and drink Dickens punch (in other words as a holiday venue). It may be assumed that the left were at least aware of the potential of Broadstairs in this respect at the end of the nineteenth century

The Ambridge Socialist

Reporting on the class struggle in Borsetshire

1^st September

Eddie Grundy: Proletarian Hero

Eddie Grundy has successfully talked down his errant son gamekeeper William from shooting himself in a further twist to the Thomas Hardy-esque storyline. The Ambridge Socialist holds no brief for gamekeepers but Will is still, more or less, a human being and true to working-class morality the police were not involved.

The Ghost of Grey Gables

Tracey is investigating a ghost at Grey Gables after a customer complaint. Roy has sensibly dismissed it as a load of nonsense but obviously that wont stop Tracey. Bert Fry has suggested its someone who was murdered long ago by a Birmingham business owner. There could of course be other possibilities.. The BBC claimed the ghost was a man with a bloodied face and a beard. Pure pogonophobia

Ambridge ruling class still in crisis

Ruth has not been able to resolve the matter of 5^th columnist Pip who is supporting the re-wilding bid in the Ambridge Conservation Trust bids. The struggle amongst the Ambridge ruling class has been quiet this week but there was a Bank Holiday

Brian’s letter

Jennifer has a new role as an ‘agony aunt’ on the Echo. Brian has written in claiming he is an oppressed husband ignored by his wife. Jennifer obviously spots its straight away and responds robustly..

Glyn Robbins on the crisis in Council Housing in Ambridge

https://tribunemag.co.uk/2019/08/the-housing-crisis-reaches-the-archers

In Other News

Jakob and Kate may be an item but at least he knows that she is talking mainly rubbish

Stop the Coup protests have echo of Chartists call for democracy on 12^th June 1848

Protests are nothing unusual in modern Britain (before 1968 they actually were fairly unusual in most periods).

The protests at Prime Minister Johnson’s attempt to prorogue Parliament for extended period to avoid scrutiny and democratic accountability for his actions on 31^st August were unusual because of their breadth.

With trains and coaches many large protests are held in central London. Sometimes there are parallel demonstrations in Cardiff and Glasgow or Edinburgh. What remains the largest post-1945 demonstration in Britain, that against the Iraq War on 15^th February 2003, was one of a series around the world on that day, but the only one in the UK.

The Johnson protest in London was large but there were also significant protests right across the UK. In the days of social media one can get a sense of this, the numbers and characters of those attending. Notable perhaps were significant numbers of home-made placards, some Labour banners and in some locations union ones.

Comparisons with such a breadth of protest are not so easy to locate. It is reported that around 80 protests took place across the country.

One is the Chartists on Whit Monday June 12^th 1848. They were actually about a rather similar issue. The Chartist petition for the vote on 10^th April 1848 having been dismissed by Parliament, the Government had opined that no one much was interested in an extension of democracy anyway.

The Chartists did not agree and as the Northern Star 17^th June 1848 reported on its front page meetings were held across the UK to demand the vote.

The State’s reaction to the London meeting was rather more robust than it has been on 31^st August

https://kmflett.wordpress.com/2018/06/11/12th-june-1848-the-day-the-state-moved-against-the-chartists-in-east-london/

A denial of democratic rights whether in 1848 or 2019 does motivate a popular defence of the same

Jacob Rees Mogg, leader of the Commons, was one of the MPs who went to Balmoral in late August to ask the Queen to prorogue Parliament for a record period. Protests have rightly taken place.

Rees Mogg is elected by a system of Mass Suffrage but in his book The Victorians (2019) he expresses support for the Tory leader and Prime Minister Robert Peel (who later went became an independent Liberal) who believed that the 1832 Reform Act which left most men and all nearly all women without the vote was as far as Parliamentary Democracy needed to go.

In the 1834 Tamworth Manifesto Peel wrote:

I will repeat now the declaration I made when I entered the House of Commons as a member of the Reformed Parliament- that I consider the Reform Bill a final and irrevocable settlement of a great constitutional settlement- a settlement to which no friend to the peace and welfare of this country would attempt to disturb.

Rees Mogg notes that for Peel the task was to underline that 1832 meant ‘thus far and no further’ . He goes on to comment ‘This was neither ignoble or insensible, no matter how unfashionable it has seemed since’. Above all else it was necessary for stability, a quality considered all the more necessary by Conservatives as they gazed out at a country in flux’

A disturbing vision indeed by Mr Rees Mogg one of the leaders of the August 2019 Parliamentary ‘coup’ by the Tories

Beard Theology by the Church Mouse

I’m not of course religious although having checked Steve Bell cartoons for decades I do know that God has a beard. In addition Marx noted (though he was joking and Marxism is *not* a religion) that no philosopher could be taken seriously without a prophet’s beard.

The Church Mouse and myself converse occasionally on twitter and I am pleased to see that the Beard Liberation Front gets a name check in Beard Theology (Rowan Williams was Beard of the Year a while back).

That said the Beard Liberation Front, while aware of the issue of beards and religion, for that reason steers religiously clear of the subject. It is one that excites controversy which in various parts of the world can be life threatening.

Full marks then to the Church Mouse for writing a detailed guide to the issue of beards and religion and indeed to Dave Walker for providing some of the better beard related cartoons Ive seen recently.

It is established that while there are no drawings of Jesus by anyone who would have encountered him he definitely had a beard as he was an observant Jew who grew beards for Biblical reasons.

The book runs through a number of beard related comments and instructions in the Bible (almost all in the Old Testament) and moves on to look at what I, as a non-religious person, might describe as Church fashions on whether beards should or should not be worn through history.

The Crusades were a particularly concerning time where it is pointed out that it would be wrong to assume that all the Crusaders were clean shaven. The Templars were not.

From the Middle Ages to the Victorian period religious ‘fashion’ dictated beards or not sometimes with difficult consequences for the hirsute or the clean shaven depending on the period.

The book concludes that if you are taking guidance from the Bible on whether or not you should wear a beard its probably up to your personal preference. The Bible might have more important guidance on the need to avoid wars and poverty.

If you are religious you’ve probably already drawn a long list of ‘errors’ that the book contains but if you are not you’ll find it both instructive and entertaining. In 2019 I would not underrate the value of either

From Peterloo to Extinction Rebellion & Prorogation: the spirit of protest lives

When the Peterloo Massacre’s 200^th anniversary was marked in Manchester two weeks ago protesters from Extinction Rebellion were present and rightly so. Peterloo was about asserting the right to democratic protest and it was also about those living in and in the environs of the key city of the industrial revolution, Manchester, demanding democratic control over their lives and the environment they were in.

Two weeks on Extinction Rebellion are holding a 4-day protest on Deansgate in central Manchester

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/30/extinction-rebellion-protesters-block-deansgate-central-manchester

In the meantime Prime Minister Johnson, who had no comment on the 200^th anniversary of Peterloo.has prorogued Parliament for a significant period in order to avoid democratic scrutiny of his actions in a Parliament where he probably does not have a majority.

There have already been protests about the prorogation and there will be more on Saturday and when Parliament returns on Tuesday. No doubt the protests will feature a range of views, as did Peterloo, but at their centre must be a defence of the democracy those at Peterloo were fighting for 200 years ago this month.

The late Marxist historian E P Thompson argued that the traditions of protest in the working class and radicalism could still be mobilised for positive change.

But the opportunity is there within the logic of our past itinerary. The lines of British culture still run vigorously to the point of change where our traditions and organizations cease to be defensive and become affirmative forces: the country becomes our own.

E P Thompson, Writing By Candlelight

Beavertown founder Logan Plant on the prospects for Wolves in the Premiership

The paras below are an extract from a Morning Advertiser interview with Beavertown founder Logan Plant on the micro-brewery (not that micro- a million pints a year) at the new Spurs Stadium.

I’m a Spurs fan but I do think Nuno, Wolves manager, has the best managerial beard in the Premiership.

I post it here simply because of the occasional social media comments that appear which claim Logan is a Spurs fan. Good to see he is sticking to his traditional football colours

What a time we are living in as Wolves fans. Our City’s motto is ‘Out of Darkness cometh light’ and that hits the nail on the head with what’s happening at Molineux. We are very lucky to have an amazing infrastructure formulating at the club.

Fosun – the owners – are very driven to succeed and in [manager] Nuno Espirito Santo’s team, we have one of the best coaching set-ups in the Europe. The investment in our youth set-up has been immense over the years so we have a very talented U18s and U23s set-up. The turnaround from two years ago has been nothing but unbelievable at the club. So in regards to Europe, bring it on! The last time we were in Europe was when I was born. Live the dream and hold on for the ride. In Nuno we trust!

I do think it will be tough this season. Nuno has recruited well and improved the squad while keeping it a tight-knit 18, backed with really young prospects like Neto and Gibbs-White. At the moment the balance between Thursday to Sunday games is going well.

I used to play and, as a player, you just want to be playing, so hopefully we can keep injury-free and keep the small squad rotating with everybody getting good game time. We’re good enough to break [into] the top six but with Europe progressing well, it may be a tough ask. However, I reckon we can go far in the Europa League. The way we play and the European experience a lot of our players have, who knows?

Do you get to many games? What’s your match-day routine?

I love football. I’m obsessed. I’m a Wolves fan through and through but I’ll watch any game with my kids on TV. We’ve been to Wembley to watch England, the new Spurs ground too. We have three season tickets still at the Molineux, the same seats for the past 35 years, so I try to get back when time permits. Last season I hit about six to seven away games as quite a few are in London where I am based with my family – who are all Wolves fans. I love going down the park with my kids in our Wolves tops on among all the Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea fans. We beat them all last year!

When the names of Jeremy Corbyn and myself appear in the same sentence in a letter to The Guardian its obvious serious matters are at stake. There is of course Prorogation of Parliament but arguably more significant than that are the Ashes.

England’s one wicket victory in the Third Test at Headingley last Sunday inspired by a magnificent 135 from Ben Stokes and a stalwart defence from last man Jack Leach was a defining moment of 2019.

The BBC’s Test Match Special commentary was of course superb. Full marks to Jonathan Agnew and the TMS team. Then you could of course catch highlights on Channel 5 or watch short clips on the web via you smartphone. There was also a capacity crowd.

But when it comes down to it the game was shown on Sky TV for subscribers only and that meant that the audience that actually got to see it was very limited. If the letter writer below is correct it was in fact only half of that which saw the first of the new series of Peaky Blinders

Jeremy Corbyn complained that cricket should be free to air. Johnson of course said nothing on that and neither did the ECB. A commentary on the state of Britain in 2019 I’m afraid:

Further to the comments from your reader Keith Flett (Letters, 27 August), and Jeremy Corbyn’s despairing tweet bemoaning the lack of live cricket on free-to-air television, it is interesting to note that twice as many people watched the first episode of the new Peaky Blinders series as watched the riveting third Test from Headingley, which, laughably, was themed The Participation Test by the ECB.

Cricket participation has dropped by a third over the past decade, and will continue to do so as the ECB has no plans for future Tests, or any proper cricket for that matter, to be shown live on free-to-air television.
Tom Rodwell
Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire (Guardian 30th August)