Kmflett's Blog

Social Democracy: the case of PASOK

The Greek Election result has occasioned comment on the nature of the new hard-right New Democracy Government, why Syriza was defeated and, the only bit of unqualified good news, the failure of the Nazi Golden Dawn to get any MPs after a hard-fought campaign by anti-fascists.

One thing that has not been much commented on is the fortunes of PASOK, in effect the Greek version of the Labour Party, which has formed Governments in the recent past.

One reason for that is that PASOK no longer exists as such. It is now part of the centrist Movement For Change which secured 20 seats in the 2019 Greek Election.

The founders of PASOK played an important role in the collapse of the Greek military junta in 1974 and by 1981 they were able to form a Government, the first socialist one in Greece since 1924.

The Party embarked on a ‘modernization’ course from the mid-1990s, perhaps not so dissimilar to New Labour and in 2001 it was a PASOK Government that took Greece into the EU.

The financial crisis which followed the 2008 crash saw PASOK in various Governmental formations implement austerity measures.

The result was a very significant decline in its support so that in elections in 2015 it got between 4-6% of the vote.

The process has a name ‘Pasokification’ underlining the impact implementing austerity measures that hit its own electoral base can have on a social democratic party.

The above, merely schematic, might just been an interesting detail in the recent history of the left were it not for the fact that in the UK there are still commentators arguing that Labour should follow exactly the same course. Below is a link to a piece by Matthew d’Ancona in the Guardian (9.7.19). Admittedly d’Ancona is a Tory so he might have his reasons for suggesting that Labour should destroy its electoral support.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/08/labour-centre-ground-jeremy-corbyn

Beard Liberation Front

Media Release

9th July

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Beard of the Cricket World Cup reaching splitting hairs stage

The Beard Liberation Front has said that with the search for the Beard of the 2019 Cricket World Cup has reached the splitting hairs stage as India face New Zealand at Old Trafford

The poll of well-known hirsute cricketers who are playing in the World Cup is on-line and Moeen Ali has maintained his tournament lead so far.

In the beginning was WG Grace but in the twentieth century cricket went to the barbers. So much so that by the early 1960s a major shaving company was sponsoring one day cricket and players deemed insufficiently clean shaven were sometimes sent from the field to sort it out.

In the twenty first century beards in cricket are back from Moeen to Hashim and Virat. Its now understood that a beard can have a psychological impact on opponents after Mike Brearley pioneered the point. Beards can also have an aero-dynamic impact on play itself.

Beards are playing an important, perhaps vital, role in the World Cup. But who will have the winning whiskers?

Contenders include Moeen Ali Virat Kohli and even David Warner. Competition is bristling as the competition reaches the final games

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, two of the great beard wearers of modern cricket Virat Kohli and Kane Wiilliamson will face each other at Old Trafford. Who will shave who?

The Greek Elections: an avoidable defeat for the left

The results of Sunday’s Greek Election called after the ruling Syriza Party trailed in the recent European Elections (Theresa May please note) have delivered a victory for the right-wing New Democracy Party which was booted out of Office in 2015.

The turn-out at under 60% was low but it appears that the Nazi Golden Dawn party didn’t quite get to the 3% threshold to be represented in Parliament. The unqualified good news ends there, although the election of 9 MPs from the leftist MeRA25 party led by Yanis Varoufakis will no doubt be watched with interest.

Others can tell the history much better than me but Greece, after it joined the EU in a probably ill-advised move faced financial crisis.

The traditional parties of the right-New Democracy- and the left, PASOK, were in crisis.

A new left party Syriza committed to opposing austerity and disengaging with the EU was elected.

Before long however its leadership under Tsipras was advocating an arrangement- a bailout- with the EU and the IMF. 25 Syriza MPs walked out in August 2015.

Even so Tsipras continued to manage austerity and cuts dictated by the EU until now.

Unsurprisingly a rather alienated electorate has decided that if the future is austerity you might as well have the official austerity party managing it. Of course the left will continue to fight austerity and the battles of the last few years will have produced a layer of people well equipped to do so.

However the point for UK politics is perhaps that if you are elected to fight austerity but instead try to come to terms with it you open the door to a new right, let alone the impact on your working-class supporters.

The Ambridge Socialist

7^th July

Nearly 70 years of class struggle in Borsetshire

Was the Natasha-Tom Post-Nup agreement the most boring Archers theme ever?

The Archers is known in popular culture as a place where nothing ever really happens at length. As regular listeners and Ambridge Socialist readers know that is quite unfair. However on occasion the Archers does try to live up to its image. The lengthy discussions between Natasha and Tom about whether they could agree a post-nuptial agreement were surely amongst the most tedious to be featured in the Archers for some years

The Professor refuses help, but is there any help anyway?

The Professor is adamant that after the Harold Jayston revelation he neither wants counselling or to go to the police. One can understand absolutely a reluctance to involved PC Knacker Burns whose ability not to solve crimes is legendary. Alastair has suggested he look at a counselling website but surely it is not a CBT but in person therapy that might well be needed anyway. That is if the Tory run Borsetshire Council has not cut such things.

Still no sign of Johnson canvassing Ambridge

While it seems likely (well as likely as a YouGov poll anyway) that those who are members of the Tory Party in Ambridge back Johnson for leader, it is puzzling that he appears to have made no attempt to canvass in The Bull. A Tory leadership contender who cannot carry Ambridge is doomed

In Other News

Ed has had an argument with Will and Tim but not about the same thing

Justin thinks Lilian is ignoring him

Ben has failed his driving test but it being Ambridge this wont stop him from driving

Free to Air Sport: the case of England v Australia

England will play Australia in the semi-final of the cricket World Cup on Thursday in Birmingham.

Given the historic rivalry between the two teams and the status of the competition there will be much interest.

It will of course be broadcast ball by ball on BBC Radio’s Test Match Special and many, particularly those who are working will follow it that way.

These days of course even if you are working or out and about you can follow sporting events on a smartphone or tablet. However as the game is not free to air but will be shown only on Sky (subscription service) most wont be able to do that.

Imagine what would be said if the semi-final of the football World Cup in which England were playing was available only on a subscription TV service. One imagines the Prime Minister would have a word.

Theresa May is still just about Prime Minister and she is a noted cricket fan but don’t expect anything to happen.

When the England women’s football team played in the semi-final of the Women’s Football World Cup, it was shown free to air on the BBC and attracted an audience of over 11 million. The game between England and India in the cricket World Cup (which England had to win to reach the semi-final) was shown on Sky and reached a small percentage of that audience.

The authority that runs English and Welsh cricket, the ECB, has a long-term relationship with Sky and expect both sides to dig their heels on around free to air. It is not the democratic model of sport spectating that they have backed over the years.

Both however have issues.

The ECB plans to launch a new 100 ball competition next season to try and generate new interest in cricket. Its probably fair to say that if England v Australia were screened free to air on Thursday it would achieve the same thing in a day not a season.

Sky meanwhile is no longer owned by Rupert Murdoch but by US broadcaster Comcast. They have significant debt acquired during the sale so don’t necessarily expect the subscription model of TV cricket broadcasting to continue as it has been.

Interesting times and a good time to press for cricket to return to free to air coverage.

Big Beer takes over the Bermondsey Bottle Shop & BeerBods but what is Big Beer#?

To effectively oppose an enemy, and Big Beer however it appears, is certainly the enemy of good beer and a choice if it, you first have to understand.

Those of us who have been around a while remember the last major push of Big Beer when the number of independent breweries in the UK fell to well under 100 and there was little choice of often in any case mediocre beer in many parts of the country.

Below is an edited version of a critique  of Big Beer that appeared in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide in 2017. It can be quibbled with but it’s a good starting point to understanding what craft beer now is

 AB Inbev, along with other Big Beer global brewers, are strategically targeting the independent brewing sector following the steady decline of mass market lager brands. The scene was set last year when the third largest corporate takeover in history saw AB InBev buy its rival SAB Miller for £71 billion, effectively taking control of 30 percent of the world’s beer production and sales.

That same year the giant bought the Camden Town Brewery for £80 million and unveiled a brand-new plant for Camden in Enfield, with greatly increased capacity. AB InBev’s aim is simple – to turn Camden Town into the biggest brewery in London.

Big Beer is not only trying to dominate the independent brewing sector, but is also fooling consumers into thinking they are still drinking “independent” or “craft” beer. Thanks to clever marketing tactics and few labelling restrictions, global brewers are still able to market these beers as locally produced even when they are no longer made by the original brewer.

Roger Protz, Editor of the Good Beer Guide says: “While many consumers will not be aware that their favourite local beer has changed from looking at the bottle, the taste will invariably differ. Brewing changes under new ownership – whether this is due to long-term contracts with suppliers leading to grain or hop substitutions or because production methods are changed to maximise profits at the expense of taste.”

The Good Beer Guide warns that Big Beer is squeezing small and medium-sized brewers from the market. Not only can they sell beer at cut-throat prices thanks to low production costs and have access to eye-watering advertising and marketing budgets, but they are also attempting to monopolise the supply of raw materials to make beer.

Global brewers can afford to buy up global malt and hops supplies at 40 per cent lower cost than even big and medium-size brewers, and have recently been condemned for seeking patents on materials such as barley and hops. Despite the fact that beer and brewing have been in the public domain for thousands of years during which time raw materials have been freely available to all brewers, Carlsberg and Heineken were recently granted patents that cover two varieties of barley, along with a third patent that will allow the two varieties to be used together.

Roger Protz adds: “First Big Beer buys up a swathe of independent breweries. Now it’s attempting to control the natural ingredients used to make beer. The power of these global behemoths is frightening and has to be vigorously resisted.

He concludes: “CAMRA was first founded to challenge the handful of national brewers that had phased out good cask beer in order to promote fizzy keg beer, the quality of which would be laughed to scorn today.

“I believe we are seeing a real threat to a return to those days – on a global scale. Big Beer is on the march, and we risk losing our wealth of choice to merely the illusion of it. Not only are consumers being misled, but these global brewers are changing the very character of the beers they buy and driving genuine independents out of business….

Big Beer in the shape of ABI’s BeerHawk has been busy this week. First it announced it had bought the Bermondsey Bottle Shop out of administration. Then it announced it had acquired Beerbods.

In both cases people lost money but ABI didn’t.

There was of course much comment on social media but what is to be done?

Should we expect Prime Minister Johnson or Hunt to address moves towards monopoly in beer? I think not

Will a Labour Government help? It might.

As I wrote on the Culture Matters site earlier this year ‘Beer for the many not the few not the few will require not just inquiries and legislation but popular campaigning too’.

In short if you like good beer, protest and survive

In his Chesterfield constituency on 7th July 1984 at the height of the miners strike Tony Benn met miners leader Peter Heathfield. Heathfield told Benn about a recent negotiating meeting with Coal Board boss Ian MacGregor. MacGregor had invited fellow union leader Mick McGahey for a game of golf. McGahey had responded ‘I’ve never played golf in my life, it’s a total waste of time

The Financial Times (4.7) reports that with leading neo-liberal Christine Lagarde taking up a key EU role George Osborne is pitching for the job of the Head of the IMF.

Osborne is currently Editor of the London Evening Standard, a previously decent if right-wing paper which he has turned into an unreadable viewspaper. If you are in London on a late afternoon or early evening check the piles of free Standards and compare with the number of people you see reading it.

Osborne was of course formerly the Tory Chancellor from 2010. Osborne has a history degree and knows little of economics or finance. What he does know however is that if their is a financial crisis (post-2008) then those who must pay for it are not his friends but those who already have the least in society. It was called austerity and was enabled by the Liberal Democrats.

The IMF has form of course (although even it suggested the EU was going to far with austerity measures in Greece) and the IMF cuts in Britain in 1976 underline the point. As Tony Benn, an opponent of the IMF and its cuts strategy, noted a loan from the IMF to prop up the UK economy post the 1973/4 oil crisis came with the demand for wage control (cuts in real terms) and cuts in welfare and public spending.

The Labour Chancellor Denis Healey implemented them and after 1979 Thatcher continued the work he had started.

Who knows if Osborne will get the IMF job (the FT thinks he has a good chance) but he is both uniquely unqualified and qualified for it at the same time