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Beard Liberation Front

Media Release 24th June; contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Beard Week 2019 launches with a call to the Tory Party to ditch its clean-shaven image

BBC

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that Beard Week 2019 has launched with a call for the Tory Party to ditch its clean-shaven image.

Beard Week aims to promote a positive image of the hirsute while underlining that pogonophobia, irrational hatred of facial hair still exists.

The campaigners say that while beards are now quite common in the boardroom and even the occasional TV newsreader has one, the Tory Party remains stuck in the clean shaven 1950s. Even the US Republican Party, lifelong beard hater Donald Trump aside, has started to adopt beards.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, if it helps the Tories break their clean shaven embrace we have even found a quote from Mrs Thatcher where she acknowledges that beards can be ok

What about beards—did she really hate them? ‘My dear,’ she threw her hands up. ‘I’ve no idea where that came from.’ Then smiling quickly at the bearded Mail on Sunday photographer cringing behind an armchair, she added: ‘I mean, beards are like hairstyles, they suit some people and not others.’

Thatcher, Daily Mail 3rd February 1985

National Beard Week 2019

Monday 24th June: Hirsute Personality of the Year: the beard wearer who has made the positive public impact during the year. 2019 winner, England cricketer Moeen Ali

Tuesday 25th June: Beard Friendly Sandwich of the Year: the sandwich that goes in the mouth not the beard. 2018: cheese & marmite

Wednesday 26th June: Hirsute Broadcaster of the Year: the broadcaster whose beard has had the most public impact. 2018 Michael Rosen & James O’Brien

Thursday 27th June: Pogonophobe of the Year: the most notorious beard hater of the year; 2018 Donald Trump

Friday 28th June: Beard Friendly Employer of the Year: the field grows wider each year 2018 Wildes Cheese; 2019

Saturday 29th June: Beard of Summer 2019: the third of the four quarterly seasonal Awards 2018 Philip Ardagh. Vote opens on 24^th June

Beard Liberation Front

Press release June 23rd

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

England cricketer Moeen Ali voted Hirsute Personality 2019 as National Beard Week starts

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that with Beard Week set to bristle off to a start on 24th June England cricketer Moeen Ali has been voted Hirsute Personality of the Year 2019 in an on-line poll

Moeen shaved poet and performer Benjamin Zephaniah almost 2-1 in an on-line poll

Jeremy Corbyn won the accolade in 2018 but in 2019 the shortlist featured well known BAME beards

The BLF says that it has become increasingly concerned that images of the hirsute overwhelmingly feature young white men. While this is positive in terms of beard impact in the public eye it downplays and often ignores the importance of BAME beards.

The shortlist comprised well known beard wearers, focusing not just on their place in the public eye but the gravitas and impact their beard added to their public image and appearance.

Unlike the Beard of the Year in December, those on the short-list didn’t need to have a full-time beard. Rather they needed to have been in the public eye while hirsute. Neither was the contest about who has the ‘best’ beard.

The winner of the on-line poll which opened on 17th June is announced at the beginning of Beard Week 2019 on June 24th. Other Awards that feature during the week, designed to promote a positive image of beards, are the Beard Friendly Sandwich of the Year, Hirsute Broadcaster of the Year and the Beard Friendly Employer of the Year.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett We looked as ever for superb examples of hirsuteness in the public eye which also add gravitas. It means a beard plus presence equalling a maximum hirsute public impact. Moeen Ali who has a national presence currently in the Cricket World Cup clearly fulfilled those requirements brilliantly

Hirsute Personality of the Year 2019 shortlist

Raheem Sterling, footballer

Virat Kohli, cricketer

Lenny Henry, actor

Benjamin Zephaniah, poet

Lucas Moura, footballer

Moeen Ali, cricketer

Idris Elba, actor

Lowkey, rapper

Cllr Joseph Ejiofor, politician

The Ambridge Socialist

23rd June

Who in Ambridge is backing Boris Johnson?

The Ambridge Socialist brings you the speculation from Ambridge that the BBC wont cover. Below is a list of people our investigations suggest may be Tory members in Ambridge and who are planning to vote for Boris Johnson as Tory leader. The poll below is multiple choice so you can pick several possible Johnson supporters.

The Ambridge Socialist is mindful that the average age of Tory members is thought to be between 55-60, so while it might be thought that, for example, Natasha, might support Johnson statistically it is very unlikely she’d be a member.

It is not known if Johnson listens to the Archers

At the 1984 Glastonbury Festival Thompson appeared early on a Saturday evening, 39 years ago on June 23rd 1984. It was after The Smiths and before the special guest star Elvis Costello. (Reading the Maps). At this point the festival was sponsored by CND and Thompson spoke on several occasions. A reminder both of the festival’s radical past and of the impact Thompson as a campaigner made

The Ambridge Socialist

69 Years of the class struggle in Ambridge

June 23rd

Can Lilian solve the problems of Ambridge?

Lilian has had a F2F discussion with the Godmother and confirmed that she is dedicated to saving the planet and is using a water bottle to help. In addition she has stepped in to address what Kenton has described as ‘cash flow problems’ at The Bull by offering to work for free behind the bar…. Will it be enough to save Ambridge? At some length we may find out…

Other problems

Dan and Dorothy have split up

Alastair is moving out

Jim has still not returned to Ambridge

The future of the Archer money

Tony has told the Godmother that Bridge Farm wont bid for her £500K ‘save the environment’ legacy fund. Peggy has told him in response that if he wants to keep the money in the family he’d better think again. The ruling class at war again

In Other News

Ian is starting to overcome his fear of spiders, helped by Jazzer.. Apparently

Beard Liberation Front

23rd June

contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

As National Beard Week starts is Johnson set to adopt a new image?

WIth National Beard Week 2019 set to start on Monday June 24th, the Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that there is only one way forward for Tory leadership candidate Boris Johnson after a reported late night ‘altercation’ at his South London address.

The campaigners say that Johnson must get with the zeitgeist and grow a beard.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, a beard is a central part of Jeremy Corbyn’s political image. If Johnson wants to be Tory leader and challenge him at the next Election a beard looks essential

National Beard Week 2019

Monday 24^th June: Hirsute Personality of the Year: the beard wearer who has made the positive public impact during the year. 2018 winner- Jeremy Corbyn

Tuesday 25th June: Beard Friendly Sandwich of the Year: the sandwich that goes in the mouth not the beard. 2018: cheese & marmite

Wednesday 26th June: Hirsute Broadcaster of the Year: the broadcaster whose beard has had the most public impact. 2018 Michael Rosen & James O’Brien

Thursday 27th June: Pogonophobe of the Year: the most notorious beard hater of the year; 2018 Donald Trump

Friday 28th June: Beard Friendly Employer of the Year: the field grows wider each year 2018 Wildes Cheese

Saturday 29th June: Beard of Summer 2019: the third of the four quarterly seasonal Awards 2018 Philip Ardagh

There was a ‘lot of affection’ for Watneys?????

According to Nick Whitehurst who bought the rights to the Watneys brand in 2014 from Heineken, and is in the process of crowd funding for a relaunch of it, there is a ‘lot of affection’ for Watneys.

https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2019/06/19/Watneys-beer-company-The-vast-majority-of-drinkers-buy-brands-over-beer

I’m on record as welcoming the re-launch of Watneys not least because aside from modern beer styles like a DIPA there are a significant number of decent beers from the numerous breweries that Watneys bought and closed that might potentially be revived.

https://kmflett.wordpress.com/2019/06/12/bring-back-watneys-imperial-stout/

There was not however much if any affection for the brewing conglomerate that marketed Red Barrel and Party Sevens, that shut numerous breweries and turned parts of the country such as East Anglia into Watneys only zones.

Unfortunately for Mr Whitehurst there are plenty of people still around who can remember this.

However for those who can’t here is a passage from a piece Richard Boston wrote in The Guardian in October 1973:

Norwich is one of those unfortunate places where virtually all the pubs in the area are owned by one large brewer. In this case the brewer is Watneys, which at the best of times is not the first choice of any discerning beer drinker. In such a situation a powerful thirst can build up with consequent loss of cool. When I visited Norwich recently I even met a member of an organisation called SPEW (the Society for the Propagation of the Elimination of Watneys). I suspect that he had only formed the society a few minutes earlier and that he was its only member but it was still an indication of how strongly people can feel on these matter

From William Hulton at Peterloo to Mark Field MP, how the Tories deal with democratic protest

Pickering, Henry; William Hulton with Gun-Dog and Shotgun; Lancashire County Museum Service; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/william-hulton-with-gun-dog-and-shotgun-151714

Mark Field a Tory MP has been suspended from his Ministerial role after forcibly ejecting a peaceful climate change protester from an event.

At least no permanent harm was done on this occasion but Field’s behaviour may be seen as part of a long tradition of how the Tories have dealt with democratic protest

The Magistrate who gave the order to send the Yeomanry in at Peterloo was William Hulton.

On the 150th anniversary of Peterloo in 1969 Robert Walmsley published a large volume on Peterloo that was at core an interesting biography of Hulton. EP Thompson’s review in the Times Literary Supplement was scathing and ended by pointing out that Hulton was a founding member of the South Lancashire Conservative Association, some years after Peterloo.

Hulton (1787-1864) was a landowner on whose land coal was mined and railways built in the area where Manchester touched on what is now part of Bolton. His connection with central Manchester seemed vague, hence the question as to why he was the leading Magistrate at Peterloo, but in fact he owned property in Deansgate.

Hulton came from a long line of Hultons from 1645 to 1940 all of whom were called William except one, Henry (1665-1737). His mother owned a successful race horse which she named ‘Church and King’ in case there were any doubt on where the Hulton dynasty stood on such matters.

Hulton came into his inheritance in 1808 aged 21 and married Maria who bore him 13 children.

Hulton was active as a magistrate before Peterloo and in 1812 at Westhougton 2 miles from his ancestral seat at Hulton Hall, Luddites burnt down a new power loom factory. Hulton despatched summary justice to some of those involved.

After Peterloo he was an active Tory often heckled in public with the cry of ‘Peterloo’. The labouring masses of Manchester knew well enough his role.

The Manchester Guardian, which had been founded in 1821 as a result of Peterloo consistently referred to Hulton as a ‘foolish country squire’. Some may see him as a vicious class warrior. The reality remains however that his important role in the formation of the Conservative Party in Lancashire may be one reason still even almost 200 years on why there has until this year been an official reluctance to mark Peterloo with more rather more than a small plaque

Below is a link to a BBC interview with Tory Peer Julian Fellowes who is descended from William Hulton

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-45563005

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AJP Taylor on Peterloo in The Observer 20th July 1969: which side are you on?

200 years on: the politics of Peterloo & how the massacre is being remembered

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The hidden reality behind Tim Martin’s Tottenham Question Time appearance

I don’t watch Question Time and haven’t done for years. I’ve seen quite enough of Nigel Farage. I knew several weeks ago that it was coming from Tottenham but decided to spend a night in the pub instead.

That said Tim Martin’s appearance (never mind whatever BS he came out with on the programme) had a certain poignancy for anyone who has lived in the area over the decades as I have.

Martin lived in the immediately adjacent area of Wood Green in the 1970s and 1980s and opened his first Wetherspoons pub, 40 years ago in Muswell Hill. He then went on to open numbers of pubs in the Borough of Haringey before he discovered the (possibly questionable) truth that there is life beyond its boundaries.

Thatcher devastated the industrial area of the Lea Valley including Tottenham and that had the knock on impact of pubs closing. Indeed until the recent sharp reverse, which has seen new pubs opening in the area, there has been a steady decline in licensed premises over 40 years.

There was a blip and that was Martin. He opened and closed more pubs in Tottenham than even Mrs Thatcher, indirectly, managed. There is no Wetherspoons in Tottenham as such, the nearest is the Tollgate in Turnpike Lane. Several of the former Wetherspoons still survive as pubs such as the Elbow Room on Tottenham High Rd and K K McCools on West Green Rd,

Others such as the Narrow Boat on the River Lea, and JJ Moons on Markfield Rd have been demolished, while still others like the Goat on West Green Rd just stand shuttered and empty. At least one, the Suffolk Punch on Harringay Green Lanes is now a betting shop.

Tim Martin’s tour of destruction in Tottenham tells us something about the man I suspect.

Beard Liberation Front

press release                                                  21st June

Contact keith flett                                            07803 167266

____________________________________________________

A SUMMER SOLSTICE BEARD WILL FLOURISH SAY CAMPAIGNERS

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that a beard started on Midsummer’s Day, Friday June 21st will flourish according to folk tradition

The campaigners say that based on Shakespeare’s play a Midsummer Night’s Dream a beard started on the summer solstice can have magic properties that will allow it to grow unimpeded.

In the play Bottom urges ‘good strings to your beards, new ribbons to your pumps..’

The line refers to the need to find fastenings for the false beards the actors, notably Bottom himself, are to wear for the play they are presenting.

However the campaigners say that while organic knitted beards to celebrate the longest day are fine in reality growing a real beard, where appropriate, is an excellent way to mark midsummer.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said Midsummer’s Day is one of the best times of year to start growing a beard coming as it does just before the start of national Beard Week on Monday 24th June.

National Beard Week 2019

Monday 24th June: Hirsute Personality of the Year: the beard wearer who has made the positive public impact during the year. 2018 winner- Jeremy Corbyn

Tuesday 25th June: Beard Friendly Sandwich of the Year: the sandwich that goes in the mouth not the beard. 2018: cheese & marmite

Wednesday 26th June: Hirsute Broadcaster of the Year: the broadcaster whose beard has had the most public impact. 2018 Michael Rosen & James O’Brien

Thursday 27th June: Pogonophobe of the Year: the most notorious beard hater of the year; 2018 Donald Trump

Friday 28th June: Beard Friendly Employer of the Year: the field grows wider each year 2018 Wildes Cheese

Saturday 29th June: Beard of Summer 2019: the third of the four quarterly seasonal Awards 2018 Philip Ardagh