Brewdog’s Ellon brewery, brands and intellectual property has been sold to US based cannabis and beverage company Tilray for £33m after going into administration. The sum appears significantly lower than previous valuations of the company.
What will happen next remains to be outlined in terms of Brewdog off sales contracts with supermarkets and with Wetherspoons. However Tilray have only taken on 11 pubs leaving 38 to close with a reported 484 job losses.
733 Brewdog workers will be TUPEd to Tilray Brands UK Ltd although under employment law there is nothing to stop further redundancies post transfer under ETO principles. I haven’t been able to establish yet if Tilray in the US is unionised.
Unite the Union which organises workers at Brewdog but has never been recognised has spoken out on what General Secretary Sharon Graham has called ‘catastrophic mismanagement’. Indeed but a key architect of that, James Watt, although he appears to have lost out on the sale, already pocketed a substantial sum from an earlier private equity deal.
Brewdog bar workers will now face looking for other jobs in a difficult hospitality market….
Labour Governments & US Wars. Starmer, Blair and Harold Wilson
Keir Starmer who opposed the 2003 Iraq War because it was illegal has now agreed that the US can use British bases for ‘defensive’ purposes in Trump’s illegal war on Iran. Trump had a rant about this, noting Starmer should have acted sooner, before someone put the Mango Mussolini’s dummy back in
What Blair did on Iraq is well within current memory. He backed Bush because he claimed it was important to keep in with the US. Perhaps Blair had a smidgeon of influence on Bush. Starmer has none on Trump.
What that altogether more wily politician Harold Wilson did on Vietnam was slightly different while achieving some of the same ends.
Unlike Australia and New Zealand, Britain did not commit forces to US efforts to prop up the corrupt Diem regime in South Vietnam from 1962-1975.
If Britain did not commit front line troops in Vietnam, British Government support for American action was largely unwavering. In March 1965 Harold Wilson told the Commons that the Government fully supported ‘the action of the United States in resisting aggression in Vietnam’.
He was echoing a line developed by the Tory PM before him Alec Douglas Home and backed by the Tory PM after him, Heath, as well.
What did this full support mean?
While no troops were officially committed, the SAS fought in Vietnam under the banner of the Australasian forces. Other troops were seconded to the US and fought under that auspices.
These were not rank and file soldiers but specialists and experts in jungle warfare.
Indeed Britain trained US, Vietnamese and Thai troops in its Malaysian facilities in the late 1960s.
It was not just training and expertise that was provided.
The British monitoring station at Little Sai Wan in Hong Kong was used by the Americans to help them target bombing raids on North Vietnam.
All that said Wilson also resisted considerable pressure from Democratic President Johnson to publicly back the US with troops. He resisted, perhaps because he recognised the potential political consequences and that may well have been related to the strength of opposition to the Vietnam War in the UK.
Wilson also, at least up to the Tet Offensive in Spring 1968 when it became clear that the US was in any case losing the war, associated himself very closely with international negotiations to secure a ceasefire and peace in Vietnam, albeit essentially on US terms.
The seminar was an important and illuminating insight into the politics and activities of Big Flame but also with some pointers about left politics in 2026
Right up to polling day the opinion polls reported that the Gorton and Denton By-Election was a narrow three way race between Reform, the Greens and Labour. In fact the Greens had a 4,000 majority over Reform.
Even Omnisis which had the Greens at 33% was way out.
The likely issue (Times 28th February) is that while the pollsters found it relatively easy to seek the views of white working class voters they struggled to judge the views of Muslims, other ethnic minorities and those switching from Labour to Green. They were fairly accurate on support for Reform and Labour but not the Greens.
Green voters it seems are part of a world of which pollsters have little conception
Verdant Putty DIPA & Puttty TIPA. Has the thrill gone & if so, why?
With Verdant Putty DIPA (85) and Puttty TIPA both released for 2026 I pondered again why the annual release of these beers is such a thing. There are after all other double and triple IPAs out there and in a taste test one might struggle to identify which was which (depending on the hops used).
Putty which is an 8% double IPA was released in January 2026 and cost £7 a can direct from Verdant (plus carriage), the same price as in 2025
Puttty its 10% triple IPA relative was released in February 2026 and cost £10.50 a can direct from Verdant (plus carriage). Again the same price as 2025.
I’ve drunk and enjoyed both. Murky, hoppy, dangerously drinkable.
Of course if you’re not at home during the day during the week (I work mostly from home) buying direct from a brewery can be awkward. The bottle shop is an alternative but their prices will be higher because after all, no normal profit no bottle shop.
The beers are expensive but allowing for inflation and duty changes I don’t think the price has actually increased at least in the last couple of years. Putty was originally brewed for Hop City at Northern Monk in 2017 and what it cost then I don’t have to hand.
While the beer is good the general buzz around it can I think be explained by an understanding of the Society of the Spectacle. A theory developed by the Situationists in the 1960s it argued that market capitalism had developed in a way that meant advertising and image were the most important representations of material reality.
They marched in an anti-Vietnam War protest in London in 1968 chanting ‘hot chocolate, drinking chocolate’.
In this sense Putty can be understood as a reified object. That is while it is not human (clearly) it takes on human qualities. Its enjoyable, fun to be with, and generally a positive thing.
I doubt those drinking Putty, myself included, quite saw it like that but there is a related way of explaining things. Both Putty and Puttty are released early in the calendar year. The weather is miserable, and there isn’t a huge amount going on beer wise for the most part.
As above both Putty and Puttty are reassuringly expensive. That is for those who can afford the price in a continuing cost of living crisis. You can certainly get beers that are quite like Putty at rather lower strengths (say 7-7.5%) more cheaply. Check Lidl.
It’s a division that also exists in wine and whisky. It’s a feature of market capitalism but you can start to over theorise. Generally you get better quality for a higher a price but unless you have a refined palate it may not be that noticeable. What you like might be more important.
Putty is both a brand and an event.
To be honest as an example of both its possible to think of much worse. And it remains very drinkable. Whether its quite the thing it was is another matter. Putty sold out on the day of release, Puttty was still on sale several days after its release. Perhaps the thrill has gone, a reminder that capitalism is eating and drinking itself perhaps…
A History of the present. From Iraq in 2003 to Iran in 2025. The politics of ‘regime change’
If Netanyahu’s comments on Iran appear eerily familiar in 2026, it is because they are. The same Netanyahu, and Iran hawks in the US, pushed a similar argument in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Iraqis then, like Iranians now, the world was told, would welcome the removal of Saddam. The Middle East would be reshaped. The fall of dictators in Iraq and Iran may well have been welcomed. What came after certainly was not
Meaningful regime change, however (whatever that means in practical terms), is not the same as regime destruction. Regime change can only ever come from below, not as the whim of Bush or Trump.
In Iraq, where ultimately an incompetent US effort was made at nation-building, and Libya – where it was not – there followed periods of bloody chaos, which continues in Libya.
Peter Beaumont writing in The Guardian, 17th June 2025 was spot on about Netanyahu’s agenda
A reminder that Britain’s largest ever march took place on 15th February 2003 when well over a million people marched against war with Iraq.
The marching and protesting needs to continue because international law gone and with what Tariq Ali refers to as the Wild West running amok pretty much anything could happen next. Trump declared war on Iran at 2.30am from his Mar A Lago nightclub. He got the approval of no one and was content that this was the case. Protest in the US might shake that a bit. We can hope.
At least Bush made a pretence of getting UN approval. Instead with Trump we have a Board of Peace with Tony Blair firmly in place on it.
Romance is blossoming as Spring nears. Finlay has arrived from the Highlands and Helen has met him in the Borchester pub he is staying in. They go upstairs to his room without revealing whether or not it has a shower… The next morning suggests there probably was.
Finlay who also uses the name Mark Bonner was in Celebrity Traitors in the Autumn of 2025. The good news for Helen is that he was a Faithful.
Meanwhile Alice is continuing to pursue Rex who has already been vetted by Brian as a suitable match. Their outing to an open-air cinema came with added Kirsty but progress is happening. In due course Rex may even be readmitted to the Ambridge cricket team.
The Dairy
Demand for Borsetshire Blue seems to be growing further and more labour is required in the Dairy to join Susan. Kirsty has been rejected but Tracey by contrast has been found to be just the person (Susan may not entirely concur..)
Chelsea’s Horse Box
After Lillian had a strop about keeping Chelsea’s Horse Box aka her future hair saloon at the Stables, she had a change of heart and agreed it be parked at the Dower House because Justin is always keen to promote local business initiatives (only when there is money in it for him but Lillian kept the quiet part quiet)
The Borchester Show
Daveed has been appointed organiser. This one will run and run
Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social
Tom Jones voted St David’s Day Beard of Wales 2026
The annual vote to determine the St David’s Day Beard of Wales, the Welsh beard that offers the most positive national image, has closed with Tom Jones shaving journalist Martin Shipton for the annual honour.
For the first time the public vote was run across several social media platforms. Voting for Tom Jones and Martin Shipton was equal on Blue Sky but Tom Jones took 80% of the votes on Twitter and he was declared the overall winner
The Beard Liberation Front says that images of St David suggest that the Welsh Saint himself may have had an organic beard
Welsh rugby prop Adam Jones won the Award in 2013, voted for by BLF supporters, just shaving former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Another rugby player Leigh Halfpenny won in 2014. In 2015 the Award went to Thee Faction musician Chris Fox in 2016 footballer Joe Ledley and in 2017 to Charcutier Illtud Llyr Dunsford, with Chris Fox winning again in 2018. In 2019 journalist Grant Tucker shaved the opposition to claim the accolade. Michael Sheen has won four times. In 2024 Plaid Assembly member Peredur Owen Griffiths won the coveted title
It is the fourteenth time the Award has been given following the traditional UK Beard of the Year at the end December each year and the BLF says it is a mark of Wales as a modern nation on St David’s Day that beards are now playing an increasingly significant role in national life.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, beards are blossoming in Wales, and competition bristled. We congratulate Tom Jones. His beard has become an iconic part of Welsh culture and life
Anyone familiar with the Daily Telegraph will know its generally keen on wars and its also keen on Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.
It also has a penchant for batshit headlines which the New World’s Allister Heath random headline generator has spot on (Heath edits the Sunday Telegraph)
Strangely however it has considerable concerns about Trump and Netanyahu’s latest attack on Iran. Not exactly the attack obviously but that it might end in defeat for the 76 and 79 year olds. Here is hoping (without btw having any love for the Ayatollah. Regime change can only successfully come from below, not above)
The reality is that no regime has ever been toppled by air power alone. If, however, 90 million Iranians will not do the bidding of Trump and Netanyahu, then the dictatorship may survive and the operation will fail.
America and Israel are therefore taking a huge risk: they cannot control the outcome of the war they have launched.
Media Coverage of the Gorton and Denton By-Election has focused on Labour’s fall to third place, the significance of the Green victory, and the associated racism and Islamophobia from Reform.
But what of the Tories performance. The view of veteran psephologist John Curtice is here:
Meanwhile, the Conservatives lost their deposit with just 1.9% of the vote, their worst ever by-election result.
Apart from the exceptional circumstances of the Rochdale by-election in 2024, when Labour disowned their candidate, leaving George Galloway to defeat a second-placed independent candidate, it is the first time that neither Labour nor the Conservatives have been one of the top two parties in a by-election contest.
Usually in a By-Election where the incumbent had been from the Governing Party, the key challenger would be from the Parliamentary Opposition- in this case the Tories. In fact they lost their deposit, their vote reducing from 8% in 2024 to under 2% in 2026. There cant be certainty but it looks like Reform hoovered up the 6% gap.
It suggests a growing political reconfiguration on the right as well as the left although you may struggle to find analysis or comment in the media.
