30 members of Unite Hospitality Aberdeen held a protest outside the City’s Union Square Brewdog on 25th February calling for fair wages.
Unite has said that workers at the nearby Ellon brewery have had their hours cut from 32 to 24 leading to a £400 a month reduction in wages.
The future of Brewdog with consultants AlixPartners looking for a sale provides wider context.
It is an intriguing historical and political moment as the Labour Party faces an electoral test in the Gorton and Denton By-Election on 26th February and it may not attract a social media comment from Keir Starmer.
The Labour Representation Committee was founded 126 years ago at the Memorial Hall in Farringdon St (26th and 27th February 1900). A plaque still exists but the hall is now an office block near to Ludgate Circus in central London. I represented union members in the building in the 1990s.
The LRC led to the formation of the Labour Party in 1906 when 29 Labour MPs were elected.
The man who moved the resolution at the 1899 TUC that called for the LRC conference to be held was James Holmes.
Holmes was a delegate from and officer of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (now the RMT).
He was at that time based in South Wales and lived in Cathays Cardiff. He was central in the early 1900s to the Taff Vale dispute, one of the landmark issues in the development of trade union and Labour politics in the UK.
His political and union activity is a fascinating snapshot of the transition in the labour movement from Liberal to independent Labour politics and a reminder of the role that trade union officials had in the formation of the Labour Party.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Holmes_(trade_unionist)
There is a much fuller account in Holmes’ entry in the Dictionary of Labour Biography which can be found by Googling his name.
Beyond all that Holmes was a moustache wearer underlining the historic link between Labour politics and facial hair
General Secretary of Unite the Union Sharon Graham which organises Brewdog workers has spoken out on the catastrophic mismanagement at the brewer.
Hours have been cut for some workers from 32 to 24 meaning a significant cut in take home pay.
Meanwhile research shows that some Brewdog bars have reduced their hours closing earlier on Mondays, Tuesdays and Sundays
Unite has called a demonstration in support of Brewdog workers in Aberdeen
Lucky winner at Tory fund raising auction pays £36,000 to play a round of golf with Dave Cameron
On Thursday 19th February the Tories held a fund raising event at a hotel in Belgravia.
The Times (21st February) reported that those attending drank Saffron Grange an English sparkling wine made in Kemi Badenoch’s Constituency. They ate confit trout and Herefordshire beef.
The auction raised £730,000. £50,000 gave one Tory a dinner date with Badenoch (presumably at MacDonalds). The winner turned out to be problematic
£35,000 won a chance to share a box at Ascot with Mel Stride and then there was the lucky winner of a round of golf with Dave Cameron at £2,000 a hole
The Clacton Gazette has reported
In 2023, Clacton was named among 54 other towns to receive a vital cash boost as part of the government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns.
Following the announcement, a special task force, the Clacton Town Board, was formed to create and implement a 10-year vision and four-year regeneration plan for £20million.
Nigel Farage, the Clacton MP has not attended any meetings although he usually sends a substitute
Of course Farage is very busy and last weekend he did manage to make it to the seaside. In the Maldives…
Peter Mandelson has claimed that his arrest by police on Tuesday was about ‘baseless’ claims he was about to flee the country. Those who have had to endure Mandelson since the 1980s know that matters are often more complicated than they initially seem but there can be no question that until and unless he is convicted of misconduct in public office, something he denies, he is innocent of it.
The same can’t be said of New Labour where the Jury’s verdict has long been in, even if sentencing seems to have been somewhat delayed..
Prince Andrew as trade & investment envoy 2001-2011 & his entitlements
Blair and Mandelson appointed Prince Andrew as a trade envoy in 2001 against the advice of the then Prince Charles who warned that he would just use the role as an opportunity to play golf and chase women.
Andrew Lownie who has written a book ,Entitled, on Andrew and Sarah Ferguson notes a list of demands Andrew had when meeting the Sultan in Brunei and other rulers in the Gulf
Water at room temperature
Royal Crested teapot (Andrew usually travelled with one)
Weetabix for a breakfast, (Andrew often brought his own supply)
Subjects that must not be mentioned
The Royal Family
Golf
A Preference for blondes
The Gorton and Denton By-Election takes place on Thursday. The result may well depend on how well organised the ‘get the vote out’ operation of the key contenders, the Greens, Labour & Reform is. I vote in Tottenham but I’d hope for a Green victory to send a message to both Reform and Labour (not the same message). That doesn’t mean as a socialist that I’m signed up to the politics of the Green Party that discussion is for another time.
The media relentless cheer leaders, in the main, for Reform have not covered what might be one of the more interesting developments in the last stages of the campaign.
Farage has been in Gorton and Denton supporting Reform’s far right candidate the GB News operative Matthew Goodwin.
However as the campaign reaches a climax Farage has been in the Maldives (at the weekend), Dover (Monday) and Birmingham (Tuesday) focusing on issues which are nothing to do specifically with Reform’s chances of winning in Gorton and Denton.
Since Farage is the owner of Reform UK Ltd and there is no democracy or debate allowed we can only read the runes here.
Ceredigion Archives
Beard of Wales 2025 Voting open
The annual vote to determine the St David’s Day Beard of Wales, the Welsh beard that offers the most positive national image, has opened
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 is sure to bristle
The winner will be declared on March 1st
Vote pinned at this account
Shortlist
Martin Shipton, journalist
Tom Jones, musician
Keiffer Moore, footballer
Mark Williams, Snooker Player
A comparison with the first Labour Government in 1924 might underline that social being determines consciousness
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