Kmflett's Blog

Mr Gove’s Haringey Obsession

kmflett — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:49:44 +0000

Mr Gove’s Obsession with Haringey

Michael Gove, Education Secretary and MP for a constituency in leafy Surrey, appears to have become obsessed with the North London Borough of Haringey.

I’m not clear if Gove has actually ever visited the area. It appears he is a supporter of QPR so perhaps he turns up at the occasional away game at White Hart Lane.

Three times in the last year Gove has intervened in Haringey.

Last summer he was caught intervening in a schools writing project related to a Palestinian Literary Festival in Tottenham. It was a literary festival with book and poetry type people speaking not an attempt at an armed uprising. Even so Gove felt he had to warn schools participating that he was unsure if asking pupils to engage in creative writing about the Middle East was acceptable. Later he had to admit that nothing untoward had happened.

Then just before Christmas 2011 Gove intervened again. This time he had decided that four primary schools in Haringey had to become Academies because he wasn’t happy about them.

This sparked a large campaign comprising, parents, teachers, Governors and the local community and a sizeable demonstration about one of them- Downhills in Tottenham.

Gove looks set to ignore all that and order Downhills to become an Academy anyway

Thirdly in February 2012 up popped Gove again to purge the Governors at Nightingale Primary School in Wood Green who had the temerity to oppose his diktat they become an Academy. He replaced them of course with his own place-people, none of whom had explicitly local links

No one doubts that education in Haringey could be improved and, as the local NUT note, it would be if schools were funded on the same basis as neighbouring Boroughs as inner city establishments which they pretty obviously are.

But Haringey is very far from the only area with ‘issues’ in education so why does Gove intervene so often?

The answer is of course not fully known.

Certainly Gove has a small number of adherents in the Borough who feed him, often it appears misleading, information about what is going on. Yet the Michael Gove fan club very small though it clearly is must have the odd member elsewhere.

Is it perhaps that Gove has some kind of Tory folk memory that Haringey was once a ‘loony left’ Borough and hasn’t yet worked out that for the past two decades it has been very much mainstream Labour?

Or perhaps it is the thought that there are no Tory Councillors at all in Haringey and little prospect of there being any, so why not intervene and use it as an educational ideological playground. In this sense Gove really has nothing left to lose.

Whatever the reason and since Gove appears unwilling to appear in Haringey and answer his numerous critics I think it is time we launched a public subscription to build a statue of the great man to be erected at High Cross in Tottenham.

The idea has already won some support. Perhaps unsurprisingly Tottenham Tories would like to see a bronze statue while others have suggested a Wicker version would work better.

As a trade unionist I know that little is done easily and sorting out a Gove statue will take time and effort. In the meantime perhaps a Lego Gove statue could represent the dream? And given the Education Secretary’s rather diminutive stature it would in fact be nearly full size anyway

Hirsute say Fashionistas dont shave in Lent

kmflett — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:01:14 +0000

Beard Liberation Front
PRESS RELEASE 22nd February
Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266
HIRSUTE SAY FASHIONISTAS DON’T SHAVE IN LENT
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that with Lent starting on 22dn February it is the ideal opportunity for people to give up shaving
The BLF says that a beard grown between now and Easter can add significantly to the diversity of British life.
The Lent beard is a long religious tradition which in recent times has crossed over into secular fashion as well
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said It is the best time of year to grow a beard as Spring blossoms so do beards. It is time to revolt into style and grow a Fashionista beard for Lent

Notes for Editors
• On March 1st the Beard of Wales 2012 is announced
• Beard Week 2012 a celebration of the hirsute runs from Monday June 25th

Are riots predictable?

kmflett — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:46:31 +0000

London Socialist Historians Group
Press Release 19th February
Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266
Are riots predictable?,conference to ask
The London Socialist Historians Group, organisers of the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research in central London, has said that following last August’s riots in England it has holding a one day event this Saturday to consider from an historical angle it is possible to predict the conditions in which a riot will take place.

The conference will hear a number of papers from leading historians in the field looking at new research on a range of riots in history and will conclude with a roundtable where discussion will focus on what history can indicate about riots today.

A History of Riots Saturday 25th February 2012
Midday-5pm, Room 350
Institute of Historical Research
Senate House, Malet Street
London WC1

Conference Organiser Dr Keith Flett said:
Rioting is something of a British tradition but history is one key area that has been missing from the numerous inquiries that were launched after last August’s riots. When the Riot Act was abolished in 1973 the assumption was that the riot was part of our history. This conference will seek to discover by looking at historical evidence why it has made a comeback

Notes

Registration from Midday
Papers and discussion from 12.30pm including introduction: Keith Flett The London Crowd and London riots
Round Table discussion: Understanding the history of riots today at 4pm

Can you predict a riot?

kmflett — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:39:59 +0000

Can you predict a riot?
Many readers will be familiar with the Kaiser Chief’s song I Predict A Riot. It is a question I have been researching in the opening period of the year.
Living in Tottenham I have a personal and representative interest in such matters but my researches are mostly directed by a conference I’m organising on the History of Riots at the Institute of Historical Research on February 25th.
It is a vast subject and a conference will not be able to cover more than a few issues but central to it, is what we can learn from the history of riots.
In North London over the last six months there has been no shortage of investigations into riots. There was an official Government riot panel, a citizens inquiry and the Reading the Riots project sponsored by the Guardian and the London School of Economics.
This last has some historical framework around it- mainly the riots in American cities from the 1960s on- but otherwise an historical understanding has been absent.
When history has been referred to it has been used to underline the unsurprising but unhelpful thought that while riots in history may have had important reasons, contemporary ones by definition do not. This view can be found in the interesting book by Tottenham MP David Lammy about the riots, Out of the Ashes and it was also echoed by Eric Hobsbawm in an interview with Jeremy Paxman on BBC Newsnight.
The problem with this view is that when you do look at the history of riots the key thing is that while the causes may differ the actuality is very similar.
A crowd gathers, a melee occurs, windows are broken, occasionally properties are burned and even more occasionally people are actually hurt.
Likewise historically, and again this point has contemporary echoes, the State has been quite reluctant to intervene. A local figure of authority- a judge for example- arguing with rioters that they were better off not rioting has possibly had more impact than the use of force.
Definitions of what constitutes a riot-even before the Riot Act was abolished in 1973- were less than clear on what exactly was supposed to happen in the hour between its reading and the authorities actually dispersing any remaining rioters.
Equally problematic was how much force could legally be deployed- again echoed recently in debates about whether the use of water cannon would be appropriate.
The issue of whether a riot can be predicted has become one of some importance.
Historically a division is drawn between the causes of riots- food shortages, local political issues and national protests, the nature of the riot that ensues and its predictability.
It has been an issue recently because at the moment only the police have the power to determine whether a riot has taken place or not.
If they decide it has then they , or the State, are liable for any costs that have arisen has a result of damage to property. If it has not then insurers must carry the liability under policies which exclude riot from being a cause of paying out insurance money.
I doubt if the police will be looking at history books to determine the matter.
But again if you look at historical texts on riots, it is envisaged that certain situations may well need lead to riots.
For example in Lewes in 1857 there was a riot because a funeral was delayed by an hour. An account of the event notes that everyone knew that if such delays occurred than a riot would occur.

Beard of Wales contest set for St David’s Day decider

kmflett — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:44:32 +0000

Beard Liberation Front

press release 19th February

Contact keith flett 07803 167266
____________________________________________________
INAUGURAL BEARD OF WALES CONTEST TO GO TO LAST WHISKER
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that competition for the first ever Beard of Wales title looks like going down to the last whisker.
The winner will be announced on St David’s Day on 1st March
The BLF says that while traditionally a predominantly clean shaven culture, South Wales has in recent times become something of a centre for stylish and trendy beards
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said To announce the first Beard of Wales on March 1st is a very modern way to celebrate St David’s Day, although we doubt that the great man himself had a beard…
________________________________________________________________
List
Dai Havard- Parliamentarian
Chris Fox- musician
Frank Hennessy-broadcaster
Brian Hibbard-actor
Adam Jones- rugby player
Tom Jones- musician
Gruff Rhys- musician
Chris Rowlands- publican
Bryn Terfel-singer
Rowan Williams- Archbishop

Miliband urged to junk the jacket & grow a beard for Lent

kmflett — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:27:34 +0000

Beard Liberation Front
PRESS RELEASE 19th February

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

MILIBAND URGED TO JUNK THE JACKET & GROW A BEARD FOR LENT
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has urged Labour leader Ed Miliband to ignore the advice of former Labour Deputy Leader John Prescott on Desert Island Discs about the need to wear a jacket.

The hirsute campaigners say that wearing a jacket simply makes Ed Miliband indistinguishable from other politicians. Instead with Lent starting on 22nd February they have urged him to grow a distinctive and gravitas adding beard instead.

The BLF says that junking the jacket and growing a beard would not only show that the Labour leader is determined to put a distance, image wise, between himself and clean shaven New Labour but it is also saving on the use of shaving foam and razors, hence fully in tune with the sacrifices to be made during Lent

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said We appreciate that traditionally Labour leaders have worn jackets and the naked shirt look might not work, but with a beard the attention is draw away from whether the politician is wearing a jacket or not and attention is focused on the face and what they are saying

Notes for Editors
On March 1st the Beard of Wales is announced
The Beard of Spring 2012 is announced on Good Friday,April 6th
Beard Week 2012 a celebration of the hirsute runs from Monday June 25th

The Ambridge Socialist

kmflett — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 09:47:19 +0000

The Ambridge Socialist
The real Borsetshire Echo: 60 years of class struggle in Ambridge
19th February 2012 CONTACT KEITH FLETT 07803 167266

Ambridge set to burn
David is set to allow Lakey Hill to be used for a big Jubilee bonfire. The issue is what exactly does he plan to burn on the bonfire? Ambridge Socialist Editor Keith Flett said ‘It looks like the new organic burial ground is being supplanted by an alternative way for David to dispose of his victims.

The Professor v Saint Shula
Militant Atheism versus Tory Church Go-ers has of course not been a feature of the BBC coverage of events in Ambridge but it is a battle that is very much alive in the village. Even so as Lent approaches we expect ‘tensions’ between Dawkins fan, Professor Jim and Tory religious fiend Saint Shula Archer. Watch out for the Lent issue of the Ambridge Secularist for updates

In other news
Gourmet Grills are doing well
Tony Archer is 61
David is losing sleep. Should he murder the Herefords and have done with it

CALLING VOLUNTEERS
Help is needed to hand out the Ambridge Socialist at the special Village meeting on Borsetshire Land’s plans for a Dairy.

@kmflett for updates

David Cameron urged to give up shaving for Lent

kmflett — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 09:57:31 +0000

Beard Liberation Front
PRESS RELEASE 18th February

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

DAVID CAMERON URGED TO GIVE UP SHAVING FOR LENT
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that with Lent starting on 22nd February it is time for political leaders to set an example of sacrifice and to give up shaving for Lent.

The BLF says that with David Cameron making much of the religious beliefs of the Tory Party in recent weeks it is time for him to follow the lead of the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and grow a beard for Lent.

It also suggests that giving up shaving for Lent would be an environmentally friendly sacrifice for Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband to make

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said If our political leaders grew a beard for Lent it would underline they take their moral duties seriously

Notes for Editors
On March 1st the Beard of Wales is announced
The Beard of Spring 2012 is announced on Good Friday,April 6th
Beard Week 2012 a celebration of the hirsute runs from Monday June 25th

Report shows life expectancy 7 years more in Chelsea than Haringey

kmflett — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:56:16 +0000

Haringey Trades Council
Press Release 17th February
c/o Union Office, St Ann ’s Hospital, St Ann ’s Rd, N15
Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266; keith.flett@btinternet.com
_____________________________________________________________________________
REPORT SHOWS LIFE EXPECTANCY 7 YEARS MORE IN CHELSEA THAN HARINGEY
Haringey TUC, the North London Trades Council has said that the realities of unemployment and poverty in some areas of the Borough have been underlined by the most recent, 2012, update to the Marmot Report on class and health in London.

Sir Michael Marmot together with University College London has been researching the relationship between economic well being and health for some years as part of an official Government study.

The latest report shows that while a man in Kensington and Chelsea can expect to live to 85.1 years old, in Haringey the same man can expect to live to just 77.4 years, over seven years fewer.

The comparable figures for women are 89.8 years and 83.7 years

The trade unionists say that the report underlines the reality that in Britain in 2012 on average the better off you are financially the longer you live
Haringey TUC Secretary Keith Flett said It appears we are not all in it together and the sobering reality is that Government cuts to public services are going to make this situation even worse

History of Riots conference: final timetable

kmflett — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:25:41 +0000

History of Riots conference 25th Feb: timetable

Room 350 Institute of Historical Research Senate House Malet St London WC1

SPEAKERS INCLUDE
SEAN CREIGHTON:
From Revolution to New Unionism; the impact of Bloody Sunday on the development of John Burns’s politics
NEIL DAVIDSON:
Riots around the Scottish Union negotiations in 1706
JOHN NEWSINGER:
Memorial Day Massacre, a Chicago Police Riot
___________________________________________________________________
Registration from Midday
Papers and discussion from 12.30pm including introduction: Keith Flett Riots, the form of protest that could not be consigned to the history books
Round Table discussion: Understanding the history of riots today at 4pm
Afterwards discussion and beer at the Euston Tap [front of Euston station]