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+Following on from my blog two days ago, thinking about why Labour is so stuck in its managerialist inertia (an inertia which of course can only be addressed by repeating some form of Groundhog Day Maoist self-destructive bureaucratic reinvention) I think I need to ask why we have a so-called Scottish Labour Party, a so-called Welsh Labour Party but no so-called English Labour Party? What is so wrong with the notion of English Labour? Well, of course, the answer may be that we have instead, e.g. Yorkshire and The (eh?) Humber Labour, we have West Midlands Labour, etc., etc. But who, if asked, would say they came from the West Midlands or proudly declare “I’m from Yorkshire and The Humber?” Such fictitious identities are meaningless, but mean a lot to people who for whatever reason want to downplay genuine identity in deference to centralised authority. It reminds me of when John Prescott pressed home with his not so devolutionary plans to give a say to local people over their spatial strategies, all with a new tier of well-paid reps to gas on about it. Voters up North gave that nebulous idea a resounding kick in its vacuous bollocks.
 
+I am continuing my exploration of my ancient vinyl and have to say I am quite impressed with Hawkwind, circa 1971. ‘In Search of Space’ could be the life theme of Elon Musk (b. 1971) but it isn’t. Instead these hippies were quite prescient about the way things were going long before James Hansen warned the US Congress of the threat of climate change 17 years later. Hawkwind sang
 
We took the wrong steps years ago
I think about the things we should have done before
And the way things are going the end is about to fall
Look around and see the warnings close at hand
Already weeds are writing their scriptures in the sand
 
The album came in a very well produced fold-out sleeve and contained a cheaply produced booklet ‘The Hawkwind Log’ which I had never actually noticed before, since it was hidden in the sleeve. This is the complete works, a collector’s item to be sure! (ebay says anything between £10 and £190.) Anyway, it’s not for sale. This 50-year old piece of vinyl has reminded me of something to be cherished.
 
+The expulsion of the BBC’s Russia correspondent Sarah Rainsford has led to some media harrumphing about the growing Putin clampdown on free speech. Quite rightly. But we are hearing a lot less about Tory plans in the UK to do precisely the same thing. The journal of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom (North) carries the full story regarding the UK government’s proposals Legislation to Counter State Threats (Hostile State Activity). Read it at MediaNorthSept2021-Web2-1.pdf  It’s all part of a very authoritarian British coup.