Keith Flett (born 31 October 1956) is a British socialist historian and a prolific letter writer in the British press.
Keith Flett (born 31 October 1956) is a British socialist historian and a prolific letter writer in the British press.
Letters from "Keith Flett, London N17" are regularly published in the press, literary and political journals, advancing his favoured causes of socialism and the Beard Liberation Front. Flett's contributions (sometimes termed "fletters" [1] [2] ) appear in the letters pages of the London Review of Books , [3] Private Eye , New Statesman , The Morning Star , What's Brewing and Tribune . Flett has claimed that his first published letter was in The Guardian , criticising an article by Eric Hobsbawm on Soviet history.
Flett has written and edited a number of history books. He has also written for the left-wing newspaper the Socialist Worker and is an active supporter of the Socialist Workers Party. He is convenor of the London Socialist Historians Group and the president of the Haringey Trades Council.
Flett is the 'organiser' of the Beard Liberation Front (which campaigns against the trend of New Labour politicians removing their facial hair to show a more moderate, presentable, image to the public). He is also associated with Campaign for Real Conkers. In this, Flett forms part of a British satirical tradition of using tongue-in-cheek flippancy to make more serious political points.
Flett is a real ale enthusiast and has been a member of CAMRA since 1974. [4]
Flett has emphasised the importance of being involved in the affairs of one's homeland. In August 2010 he wrote:
In June 2015, Flett endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election. [6]
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