Chris Whiteside's Blog

 

 

Thangham Debbonaire MP, then Labour MP for Bristol West, criticising Boris Johnson for appointing allies to the House of Lords during an appearance on ITV two years ago:  "This has been rewarding cronies, and that's just not on. "And Sir Keir Starmer would never do that, he would never exploit the honours system to do what Boris Johnson has done." Lady Thangham Debbonaire posting on X this week, accepting a peerage from Sir Keir Starmer after losing her seat this year.  (Yes that's right, a Labour MP who lost her seat in the 2024 general election. Think about the implications of that for a moment.) "I'm honoured to be asked to join the House of Lords. "I'm grateful to the Prime Minister for giving me this opportunity to serve the country and support the Labour government he leads to transform the UK." For the avoidance of doubt, I'm NOT criticising Starmer for appointing allies to the House of Lords, because it's how the system wor...

"Lessons in life will be repeated until they are learned." (Frank Sonnenberg)

Congratulations to Councillor Alex Richard Dale who was elected to Dudley council yesterday, gaining the Brockmoor & Pensnett ward from Labour on a huge swing. In the fist six months of this year it was the Conservatives who were doing badly in by-elections and mostly Labour who were triumphant.  But since July as people were found out or have been forcibly reminded what a Labour government is actually like, it has been Labour who have been taking a punishment beating at the hands of voters almost every Thursday, losing dozens of council seats, the majority of them to the Conservatives who have notched up more than twenty gains.. The Conservative gain in the Brockmoor & Pensnett (Dudley) council by-election yesterday was typical of the new mould: CON:  571, 35.4% (+7.0) REF:   485, 30.1% (+30.1) LAB:   466, 28.9% (-34.7) GRN:    49,   3.0% (+3.0) LDM:    24,   1.5% (-6.5) IND:      16,...

‘How can the Chancellor say this with a straight face? It is an outright falsehood. ‘Businesses and economic forecasters have made clear that higher employer NI means higher inflation and a bigger wage squeeze for working people.’ Former Bank of England official Andrew Sentance responds to a claim by the Chancellor that she had protected working people by not hiking their national insurance - even though the £40 billion of tax increases in her budget included a £25bn hike in national insurance contributions by employers. Rachel Reeves' accused of 'outright falsehood' over budget boast

QUESTION: What's the difference between a farmer in a tractor which has sunk to its' axles in mud, and the latest Ipsos political satisfaction survey? ANSWER: One's a stuck farmer: And the other showed  61% of voters who took part were dissatisfied with the Prime Minister (Ipsos) .

 

 

Atrocious polling numbers for Sir Keir Starmer have led to a slew of media articles with headlines describing him in terms like, quote,  " Keir Starmer is 'the worst Prime Minister in modern history,' according to Brits. " Starmer has overtaken Gordon Brown as having the worst net satisfaction figure ratio five months into his  premiership of any PM since IPSOS began tracking it more than forty years ago. The latest Ipsos Political Monitor, taken between 27th November and 4th December 2024 asks the public their views on the government and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Only 27% of Britons are satisfied with Starmer's performance, while 61% express dissatisfaction, resulting in a net satisfaction score of -34. Public dissatisfaction extends to the government as a whole, with a net satisfaction rating of -49.% IPSOS say that, quote, "Starmer's ratings compare unfavourably to previous Prime Ministers at similar points in their first terms." His rating of ...

 

"I see no good reason, unless we do something really stupid, why we shouldn't be the largest party in Wales." (Quote given to GB News by "a Reform party insider" ) It really is tempting fate when a politician of any party makes a comment like that ...

From an opinion piece by Harvey Thomas The article begins with a reference to the film "Life of Brian" ... "When Brian sweating on the cross at the end of the film, he's given a glimmer of hope as a "thoroughly trained suicide squad" marches up and apparently offers to save him. Their leader proudly boasts "we can commit suicide within 20 seconds", and that's exactly what they do, leaving Brian despairing and doomed. I'm reminded of that scene when I see the Labour front bench. Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband offered hope to a desperate nation during the general election, only to commit instant economic suicide. Now the whole country is sweating on the cross. Labour had 14 long years in opposition to train up. Now it's committing economic suicide at speed. PM Keir Starmer drew his sword first, killing all hope by warning of the tough decisions Labour would make to fill that £22billion black hole. It was a mas...

"Labour’s decision to remove the winter fuel allowance from 80 per cent of Britain’s pensioners will only save the exchequer around £1.3billion - £1.5billion. For a Government to take such a risk with millions of people's lives after they have worked hard and paid into the system is shameful, negligent and something that could cause Labour damage for decades to come. Whoever made this dreadful calculation and advised Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves that this is a good idea? This will do three things, it will cost votes, seats and most importantly people’s lives. This Labour Government, who are meant to be there for the working class and vulnerable people, abandons them at the first opportunity it gets. The party is choosing to abandon the people who need them the most by knowingly taking a vital payment away from people who cause some of their deaths." Keith Bays, from an opinion piece which you can read in full at Pensioners best not have a BAD winter or Labour's ...

“Removing the Winter Fuel Payment for millions of Pensioners could leave thousands of the most vulnerable at risk.” John McDonnell, who was then Labour shadow chancellor, publishing research on behalf of the Labour party in 2017 suggesting that means testing Winter Fuel Payments could cause an extra 3,800 pensioner deaths a year compared to what otherwise would have happened. Unluckily for ten million pensioners, now Labour have been elected they have taken a different view and adopted in government the very policy they condemned while in opposition..