Chris Whiteside's Blog

 

 

This evening I attended the AGM of Lancashire area Conservatives as Regional Chairman. It was a constructive and friendly meeting chaired by the outgoing area chairman, Sir Robert Atkins and, in the circumstances, a useful reminder that politics does not have to be unpleasant, destructive or extreme. The reason this was a useful reminder is that as I left the hotel where the meeting took place to drive to the next location I needed to be, I put my car radio onto BBC Radio 4 just as a very well-produced but deeply disturbing "Crossing Continents" programme was starting. BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Florida's political refugees The programme was about certain trends in US politics but trends in American politics, culture and society often spread to the rest of the world, and when I ask myself if it is possible that what was being reported in America could happen here in Britain, I have to answer, yes it could. Lucy Proctor presented a report on people in the USA who a

Today the Prime Minister   unveils over £29 billion of new investment in thriving UK sectors at the Global Investment Summit , creating thousands of new jobs and driving growth across the country.  Attracting global investment in new projects is vital to boosting long-term economic growth, creating highly-skilled jobs, and building a brighter future for families across the country.  Today the Prime Minister unveils £29.5 billion of new investment for thriving UK sectors at the Global Investment Summit, alongside Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, and the world's leading CEOs and investors. This investment – which is triple the sum raised at the last Global Investment Summit in 2021 – will create more than 12,000 new jobs and is a huge vote of confidence in the UK economy.  We are making the UK the best place to invest and do business with the biggest business tax cut in modern history, our culture of innovation and thriving universities – and today’s announcement shows our

It is not just Ukrainians who are suffering from Putin's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. One man's folly is also costing the lives of thousands of Russians.

"For if one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone.”  Timothy Zahn : comment by Mitth'raw'nurudo, later known as Grand Admiral Thrawn, from the novel "Thrawn"

 

Nissan’s £2 billion investment is a huge vote of confidence in our automotive industry. And it secures Sunderland’s future as the UK’s Silicon Valley for electric vehicle innovation and manufacturing.  We’ll back businesses like Nissan every step of the way. 

Having been very busy yesterday I have just watched the new David Tennant and Catherine Tate story's first episode on BBC iPlayer. Best Doctor Who episode for years - strongly recommend it.

 

 

 

Here are twelve ways the Autumn Statement for Growth reduces debt, cuts tax and rewards hard work:  Cutting taxes for 27 million working people from January, rewarding hard work across the country.  We are cutting the main rate of National Insurance Contributions from 12 per cent to 10 per cent. For the average worker earning £35,000 a year, that means a £450 tax cut. Helping people keep more of their hard earned money (Source, HM Treasury,  Autumn Statement 2023 ,  22 November 2023,  link ). Cutting and simplifying tax for two million of the self-employed, supporting the country’s entrepreneurs.  We are abolishing an entire class of NICs and cutting the rate of the NICs top rate from nine per cent to eight per cent – a with an average total saving of around £350 for someone earning £28,000 a year ( Source,   HM Treasury,  Autumn Statement 2023 , 22 November 2023,  link ). Cutting business taxes permanently by £11 billion a year, delivering the biggest business tax cut in modern Britis

 

 

 

 

I must confess that I do not often agree with Labour MP Zarah Sultana, a fact which will doubtless come as no surprise to any regular reader of this blog. But I do think that she was absolutely right, as well as very brave, to condemn Labour's attack advertising against the PM earlier this year as, quote,  “playing on racist tropes of Asian men”. Zarah Sultana added that Labour officials " knew exactly what they were doing "  when they published a picture of the Prime Minister's  face alongside the claim he did not think child sex abusers should go to prison. The adverts,  published on the party’s X (formerly Twitter) account in April , highlighted the number of adults  convicted of sexually assaulting children under 16  who did not go to prison. “Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison?  Rishi Sunak doesn’t ,” the poster said. I will add - and this point is coming from me rather than Ms Sultana - that during most of the perio

 

 

As explained in the previous post, Rishi Sunak has laid out a five-part strategy to boost Britain's economy. This post explains the strategy in more detail and contrasts the Conservative and Labour plans. The central purpose of the Conservatives' economic policy is to give people the opportunity to build wealthier, more secure lives for themselves and their families.  At the start of this year, we committed to halve inflation – because inflation is a tax that erodes that dream, driving up the cost of the weekly shop and mortgages, eroding hard-earned savings and pensions.   We have delivered on our commitment and halved inflation, which has fallen to 4.6 per cent. This is the largest fall in inflation since the start of the 1980s, down from its peak of 11.1 per cent last year.  With inflation falling, and global economic conditions stabilising, we are now able to change gear and turn our attention to the long-term decisions required to strengthen our economy and build a brighte

  The Prime Minister has announced a Five Point plan for long-term action to grow Britain's economy  Reducing debt Cutting tax and rewarding work Building domestic, sustainable energy Backing British business Delivering a world-class education This strategy will provide jobs and a brighter future for our children.

The government has announced  investment £8 billion of redirected HS2 funding to resurface more than 5,000 miles of road across the country - improving journeys for all.  The majority of people across the country travel by road, but potholes can cause misery for motorists – from expensive vehicle repairs to bumpy, slow and dangerous journeys.  That is why we are investing a total of £8.3 billion of redirected HS2 funding to resurface roads across the country – the biggest ever uplift in funding for local road improvements.  This investment will be transformative for every region across the country, creating smoother, well-maintained and safer roads for all. 

 

 

 

 

Out campaigning with a great team in York today, supporting Keane Duncan for Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, and Julian Sturdy MP. Listened to Holst's rousing music to relax when I got home.

I was actually campaigning in York today, but I was reminded of something I saw on a previous campaign session in Yorkshire (in Ormskirk)

 

Congratulations and good fortune in the campaign to Peter Cartridge, a teacher and Wyre Borough councillor for Great Eccleston, who was selected last night as Conservative candidate for Lancaster and Wyre. Peter is a great guy and would make a fantastic MP.

Today the government  announced our Back to Work Plan to provide additional support for over a million people to look for and stay in work , giving many more people the benefit of a regular wage and growing the economy.  Boosting employment is not only a crucial part of our work to grow the economy but it can also transform the lives of people who are struggling to get into the workplace. That is why the Conservative government has announced our £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan, giving over a million people the help they need to get off benefits and move into work over the next five years alongside stricter benefit sanctions to drive up employment as we grow the economy. We know the best plan to grow the economy is a jobs plan and our Back to Work Plan will help more people into work, giving them the security of a regular wage as we grow the economy.  

Today the government announced the allocations of funding from the £8.3 billion long-term plan to resurface more than 5,000 miles of road across the country , improving journeys for all as we grow the economy.  Conservatives are taking the long-term decisions needed to provide transformative change for people across the country and improving our road network is central to our plan to level up the whole country. That is why we have announced local allocations for our £8.3 billion long-term plan to resurface over 5,000 roads across the UK, using funds redirected from HS2 to deliver transformative change for motorists as we take the long-term decisions needed to level up the UK and grow the economy.  Each local authority can use its share of the £8.3 billion to identify what local roads are in most need of repair and deliver immediate improvements for communities and residents. This is divided as             - £3.3 billion for local authorities in the North West, North East and Yorkshir

  (Stephen Pinker was quoting a saying by Robert J Hanlon)

 

This week the UK government signed a trade deal with Florida which is   our biggest trade pact with the United States since Brexit   – our seventh US state-level deal which will boost investment, create new opportunities for British businesses, and help to grow the economy.  With a GDP of over £1 trillion, Florida is a major economy in its own right – and its leading high-tech companies offer huge opportunities to the UK’s rapidly expanding tech sector.  That is why the British government signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with Florida on Tuesday, to boost trade and investment. The agreement will help make it quicker, easier, and cheaper for UK and Florida firms to do business and is targeted at sectors in which the UK have particular strengths such as space, fintech, AI and legal services.  After this signing, the UK has seven state-level agreements with states with a combined total GDP of £3.3 trillion, just under the GDP of Germany, giving UK firms competitive edge in some of

 

New jobs figures released this week show that   there are almost four million more people in work since 2010 , showing the progress of the Conservative Government in helping businesses to create jobs, giving more people the security of their own income as we work to halve inflation, reduce debt and grow the economy. To deliver the long-term recovery that our economy needs, we must ensure that people across the country have access to the jobs that are right for them as we grow the economy. Latest figures released this week show that payroll employment is at a record high at 30.2 million – almost 400,000 higher than this time last year and 1.2 million higher than before the pandemic. Regular pay (excluding bonuses) grew by 7.7 per cent in July to September 2023, meaning that real pay is now growing at its fastest rate for two years. We know the best long-term strategy is a jobs strategy – giving people the security of their own income as we work to halve inflation, grow the economy and r

 

 

"Good afternoon, Today, the Supreme Court has judged that the Rwanda policy requires a set of changes in order to be lawful. I do not agree with this decision, but I respect it and I accept it. The rule of law is fundamental to our democracy. We have prepared for all outcomes of this case. And so we have been working on a new international Treaty with Rwanda. This will provide a guarantee in law that those who are relocated from the UK to Rwanda will be protected against removal from Rwanda. And it will make clear that we will bring anyone back if ordered to do so by a court. We will finalise the Treaty in light of today’s judgement and ratify it without delay. But we need to end the merry-go-round. I said I was going to fundamentally change our country and I meant it. So I am also announcing today that we will take the extraordinary step of introducing emergency legislation. This will enable Parliament to confirm that, with our new Treaty, Rwanda is safe. It will ensure that peop

This is what the PM posted on X, formerly Twitter about today's Supreme Court ruling on the Rwanda policy. He has also made a speech and I will be posting the full text of that speech here. The PM's social media post reads as follows: "Following today’s ruling, I’m taking the extraordinary step of introducing emergency legislation to confirm Rwanda is safe. I will not allow a foreign court, like the European Court of Human Rights, to block these flights. Here’s the plan." "We need to end the merry-go-round. We’ve been working on a new international treaty with Rwanda and we will ratify it without delay. We’ll provide a guarantee in law that those who are relocated from the UK to Rwanda will be protected against removal from Rwanda. I will not take the easy way out. I am prepared to change our laws and revisit those international relationships to remove the obstacles in our way. If the ECHR chooses to intervene against Parliament, I am prepared to do whatever is n

The judgement by the Supreme Court is very disappointing. Reading the judgement, it does not appear that leaving the EHCR would resolve the issue - there are other international treaties involved. However, the Prime Minister is determined to pass new legislation which will enable Britain, without breaking our international obligations, to proceed with the Rwanda policy. It is important to stress that the Rwanda policy is far from being the only element of the government's policies to stop the boats and other parts, such as the agreements with Albania and France, have delivered progress. Numbers crossing are down, numbers returned to safe countries are up. We must and will keep working to find further safe and legal ways to stop the boats.

At the start of the year the Prime Minister laid out his five top priorities, starting with halving inflation. New figures out today show that we have met our target to halve inflation by the end of the year. But there is more to do.   The world has been grappling with high inflation, caused by the pandemic and Putin’s weaponisation of energy – which is why the Prime Minister made it his top priority to halve inflation. New figures this morning show thanks to action we have taken, such as holding down energy bills and taking responsible decisions with public finances, we have halved inflation from its peak of 10.7 per cent to 4.6 per cent in October – giving families the immediate relief they need.  Inflation is a tax on people’s pockets – halving it is the best thing we could do to help people’s money go further. As we took the difficult decisions, Labour’s plans would lead to higher inflation for longer, with their £28 billion borrowing plan, risking higher interest rates too. The Co