Chris Whiteside's Blog

Today is Advent Sunday and the official start of the season leading up to Christmas. In this Christmas season I would like to reflect and speculate on the events which we commemorate - when Jesus Christ was really born, and leading up to his birth, when the Hebrews led by Moses really first arrived in what is now Israel, and when the temple of Solomon was built.  The first thing to be understood before you appreciate the uncertainty around all ancient dates is that there was no common point of reference between dates used by different empires and nations before 525 AD or CE when a monk called Dionysius Exiguus of Scythia Minor introduced the A.D. or Anno Domini system, counting the years since the date when he thought Jesus had been born. As I will be explaining in the lecture, it is very unlikely that Dionysius got it exactly right, though all things considered he was remarkably close. Prior to 525 AD there are no consistent ancient calendars, and almost no dates prior to 525 CE a...

 

This dreadful Labour government put forward two dire things this week. The people didn't vote for either. They're rightly getting flak for breaking the promise not to put up tax on working people. We must also oppose Labour's atrocious plan to scrap jury trials for many offences. There are rumours that the government has realised how much outrage removing the right to trial by jury in most cases would cause and is about to U-turn. I hope this is true. This lot couldn't run a bath.

"For quite a few members of the House of Commons culture media and sports committee, the answer to the claims of left-wing bias against the BBC" is that they  "could be annulled by  firing the only supposedly right-wing person within the corporation, Robbie Gibb." Rod Liddle , former editor of Radio 4's "Today" programme:  This is the first sentence of an article in the Spectator which you can read on the Spectator site if you subscribe here: The obvious truth about BBC bias | The Spectator And which is currently also available on X at   Colin Brazier on X: "Before becoming one of the greatest satirists produced by these islands since Jonathan Swift, Rod Liddle was employed as an editor at the BBC. He knows its biases, inside and out. Well worth a read. https://t.co/Nl96SMsCkC" / X He wasn't just any old editor - Radio 4's flagship morning news programme, the today programme, which he used to edit exemplifies the worldview he writes a...

For the avoidance of doubt, I suspect that Lord Melbourne (William Lamb) intended the quote below to be understood with extreme irony. And on many occasions that irony is appropriate. However there are also other occasions when the literal words of the quote describe exactly what happens. Sometimes the perversity of the universe inflicts on us events which only a madman would have predicted. The brilliance of this quote is that it works well both when interpreted ironically and when taken literally.

During the 2024 general election I had a number of emails from electors in Leeds North East, where I was the Conservative candidate, challenging me on the prediction in my election literature that Labour would raise taxes if they were elected. This prediction was based on the work of analysis at Conservative Campaign HQ who were convinced, as were then Conservative minsters from Rishi Sunak down, that Labour could only deliver the programme in their manifesto if they raised taxes. I can't take credit for actually drafting that section of my election address but it went out in my name because I agreed with it and was prepared to own it. And the prediction was right. Labour raised National Insurance by £40 billion in their first budget. Last year they said they would not need to raise taxes again. But this week they did raise taxes again - another £26 billion on income tax by extending the freeze on tax threshold. Even Rachel Reeves admits this measure will hit working people. They h...

 

 John Rentoul, chief political correspondent of the Independent, has written an article with the title "This cowardly budget marks the death of New Labour." This cowardly Budget marks the death of New Labour | The Independent (Paywall, I'm afraid, but you can see the title) He tweeted this extract with the words, "RIP New Labour - the budget marked the death of the dream."  

"Do remember this Labour government that wants us all to have Digital ID, that they promise will be secure, just had its entire budget leaked before they announced it." Lee Hurst on X, formerly twitter.

 

I do not always agree with Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby. But when she's at her best she's very good indeed. Her analysis of the budget is dead on. Here are some extracts from her piece on yesterday's budget. "Over and over again, in the run-up to the election and beyond, the prime minister and the chancellor told voters they would not put up taxes on working people - that their manifesto plans for government were fully costed and, with the tax burden at a 70-year high, they were not in the business of raising more taxes. On Wednesday the chancellor broke those pledges as she lifted taxes by another £26bn, adding to the £40bn rise in her first budget. She told working people a year ago she would not extend freezing tax thresholds - a Conservative policy - because it would 'hurt working people'. On Wednesday she ripped up that pledge, as she extended the threshold freeze for three years, dragging 800,000 workers into tax and another million into the ...

"Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer are using our money to save their jobs." ( Kemi Badenoch ) "A shambolic benefits budget paid for by workers."  ( Michael Simmons in the Spectator) "Rachel Reeves pledged during the election not to raise taxes on working people. She pledged 12 months ago she wouldn’t come back this year and raise taxes on working people. She’s just raised taxes on working people. That’s it. That’s the Budget." ( Dan Hodges ) "This is a watershed moment in our economic history that will consign Britain to a Lost Decade With a smirk that says if you work hard and save prudently I'm coming for you, Reeves launches 43 tax rises in spiteful raids on strivers" ( Andrew Neil in the Daily Mail) "Commentary has concentrated on yet another huge tax hit in Rachel Reeves’ 2nd Budget — as well it might — but not enough attention has been paid to her continued addiction to borrowing — on top of a record tax burden."  (also  Andrew...

"All we've had is whining about misogyny and mansplaining. So let me explain woman to woman - people out there aren't complaining because she's female, they're complaining because she's utterly incompetent" ( Kemi Badenoch responding to Rachel Reeve's budget.)

"Today’s Budget was a total humiliation for Rachel Reeves. She will go down as the worst Chancellor this country has ever had. Her position is now untenable and she knows it." "She has broken every single promise, if she had any decency she would resign. She is the country's worst ever Chancellor." "Rachel Reeves has broken her promises not to put up taxes. And all to fund more welfare. She should resign. But if she doesn't have the decency to do that, Keir Starmer should sack her." Every tax rise hits a family, people who work hard, save & sacrifice. Labour have loaded them with more taxes to fund more benefits, piling pressure on those who keep Britain running. Utterly shameful.   Our alternative: cut spending, cut tax and back business!" Conservative and opposition leader Kemi Badenoch

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results" ( Winston Churchill )

An Investment Analyst using the twitter handle James (Type for Victory) has a twitter thread up responding to the seductive fantasy economics currently promoted by the Green party leadership. "MMT" refers to the "Magic Money Tree" idea that governments can somehow magically create wealth by telling banks to do so and that increased government spending can fund itself by bringing unused resources into play. Here is James's thread:    "Right, let's crack the MMT free lunch and "well ackchually" stuff. How do gilt markets actually work, why do we need them, and what are the implications of Polanski's policy? Gilts 1. Treasury spending creates new bank reserves at the BoE. Without gilt issuance to drain them, the banking system ends up with a permanent surplus. 2. A structural surplus pushes overnight rates to zero unless the BoE pays interest on reserves. So you either sell gilts or remunerate reserves. There isn’t a third option if you want ...

No apologies for repeating this quote. Sadly all to often relevant today, as anyone who has tried to explain reality to those tempted to vote Green can probably attest ...

Here is a list of the 39 councillors elected for Reform UK in the May 2025 local elections who are no longer councillors for the party, and why not. That's 39 out of the 677 seats they won in May - more than 5% of their newly-elected councillors resigned, suspended or expelled in six months. They were elected in May to fifteen different councils in the North, South, east and West of England. It is not unusual for a party to lose a few councillors here for a whole variety of reasons. It is rare, but happens, for a party to have a big split resulting in mass resignations on one council. But for a party to suffer this level of attrition over the country as a whole is almost unheard of and would normally be considered surprising and concerning. The first name on the list is that of Councillor Donna Edmunds who was suspended less than 48 hours after her election in Shropshire and subsequently left the party, see BBC report, link below: Shropshire councillor resigns from Reform UK after ...

"There is nothing moral about bankrupting the country. And there is nothing moral about encouraging people to have children they can't afford." Iain Dale , from an excellent article,   The Econmics of the Madhouse | Iain Dale which you can read by clicking on the link in the title, and it's well worth a read,. 

I'm sure having an inquiry into what lessons we can learn from COVID was the right thing to do, but, as was suggested on the Laura Kuenessberg cast, it does seem as though a bit more effort should have been put into learning positive lessons about how we deal with the next pandemic, including both the things which actually did work - the vaccine task force and the Furlough scheme spring to mind - and what specific actions we can take to do better next time there is a pandemic in the areas which didn't work, rather than satisfy the hunt for scapegoats. This is the last part of a piece today in the Sunday Times about the stage two Covid inquiry report by former Supreme Court justice Lord Sumption.

Congratulations to the choir of Selby Abbey who sang this piece beautifully this morning as the communion anthem at a combined Baptism/Confirmation and Eucharist presided over by the Bishop of Selby, the Rt Reverend Canon Dr. Flora Winfield.

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Mahatma Ghandi.

"We are facing one of the most dangerous periods in Ukrainian history, a choice between losing our dignity and freedom and losing US support. We choose dignity. My answer is my oath of office. I did not betray Ukraine in Feb 2022 and we won’t betray it now." President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

 Congratulations to newly elected Conservative councillors Natalie Shalom and Julie Currie

Whether and when Ukraine signs a peace deal with Russia should be a matter for the Ukrainian people and their elected government. It is not for us to tell them to fight on if Russia offers a peace deal which they find acceptable. However, I think it would be both morally wrong and incredibly foolish for the West to pressure Ukraine to accept a peace deal which they regard as unacceptable while they are still willing to fight. The worst part of President Trump's new "peace deal" is that it appears to have been cooked up without input from Ukraine. There are those in the West who will tell you that Russia is winning the war. This is absolute nonsense. Putin thought he could conquer Ukraine in a few days. Three and a half years later Ukraine still exists and is still fighting. In one sense, every day that there is still a free Ukraine is a victory. In another sense nobody is winning and the war is a disaster for both countries. Russia has probably lost more than a million ca...

"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government programme" Milton Friedman  

  Kent council report £46.5m overspend following Reform takeover Needless to say the response of Reform UK to this report is to blame the previous Conservative administration or the national Labour government. However, the overspend seems to have got worse since Reform took control. A new report from the council about their revenue position states that the “current working budget for 2025-26 is £1,531.9m,” which would represent an overspend of £46.5m for the year. The report says the overspend “presents a risk to the Council’s future financial sustainability. And that overspend is significantly up - in quarter one of the year, the council had an overspend of £27.9m, which had risen to £47.2m for quarter two. The current budget projections assume some clawback by the end of the year.

Janan Ganesh in the FT is not the only person expressing a less than stellar view of the competence of the Labour government. This is the view of the analysts at Shore Capital, an investment firm:

Janan Ganesh eviscerates  Starmer and Reeves in a devastating piece in the Financial Times. I don't agree with everything he writes - one or two of his side-swipes at the previous Conservative government are the opposite of the truth, such as his characterising as "unfunded tax cuts" the tax policy of an administration which actually imposed some of the largest peacetime tax rises and what was then the highest tax burden since World War II - until Rachel Reeves raised taxes even higher. But what he had to say about the present PM and Chancellor was dead right. On the Chancellor On the PM and the government in general: He then makes the aforementioned side-swipes at Brexit and the previous government, some more justified than others, before continuing: "None of this ever added up to a case for Labour, let alone a landslide. Its ruling duo are inadequate and remain preferable to their likeliest usurpers. Britain has another three years or more to reflect on this Hobson...

 

I am deeply concerned about the increase in anti-Semitism from an already worryingly high level since the 7th October Hamas attacks. It is wrong to blame any community in Britain for the actions of foreign powers or terrorist groups thousands of miles away. And be in no doubt that Anti-Semitism is like the canary in the coal mine - it's the type of racism which very often shows itself first. But other types of racism, be it against black people, Muslims, or other group, soon follow. In March of this year a music venue in Bristol cancelled a gig by the Jewish band Oi Va Voi because of objections from activist groups. In a statement, Oi Va Voi said the " intimidation of the activist groups who wanted Strange Brew to cancel our gig would never be tolerated against any other minority ", adding that " this episode has had an immense personal and emotional impact on us ". " It has also led to financial loss, reputational damage and a barrage of hate, the like of ...

Another comment by Cato the Elder made more than two thousand years ago which seems particularly appropriate to today's politics in the social media age ...  

 

  Unfortunately true.

The Oxford Union has a very long tradition for voting for propositions so utterly and completely daft that you wonder whether the members were having a laugh, had temporarily lost their minds, or were so dim that they should never have been admitted to a university, let alone of of the most sought-after in the country. The month after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, and two or three weeks before the infamous Reichstag Fire gave him the opportunity to consolidate complete control of the country and turn the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, the Oxford Union debated the motion " That this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country. " This was carried, by 275 votes to 153, and helped give Hitler the impression that Britain had lost the will to oppose any moves he might make to increase Germany's power, contributing in a small way to the events leading up to the ghastly war in which fifty million people, lost their lives. (It is widely understood that...