Chris Whiteside's Blog

The MP for Whitehaven and Workington, Labour's Josh MacAlister, was sent out today to justify Labour's decision to delay four Mayoral elections for two years. As the Guido Fawkes website put it, at  Labour Minister: We are Cancelling Mayoral Elections as 'We've Only Recently Become the Government' – Guido Fawkes he came out with this "distinctly flimsy" line of defence to Sky News: “To be fair, we have only recently become the government, this is a new set of devolution that we are bringing forward. We are speeding this up in a major way. The people who are saying this are the same people who not that many years ago were proroguing parliament. We will take no lectures from them.” Every part of this statement is wrong. Let's fisk it, shall we? “To be fair, we have only recently become the government" * They've been in power for 17 months.  " this is a new set of devolution that we are bringing forward." * this set of devolution e...

Dan Hodges has a very powerful piece in the mail about the shambles of a budget last week Here is an extract. "Finally. After the days of obfuscation, deflection and flat-out lying surrounding Rachel Reeves's Budget deceit, Kemi Badenoch has cut through to the heart of the issue.  Tuesday saw the scandal's first resignation, with Office for Budget Responsibility head Richard Hughes falling on his calculator after the leak of his organisation's Budget report 45 minutes before the Chancellor addressed the Commons. It had been, he said, 'a technical but serious error'. Though rumour holds he was pushed by the Prime Minister and Chancellor, who were desperate to find a scapegoat for the most shambolic fiscal event in modern parliamentary history. Yet in their willingness to sacrifice Hughes, they made a fatal blunder. One that the Leader of the Opposition exploited to ruthless effect at Prime Minister's Questions today. Given Sir Keir Starmer had accepted Hughe...

 

This was posted by Michael Crick in June 2024, a month before the Starmer government was elected. Spot on - indeed it came true a lot faster than in two or three years. :

Q: "Did you lie?" A: " Look, I'm a Labour Chancellor " I didn't expect her to confess so quickly. Neil O'Brien on X formerly twitter, referring to an interview with Rachel Reeves. Neil O'Brien on X: "Q: "Did you lie?" A: "Look, I'm a Labour Chancellor" I didn't expect her to confess so quickly" / X

"Tony Blair attempted to impose 90 days detention without charge, and, thankfully, we defeated him.   Today, Starmer wants to impose digital ID and effectively abolish jury trials for all offenders, and I appeal to all those who believe in the rule of law to help us stop it." David Davis MP.

Nick Cohen has an excellent piece on Substack on the need to defend trial by Jury. It includes the quote " Trial by jury in England goes back to the reign of Henry II in the 12th century. It has survived not only the Stuarts, but also the Wars of the Roses, the Reformation, the Industrial Revolution, the Napoleonic wars, two world wars and the Cold War. But it can’t survive Keir Starmer and David Lammy. " The article is illustrated with a picture of a plaque which stands at the Old Bailey, in honour of Jury foreman Edward Bushel and his fellow jurors who refused to convict the future founder of Pennsylvania when the judge wanted them to, even when locked up for two nights to ty to make them convict.  Nick concludes his article,  " Soon they may have to take it down ." You can read the article at “Progressives” extinguish the lamp of freedom

Yes, the Chancellor has finally given a straight answer in plain English -  "I am asking people to pay more tax". At the election she said she would not be raising taxes on "working people." After putting up National Insurance, a tax on jobs, by £40 billion at the 2024 budget she said it was a one-off and she would not need to raise taxes again. This week she admitted that she is putting your taxes up. 

A new mural has appeared in Ternopil, dedicated to children killed in Russia’s attack. The artwork, showing a child shielding her toys from a Russian missile, was created by artist Andriy Yermolenko. He described it as “a cry for help to the global community.”   “The girl protecting her toys — that’s all she has. This is my cry for help. As an artist, I can speak about it through my work.” On November 19, six children were killed in the Russian strike on Ternopil.

"Labour’s Budget this week was not about fixing Britain. It was about getting Labour MPs to feel good about themselves and keeping Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in Downing Street. After the debacle over their removal of the winter fuel payment, they wanted something they could parade around as proof of their compassion. A chance to pose as the only decent people in the room. Labour think they are kinder than you, more moral than you, and therefore entitled to spend your money as they please. The problem is they do not understand where that money comes from. The tax system is not a magic cash machine. It’s the hard-earned wages of people who get up early, go to work, and keep this country going. On Wednesday, Starmer and Reeves increased taxes even higher on beleaguered workers to pay for more benefits, then congratulated themselves for being caring. Since the budget, I’ve done dozens of local radio and TV interviews and been asked the same question over and over again: “why are y...