Chris Whiteside's Blog

 

 

Today, the new Cabinet met for the first time after the Prime Minister built a new united team to deliver the long-term changes necessary to build a brighter future. To deliver the real change that the country needs, we need strong leadership that will take the difficult long-term decisions to build a brighter future.    That is why the Prime Minister has built a strong and united team to take the long-term decisions this country needs to prosper as we continue to deliver on our top five priorities – to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists, and stop the boats.  Conservatives are delivering the strong and decisive long-term leadership necessary to build a brighter future.

 

This week the government announced   £267 million to boost local drug and alcohol treatment , as we provide the necessary investment and funding to support people to get back on their feet.  Drug addiction drives about half of all crimes, so by investing in high quality and greater availability of treatment we can reduce crime rates and save lives. That is why we have dedicated £267 million to boost local drug and alcohol treatment for local authorities across England and Wales as part of our 10-year drug strategy, improving services, increasing capacity and quality of treatment. This support will help those blighted by alcohol and drug addiction to get back on their feet and ultimately back into work, as we continue to take the long-term decisions to cut crime and grow the economy. 

 

On Monday a week ago today I republished on this blog a statement released by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan on behalf of the Metropolitan Police  asking the organisers of the March on Saturday 11th November to reconsider and not to hold any protests on Armistice Day. Here is that statement again. Let nobody pretend that it was not predictable and predicted that there was a serious risk of violence and disorder if that march took place. The Metropolitan police themselves warned of the possibility five days before the event, and asked the organisers not to go ahead.  The police expressed that concern two days before the Home Secretary's article in The Times, and warned the organisers, quote, that "It is not appropriate to hold any protests this weekend." Most unfortunately the organisers chose to ignore that advice. And the consequences were that we did see violence and disorder, 145 arrests and nine police officers injured in the line of duty by far-right thu...

Statement released by the PM on Saturday:

 

"Abide with me" was the final hymn at today's Act of Remembrance at Moor Row, Cumbria.

Today is a day for the community to come together. It is not a day for partisan comment. I will not be posting anything partisan today and will leave my reactions to yesterday's events in London until tomorrow. Today we remember all those who have lost their lives in the service of our country and of freedom, including not just people from Britain but from the former Empire, the Commonwealth and from our allies. Today we remember the price of freedom and security. My grandfather and father grew up in Darwen, Lancashire. Near my grandfather's house in Darwen is  Bold Venture park, which has this beautiful war memorial. Darwen is not a particularly large town. But this memorial does not carry a list of names. Instead it has this: Both my grandfather, and his brother Robert served in the Great War. I exist because my grandfather, who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps with Allonby's army in the Middle East, made it back home. His brother Robert didn't come back - he wa...

  I attended the Remembrance Sunday act of Remembrance at Egremont at 11 am this morning as a member of Egremont Town Council. Wreaths were laid in a non-partisan manner on behalf of both main parties: I laid a wreath on behalf of the North West Conservative party.  I will be attending the Moor Row commemoration later today. "They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, or the years condemn, At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, We will remember them." (From "For the Fallen" by Robert Binyon) This is what the PM had to say on the subject today:

 

 

"Never tell a soldier that he does not know the cost of war"  (Final line spoken onscreen by the late Alan Rickman , from one of his last films, "Eye in the Sky")   The quote can be seen in context here:  Never tell a soldier that he does not know the cost of war - YouTube .

We will remember them. One hundred and five years ago today the guns fell silent at the end of the worst war the human race had known to that date. Those who lived through that war desperately hoped that it would be "the war to end wars" but instead it only created the conditions for an even worse war twenty years later. Sadly as long as people are willing to follow evil men like Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Hamas, we are not safe from war. That is why we must always do two things - we must have the capacity to defend ourselves and our allies if attacked, but we must always make sure everyone in our society understands the cost of war. And we must remember the fallen. On this Remembrance weekend there will be silences at 11am today, Armistice day, and 11am tomorrow, Remembrance Sunday. 

 

The government has t oday   announced more than £200 million so colleges and universities can offer more training opportunities in key industries , as part of our long-term plans to make sure people have the skills they need to build a brighter future.  People seeking careers in growing sectors such as green energy, digital and construction need to be able to access improved skills training, helping them secure good jobs closer to home.      That is why we have announced more than £200 million to support colleges and universities to offer more training opportunities in key industries. Investment is being targeted to address the specific skills needs of each region giving businesses access to the skilled workforce they need to grow.  Whether it is green skills, construction, engineering or digital, thousands more people can now gain the skills they need to secure good jobs closer to home. These are long-term plans that will ensure every area can have a brigh...

Seen on X, formerly twitter this week: "Lesson of #Ukraine war is the amount of munitions you burn through. “Think of a ludicrous number, double it, add a zero, and you’re still not there.” – official under Chatham House Rule #IFC23" One former soldier who saw this replied that it applied not just to the current war caused by Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, but to every previous war. Mick Ryan wrote "Not a lesson from #Ukraine but a lesson from every war since the first Industrial Revolution. The real lesson is that those who don’t read history will keep getting surprised by such ‘secrets’ that are cleverly hidden in history books!" That's why the quote has often been attributed to various generals from Napoleon to Omar Bradley that "Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics." If a member of my family were serving today, I would hope his or her commanders had studied both tactics and logistics, but it is difficult to argue with the...

Today the government,   announced new laws to safely roll out self-driving vehicles   across British roads, putting the UK at the forefront of a new multi-billion pound industry – as we take the right long-term decisions to grow the economy and create new jobs. Self-driving vehicles could help reduce deaths and injuries from drink driving, speeding and driver tiredness. That is why, as announced in the King’s Speech, the government is introducing the new Automated Vehicles (AV) Bill which will put safety at the heart of the roll-out of self-driving vehicle technology by introducing the legal framework needed to keep road users safe. This Bill will position the UK as world-leaders of this exciting £42 billion industry and creating an estimated 38,000 new British jobs.  

 

The Defence Secretary, the Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP,  posted this about the coming Remembrance weekend:

Today the government   launched the Dairy Export Programme   to help Britain's farmers and UK agri-businesses grow by seizing new exports opportunities around the world.  Food and drink are key to growing our economy with the UK’s dairy exporters selling over £2 billion of products to worldwide markets last year.  That is why the government is are launching the new Dairy Export Programme, which will help UK agri-businesses grow even further through a wide range of targeted support for businesses through education sessions on how to boost exports, target new markets and trade promotion activity following the £1 million commitment from the Prime Minister in May at the Farm to Fork Summit. This will support farmers and agri-businesses to grasp exciting new opportunities around the world, moving us forward in the race to £1 trillion exports by 2030.

I have registered for Swimathon 2024 to raise money for UK Cancer Research and Marie Curie Cancer care. Cancer Research UK is the largest charitable funder of cancer research in the world and aims to stay at the forefront of the global fight against cancer. 1 in 2 of us will get cancer. All of us can support the research that will beat it.  Marie Curie is here for people with any terminal illness, and those close to them  from diagnosis to bereavement. Our nurses and healthcare assistants support families directly across the UK. Our free support line can help with any question about end of life.And we campaign for structural change and fund vital research that improves end of life for everyone.  On 28th April I will be one of thousands of swimmers who will head to a swimming pool to raise money for these two fantastic causes as part of Swimathon 2024. Swimathon is one of the largest charity swim events in the world. I hope to swim 5,000 metres - 200 lengths of the pool t...

 

As a young man I thought that Anti-Semitism had been thoroughly discredited as a result of the vile crimes of the Nazis and was well on the way to joining other forms of racism on the rubbish-tip of history. Sadly it has been apparent for some years that racism is making a comeback and indeed, that Anti-Semitism, like a canary in the coalmine, is one of the first forms or racism to rise when racism begins to increase. (In Britain when there is an increase in racism it seems that prejudice against Jews picks up first and racism against Muslims soon follows.) We need to combat this and everyone involved in politics should take a lead. I am very proud of having persuaded the former Cumbria county council to adopt the International Holocause Remembrance Alliance'a working definition of Anti-semitism which you can read about here ...   What is antisemitism? | IHRA (holocaustremembrance.com) and doing so in a non-partisan way which was able to be passed nem con with cross-party support. ...