Chris Whiteside's Blog

The latest jobs figures show  there are over 4.1 million more people in work since 2010 , showing our plan is working as we drive down inflation and grow the economy. We have better than halved inflation from 11.1 to 4 per cent and real wages are rising. Official jobs figures released today show there are now over 33 million people in employment, an increase of over 4.1 million since 2010. We are sticking to our plan to grow the economy and deliver the jobs hardworking families need and it is working. Labour have no plan to grow the economy and would just take us back to square one. Key statistics : Employment: There are almost 33.2 million people in work in the UK (up 107,000 over the last year and up by over 4.1 million since 2010). Employment rate: Near record highs, at 75 per cent (up by 4.8 points since 2010). Unemployment: There are 1.3 million people in unemployment (down by almost 1.2 million since 2010). Unemployment rate: The unemployment rate is 3.9 per cent (down by 4.2...

Opposing Anti-Semitism and all forms of racism is too important to be used as a party-political or factional weapon. When I was proposing the motion that Cumbria County council adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of Anti-Semitism, both I and my seconder bent over backwards to avoid doing so in a partisan or point-scoring way. I made the point then, and repeat it now, that no party is completely free of either Anti-Semitism or other forms of racism and no party can afford to be complacent about Anti-Semitism or any other form of racism. It is a responsibility for all of us to refuse to accept, and take appropriate and proportionate action against, racism and Anti-Semitism when it comes from our allies as well as our opponents. It will not have escaped any reader of this blog that I am not an admirer of Sir Keir Starmer but up until this week one of the few things I admired about the leader of the opposition had been his stand against Anti-Semitism in his ow...

Two alternative views of today in one image!

Today the Conservative government is   expanding our Affordable Homes Scheme   to build 20,000 new affordable homes across the country, backed by a £3 billion increase in Government funding, supporting thousands of people across the country to help them realise the dream of owning their own home.  Unlocking housing supply is critical to enabling people to realise the dream of owning their own home.  That is why we are expanding the Affordable Homes Scheme, which provides low-cost loans to housing providers to build 20,000 new affordable homes across the country, thanks to a £3 billion increase in a Government-backed loan fund opening today.  For the first time, the scheme can also be used to upgrade existing properties, making them warm and decent for tenants.  Under Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives, we are on track to meet our manifesto commitment to build one million homes this Parliament. By contrast, nobody knows where the Labour party stands. One minu...

Labour has recommitted to their 2030 clean energy target but have no idea how much it would cost or how they would pay for it. Having finally scrapped their promise to spend £28 billion on their Green investment plan, they still have a target to achieve net zero energy production by 2030 but have no idea how to implement it. Labour’s Pat McFadden recommitted to Labour’s 2030 energy target but he could not say how much it would cost or how they would pay for it because they don’t have a plan to pay for it or deliver it.  The Conservatives also plan to achieve zero carbon energy, our plan does it by 2035 and we do have measures in place to deliver it  but I would accept that, as independent observers have said, getting there by 2035 will be challenging. Labour is promising the far more challenging target of 2030 without having a clue how to deliver on that promise. So either the promise will be broken or there will be even higher taxes for hardworking families, taking us back to...

Today, the Conservatives are taking a ground-breaking step forward against the most prolific crime type in the UK with the launch of our National Campaign, Against Fraud, Stop! Think Fraud, to cut crime and protect families. Fraud accounts for around 40 per cent of all crime in the UK, impacting millions of victims both financially and emotionally.  That is why we are launching our new National Campaign, Against Fraud, Stop! With a new website providing vital guidance from leading counter fraud experts on how to spot fraud, stay safe and what to do if targeted, we are successfully turning the tide against fraudsters to protect everyone from the devastating financial and emotional impacts of fraud.  We’ve cut fraud by 13 per cent in England and Wales over the last year, the plan is working, but we must stick to it with Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives to continue reducing the number of victims of fraud, delivering on our promise of a brighter future. 

"I fear that Starmer will have the shortest-ever honeymoon as prime minister, and that the new government will become unpopular very quickly." John Rentoul,  Chief Political correspondent of  "The Independent," writing in that paper that in his view Labour is not ready for government and if Labour win the coming election things will go wrong for them very quickly. You can read the full article at: Will Keir Starmer enjoy the shortest ever honeymoon as prime minister? | The Independent . A couple of other extracts from the article : 'As a former Labour special adviser said to me, it is only now that the £28bn has been stood down that “people are talking about what it would have paid for – it got in the way of talking about what actually needs to be done with the money; it was classic big statism for the sake of it”. More worryingly, the retreat suggests that “Starmer needs to be biffed on the nose by a problem – see also gender self-ID – before he deals with it...

Two very different actors who had in common that both were much loved by their fans have passed away. Ian Lavender, who played Private Pike in "Dad's Army" and was the last surviving member of the main cast of the show, died on Friday at the age of 77. He was just 22 when he was cast for Dad's Army in 1969. I suspect most people will particularly remember his character because of the line, spoken by Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring, from a scene which also featured a brilliant performance by Philip Madoc as a Nazi U-boat commander,  "Don't, tell him, Pike!" Ian Lavender also acted in other TV comedies such as Yes Minister, and appeared on stage. He had a stint on EastEnders as Derek Harkinson, a role he reprised in 2016 for a festive storyline. From the other side of the pond, fans of "The Mandalorian" are mourning Carl Weathers, who plays the head bounty hunter turned magistrate and planetary leader, Greef Karga in the first three seasons...

 

"Tonight, the Oxford Union debated the motion "This House Does Not Know What Labour Stands For."   Past Union presidents include Michael Foot, Tony Benn & Tony Crosland, but despite inviting more than 50 Labour figures to oppose tonight's motion, not one agreed to do so." ( Michael Crick on X formerly twitter, in the early hours of this morning.) I looked up the debate, which took place on Saturday 10th February and is reported in the "Oxford Student." You can read the report at The Oxford Union does not know what Labour stands for – The Oxford Student When I read the report I wondered at first whether Michael Crick had got it wrong because the second sentence reads "The event featured prominent speakers from both the Conservative and the Labour parties, such as Joe Moore and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg." However, when you look at who the Labour speakers actually were, and with apologies to Joe Moore, who is the the political advisor to Labour D...

 

 

For anyone reading this who has not previously seen one of my posts on the subject, this is J.S. Bach's chorus "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (Wake, O Wake) from Cantata BWV 140. I call it "Not the Black Horse" because, like the music from Lloyds bank's old "Black Horse" commercials, this is a variation by Bach on the theme of "Wake O Wake." So it's a Bach variation on "Wachet Auf" - just not the Black Horse.

 

 

Out campaigning this afternoon and evening with  Robert Potts, the excellent Conservative candidate to be Durham's Police & Crime Commissioner . Some music to listen to on the way home!

 

Russia has banned a vocal opponent of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine from standing in a presidential election next month after he started gaining too much support. Russia’s Central Election Commission ruled that about 9,000 of the 100,000 supporting signatures Boris Nadezhdin submitted to get on the ballot were not legitimate and breached its rules. Yeah, right. (Irony alert.) Mr Nadezhdin, said that he would appeal to Russia’s Supreme Court to overturn the ruling. “We conducted the collection openly and honestly. The whole world watched the queues at our headquarters and collection points,” he said.  “You are not denying me, but tens of millions of people who hope for change.” The Kremlin wants to use the presidential election, scheduled for mid-March, to showcase ordinary Russians’ support for Mr Putin’s war in Ukraine and analysts suggested that the Putin regime had been wrong-footed by the show of support for Mr Nadezhdin. Russians are banned from protesting directly against t...

  The version of this madrigal which I posted yesterday was good: this one by the King's Singers is superb, and I thought it was worth putting this one up too.

I know I have posted other versions of this Purcell aria recently, but as it was snowing this morning in the Barnard Castle constituency where I was staying last night, and has been snowing most of today in Leeds, it just seems too appropriate not to use again.

 Grant Shapps: "We’re investing more than ever before with UK defence companies 🇬🇧 Growing local economies across the country and keeping the UK safe by harnessing the power of British manufacturing and innovation."

I was working at the time of Prime Ministers Questions yesterday, and did not see the of hear the exchange between the PM and Leader of the Opposition which has caused some controversy in context. I have read and heard various extracts put together by people with a particular spin - from both sides - on what happened. I can say only three things. First, whatever we may think of his criticisms of Sir Keir Starmer, I hope we can all agree Rishi Sunak was right to praise the “compassion and empathy” of Esther Ghey, mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, adding that he thought she “demonstrated the very best of humanity in the face of seeing the very worst of humanity”. Secondly, I agree with the comments of the MP for Bishop Auckland, Dehenna Davison, who tweeted that "The debate around trans issues often gets inflamed at the fringes. As politicians, it’s our job to take the heat out of such debates and focus on finding sensible ways forward, whilst ensuring those involved ar...

 

 

Claire Coutinho MP, secretary of state fr the Environment, commented: "The UK is the first major economy to halve emissions.  This is an enormous achievement by itself, but we have done so in a pragmatic way - growing our economy by 80% and protecting family finances at the same time." It is also worth pointing out that three-quarters of that reduction has come since 2010. Under the Conservatives, the UK has reduced emissions by 38%: two-thirds MORE than ANY other G20 country. ( Hat tip to Cllr Oliver Cooper, leader of the Conservatives on Three Rivers District Council. ) 

"Zero. Nothing. Precisely £0️⃣.    I won’t tax you for anything other than essential police and fire services.  No new tax. No expensive new bureaucracy.  👉 Read more about my pledge here: http://keane4mayor.co.uk/news ( Keane Duncan , Conservative candidate for Mayor of North Yorkshire)