Chris Whiteside's Blog

"Liberals are not the only ones who suffer from blurred vision. But we are especially prone to wishful thinking." Self-confessed liberal Alan Catzeflis in an article about the US election result which you can read  here. For the avoidance of doubt I have published this quote because I found Catzeflis's views interesting, not because it represents my own, There was an awful lot of wishful thinking from most of those people on all parts of the political spectrum who were hoping for a different result in that election. The word "liberal" should also be treated with great caution because it can mean diametrically opposite things on different sides of the Atlantic - in Britain to call someone an "economic liberal" usually means that they believe in free markets and a small state while in the USA it usually means the exact reverse. I do think that many people on what you might call the liberal left, on both sides of the Atlantic, are indeed especially prone

No party which suffered the sort of defeat the Conservatives went though earlier this year can afford to complacently assume that it is coasting back to power on the basis of a couple of polls with tiny leads, well within the margin of error - no matter how hard the new government is straining every sinew to make everyone who voted for them regret it and has notched up the largest and most catastrophic precipitous drop in support in polling history. Nevertheless, the first poll of Kemi Badenoch's leadership does show a lead over Labour. The Independent reports that "the Conservatives have taken a two-point poll lead over Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party in Kemi Badenoch’s first week as leader. The new Tory leader has taken the party to 29 per cent of the vote, according to pollsters More in Common, with Labour behind on just 27 per cent. It is the highest rating for the Conservatives since February. It marks a remarkable fall from grace for Labour, which in July was elected to

"This, then, is the time for European leaders to take responsibility for their own defence. Sir Keir Starmer should waste no time in announcing a major increase in defence spending. Last week’s Budget is already out of date. The idea that Britain’s armed forces should be further reduced is for the birds. At the very least, the Prime Minister should announce that the UK will immediately move to 2.5 per cent of GDP — a figure for which Rachel Reeves gave no firm timetable. Right now, Poland (a poorer country) is spending twice as much on defence as the Starmer government has even talked about. The Poles have the example of Winston Churchill to heart, while British politicians sound more like Neville Chamberlain. Sir Keir must move fast not only to reassure our Nato allies that Britain is standing firm, but that Ukraine too can count on increased military support. It is vital at this critical moment to send a clear signal to Moscow that the West is not falling apart. On the contrary,

I and many other people will be observing a two minute silence at 11am today in memory of those who have died in two world wars and all the other conflicts since. The main commemoration was of course yesterday, but at 11am today it will be exactly 106 years since the armistice which ended what was then known as the Great War came into effect.  

 

 

I have just taken part in a very well attended commemoration for Remembrance Sunday in the centre of Egremont. This is not a day for scoring political points: I discussed how well attended the commemoration was with one of the Labour councillors in Egremont and we were both pleased to see so many people old and young and from such a wide variety of community groups and backgrounds there. My wife and I will be attending another ceremony later today at Moor Row memorial at 1pm. We won't have to use the car to get to that one - it's 20 seconds walk from the front door of our flat! As a quote for today here is the Kohima epitaph:

Tomorrow, Armistice day 11th November at 11am, will be the 106th anniversary of the moment the guns finally fell silent at the end of the ghastly conflict which was known to the men and women of the generation who lived through it as the Great War, and to most more recent generations as the First World War. Today, the closest Sunday to that date, is Remembrance Sunday when we remember the victims who have died in wars.

 

 

 

 

 

What is it with Labour governments? The first thing they always do - is slam pensioners in the kidneys With Gordon Brown and Tony Blair it was a £5 billion a year raid on pension funds which, as was accurately described by the late Frank Field, one of the few Labour MPs I ever had any time for, transformed Britain from having some of the best-funded peNsions in Europe to one of the worst. With Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, it was adopting a policy on pensions which Labour themselves had argued in opposition would lead to 3,850 pensioner deaths each winter.   The second thing they always do  - is  bash the countryside With Tony Blair it was crippling policies on small farms combined with the ideological application of a rigid approach to country spots which showed a grave lack of understanding of the countryside. With Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, it's a tax and inheritance policy which appears guaranteed to result in the break-up or closure of hundreds of family-run fa

 

 

 

David Williams is political editor of the Sunday Express. Here are some extracts from his article today on the election of the new Conservative leader. "Britain’s most enthusiastic Tories this morning crowded into the elegant basement of a grand events venue around the corner from Trafalgar Square for the announcement of their new party leader. The venue – 8 Northumberland Avenue – says on its website that it strives to deliver “‘wow’ moments”. And the election of Kemi Badenoch as the new leader of the Conservative party counts as one. Her fans jumped to their feet and whooped when she was named as the winner by Bob Blackman, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs. The Tories have their fourth woman leader. And they will take delight in pointing out that Labour has yet to have one. As someone who spent much of her childhood in Nigeria, she delights in making the argument that Britain is a unique country that should be proud of its past and excited about its future. To

I was pleased to see that Kemi Badenoch, for whom I voted, has been elected Conservative leader. On a turnout of 72.% of eligible Conservative members she won by 53,806 votes to 43,801. Here is an extract from the statement by the returning officer:

"I don't want to repeat a budget like this ever again" Chancellor Rachel Reeves , quoted in the "i" newspaper Funnily enough, ten million pensioners and millions of taxpayers,  especially farmers and those running other businesses large or small,  don't want her to ever repeat a budget like this again either.

A BMG Research survey for i shows that just a quarter of the public feel positive about the Government’s first Budget this week, with 40 per cent disapproving of the package set out by Rachel Reeves. You can read the i report by clicking on the link just below:   Tories lead in polls for first time in three years after Budget . The poll also found that "Voters are much more likely to say that the measures announced by the Chancellor will leave them worse off, than say that they will benefit from the higher spending funded by tax rises and borrowing." Other findings included: Sir Keir Starmer’s personal ratings have suffered, reaching a new low of net -26, with only 23 per cent of the public approving of his performance in office compared with 49 per cent dissatisfied. This was also the first voting intention poll for three years to show a Conservative lead, although only by 1% which is within the statistical margin of error. Robert Struthers of BMG said:  “Our post-Budget pol