Chris Whiteside's Blog

Lamorna Ash has written a book called "Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever: A New Generation’s Search for Religion." Extracts from it appear in today's Observer and on the Guardian website with the title Could I become a Christian in a year? | Religion | The Guardian (Click on the title/link above to read the whole article.) When I saw the title I was reminded of the famous, quote in “Epitaph for a Man Killed by Falling” by William Camden (1551–1623), popularised in the 20th century in Graham Greene's novel, "Brighton Rock," suggesting that it is possible to turn to Jesus for mercy in the last second of life:    Larnorna Ash's spiritual journey as described in the book and article started, quote, " in the most earthbound, airless way. I was at my desk in a bedroom overlooking the hardscrabble surrounds of Harringay station in north London.  It was early 2021, so there was nowhere else to be. All I wanted was something to write about. In my notebook wer...

The origin of this anthem as I was told the story is that Samuel Sebastian Wesley wrote this lovely piece while he was organist of Hereford Cathedral. This was at a time when cathedral choirs were at "a very low ebb" and it was written for an Easter day service at which only three trebles and the Dean's butler, who sang bass, were available.  Wesley was a genius and the anthem would undoubtedly work for four such voices, but I prefer it with a full choir, as performed here by the choir of St Paul's cathedral or as I heard it sung this morning by the choir of Selby Abbey.  

Wishing all Christians in the UK and everywhere - and anyone else reading this and celebrating this great festival - a happy and peaceful Easter.

One of the reasons, opinion polls suggest, that the Conservatives were in office from 2010 to 2024 was that for fourteen years the party maintained a lead as the party most trusted to manage the economy. One of the factors in Labour taking over last year was that they took over, and held for two eyras until now, a lead on this issue. Labour has now lost that lead. Britain Elects has an interesting article - well, interesting to political anoraks like me, anyway - on the subject, written by Ben Walker, which you should be able to get to by clicking on the link below:   Labour loses its lead on the economy - by Ben Walker Some extracts: "Today Britain Elects is launching a new poll tracker. Who of the two main parties does the country trust most to manage the economy? Because a hard-won perception of competence on this issue has, it seems, been blown away by a series of communications failures and policy decisions." "There can be no doubt the comms of this new Labour gover...

Out today in Kingsley with a great team, campaigning for Sean Houlston, the excellent Conservative candidate in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election  (front and centre in the photo below.) Sean Houlston | Conservatives Note also the line up of three North West Region Conservative chairs on the right of the picture - myself on the right, my successor and the present regional chair Amelia McCourty to my immediate left (front row) in the picture, and my predecessor and the current Chairman of the National Conservative Convention Michael Winstanley left of Amelia (also front row).

"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain)

 

 

 

Dawn Butler, the Labour MP for Brent, had once posted that "A child is born without a sex." Simon Myerson KC posted in response on X, "Some MPs are born without a brain."

"Greater Love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends ." The Bible - Gospel according to John, Chapter 15, Verse 13.

As per my quote of the day, there are a lot of people who are amazed that it took the Supreme Court to settle the question of what is a woman. But there is a reason why so many people have been equivocating over this for a decade. We need to strike the balance which protects and ensures respect for trans people without jeopardising, or indeed completely dismantling, freedoms and protections for which women have been fighting for centuries. As Professor Cass pointed out in her review, it is most unfortunate that this debate has become so toxic. It cannot be right that anyone who wants to ensure that there are effective measures in place to protect women from sexual predators is at risk of being labelled a transphobe or "TERF" who hates trans people and can be demonised. Nor is it right that anyone who wants to see trans people treated decently is in danger of being accused of wanting to abolish rights and protection for women. There are a small number of extremists and hardlin...

The Cumbria Chronic has this take on yesterday's Supreme Court ruling: "A court — yes, a court, not a laboratory, not a womb, not a medical professional — has finally been forced to define what a “biological woman” is. This was British politics at peak madness. This is not science anymore. This is law. This is a shotgun wedding between Kafka and Darwin, officiated by Judge Lord Hodge in a wig made of taxpayer despair." You can read their view of the court ruling in full HERE .

Out campaigning for Jeff Hailes in Egremont South today. Here's a little something for anyone who has been out on the stump to relax to.

The national officers of the Conservative party's voluntary wing have send a warning to all association officers and encouraged wider circulation. A number of Conservative party members have received what purports to be an invitation to join a Conservative party call this evening (16th April 2025) There is no such call and the invitation is fraudulent. It is an example of a "phishing" scam. Anyone who complies with the instructions in the invitation is at risk of finding their phone has been hacked. Never enter a security number when one is asked for unexpectedly.

"Currently got people messaging claiming fond memories of "Measles parties".  In the three decades prior to the introduction of the vaccine the NHS recorded 11 million cases, and 7,800 deaths.  In the three decades following its introduction the NHS recorded 2.5 million cases and 464 deaths.  In the last three decades the NHS recorded 76,000 cases and 37 deaths." ( Dan Hodges on X, formerly Twitter.)

Mike Starkie, former Mayor of Copeland, has released the following statement today. "How ironic that a matter of a few weeks after the Labour Government finally took the idiotic decision to not allow the West Cumbria Mine, the demand for coal is hitting the headlines.  The West Cumbria Mine should have by now been constructed and fully operational after being granted planning permission six years ago.  A mixture of the inept handling of the application and in many instances deliberate obstruction by the Labour led Cumbria County Council along with the eco lobbyists resulted in the whole process becoming protracted until the new Labour Government and their suicidal net zero nonsense killed off the project, to pursue Ed Miliband's mad green agenda. We have this week witnessed the Labour Party in a last-minute scramble to save British Steel at Scunthorpe and having to ship coal in to keep the furnaces going from halfway around the World (without it seems any consideration of the ...

 Not often I quote a President of Argentina, but ...

 

 Cumbria Chronic has a devastating column on the betrayal of Britain's steel industry  here . It includes this description of Sir Keir Starmer "Keir Starmer is the political equivalent of a beige electric Volvo —technically moving, but only because the Earth spins beneath him. A former head of the Crown Prosecution Service – it shows. He has all the charisma of a damp sponge and the revolutionary fervour of a Tax return. His eyes bear the scared, hunted look of a man working on the rebuttal to a question that no-one has asked yet. He approaches life like a risk assessment seminar at a lifeguard convention. This is a man who could witness the collapse of the country under his watch and respond with a strongly worded memo and a lukewarm promise to launch a “review”. His soul hums at the frequency of a malfunctioning printer. If Tony Blair was New Labour’s used-car salesman, Starmer is the warranty department. Dull, legally extremely dangerous, and thoroughly incapable of any joy...

Election Maps UK have published their latest aggregate results of the 230 Council By-Elections (for 235 Seats) since the 2024 General Election: Labour was defending almost half of those seats - 116 out of 235 - and won the largest number, 74, but they had a net loss of 42 seats, more than a third of the number of seats they were defending. The Lib Dems were defending the second largest number of seats, 46, and also won 46 seats, so zero net gains or losses. The Conservatives were defending 37 seats and won a total of 61, which means a net gain of 24 seats: the largest net gain of any party, and more gains than all other parties gaining seats put together. Reform won 14 seats coming from no seats defended, so a net gain of 14 seats. Both legacy and social media have generally made vastly more fuss about 14 seats won by Reform than about any of the other 216 by-election results. And let's be honest winning 14 seats from nowhere is a significant achievement. However, but anyone who im...

Also sung this morning at Selby Abbey.

 

"Wishing Jews in the UK and around the world a peaceful Passover. As we reflect on the message of freedom of the holiday, we stand with those still waiting for theirs. The hostages must be brought home. Chag Pesach Sameach." Kemi Badenoch