Chris Whiteside's Blog

"As Rosh Hashanah begins, I wish every Jewish family in Britain a sweet and peaceful new year. I know this past year has been hard in so many ways. Britain has become a more difficult place to be Jewish. I want you to know that I will always stand against antisemitism in all its forms. I have always admired the Jewish community’s determination to hold on to hope, even in difficult times. That optimism is at the heart of Rosh Hashanah. I share that hope, and I truly believe better days lie ahead. Shana Tova." (Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch )

On 11th September 2026 I had taken part of the day as annual leave so my wife and I could take our twin son and daughter, who were then infants, to the doctor's surgery in Jersey Farm for some of their routine injections. On our way out of the surgery my mobile phone rang. It was a colleague who had not realised why I was on annual leave and IIRC thought I might be in America, phoning to see if I was all right. There were a lot of confused messages being shared because "apparently a plane had hit a tower in New York." We went home and put the television on just in time to see the second airliner strike the South Tower of the World Trade centre - the aircraft my colleague had been referred to was the one which had previously hit the North tower. It was becoming clear that the USA had been attacked, and thousands of innocent people murdered, in an evil and truly atrocious act of terrorism. The innocent people who died, and especially those in the emergency services who died...

Congratulations to Cllr Graham Cone on a superb result last night to hold the Haverhill West ward in a by-election for West Suffolk Council.

 

 Alex Massie in The Times:

Just back from watching the film " Pressure, " which came out in cinemas today, It is about the decision on whether and when to launch the Normandy landings in 1944 and the pressure of responsibility both on General Eisenhower as the person who had to make the final call on whether to go ahead, and on the meteorologists who advised Eisenhower. Very entertaining and gripping film. A friend of mine has posted a review on a film and book review site which you can find by clicking on the link below: Instant film review: Pressure

This is what Labour chancellor Denis Healey said back in the days when Labour were a serious party: “Once we cut defence expenditure to the extent where our security is imperilled, we have no houses, we have no hospitals, we have no schools. We have a heap of cinders.” Compare and contrast with what our current Labour Prime Minister said today:

Just to demonstrate that Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives are not the only mainstream voices who are concerned about Labour's sanctions on Israel. I am very far from always agreeing with Liberal Democrats, but their Friends of Israel group has released a statement about Labour's sanctions which makes a lot of sense. For the avoidance of doubt, the statement below was released by Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, and I don't know whether it reflects official Lib/Dem party policy.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has an article in the Jewish Chronicle explaining why she disagrees with the Labour government's decision to ipose sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank. You can read the whole article at: Labour’s anti-Israel obsession shows it hasn’t changed since Jeremy Corbyn was leader - The Jewish Chronicle Here are some key extracts. "As British Jews prepare to celebrate the Jewish new year they face a chilling reality – the Labour government looks set to announce what effectively amounts to a boycott of the world's only Jewish state. For any observer of British politics, the normalisation of antisemitism has been one of the most disturbing trends in recent years. Gone are the days when antisemitism was pushed underground or confined to only the extremist fringes of our national debate. Britain’s Jewish communities are in a state of perpetual anxiety. Fences surround their schools, synagogues and cultural institutions to protect the...

In two days' time it will be twenty-five years since a gang of terrorist murderers hijacked four airliners, flying two of them into the twin towers of New York's World Trade centre, and crashing the third into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed, apparently as the passengers who had realised what was happening bravely tried to recapture it. As we approach the anniversary of that terrible day, we should remember all the thousands of innocent victims who died on that day, especially the brave emergency workers who gave their lives trying to save others, and the passengers on that fourth plane. This is what US President Bush had to say at a commemorative event at Ground Zero: "One of the worst days in America's history saw some of the bravest acts in Americans' history. We'll always honor the heroes of 9/11. And here at this hallowed place, we pledge that we will never forget their sacrifice." George W. Bush

By no means everything which UK foreign secretary Ed Miliband said today was wrong. He was right to condemn Hamas violence: he was right to condemn Settler violence: he was right to say that blaming British Jews for the actions of the Israeli government is anti-semitism. But as someone who supports a two-state solution, I have to say that the approach taken by the British government today is a wholly misguided way of trying to achieve that aim, and it will not work. Leaving aside the far from trivial practical difficulties such as trying to sanction products from West Bank settlements but not from Israel as a whole, this approach ignores the fact that there are two sides to the problem of trying to negotiate a two-state solution. It is not just Netanyahu and elements of his government which are currently opposed to the two-state solution: it is also many of the representatives on the Palestinian side. If you are trying to promote a particular approach, I have my doubts about trying to ...

Kemi Badenoch on the UK government's sanctions against businesses in the occupied territories announced today. "Labour’s obsession with Israel is rooted in UK politics. It’s got less to do with peace in the Middle East, and more to do with trying to keep the peace in the Labour party. British Jews should not have to watch politicians condemn antisemitism while refusing to confront the ideological movements that spread it. They should not have to listen to warm words from Downing Street while seeing Israel relentlessly presented as an international pariah. And everyone in Britain should care. Because this is about something larger than Israel. We cannot have a government whose political inclination at every point is to surrender, whether it is on Chagos, or at Villa Park. The government should spend less time pandering to its partisan base and more time fixing our broken economy and getting this country back on track. Stop allowing factional and electoral pressures to determine...

 

This is the last in my series of Music spots devoted to British born composers who were composing between the death of Henry Purcell in 1695 and the rise of Elgar which I count as being from the publication date of his first published composition, which was 1899. Sir George Alexander Macfarren was born in London on 2 March 1813. His overture "Chevy Chace" was performed on 26 October 1843 by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn had heard it performed in London and wrote to the composer that he "liked it very much". After the Leipzig concert Mendelssohn wrote again to say "Your overture went very well, and was most cordially and unanimously received by the public, the orchestra playing it with true delight and enthusiasm". Richard Wagner also admired the peculiar and wildly passionate character of the piece. Macfarren was knighted in 1883. Here is his overture to "She stoops to conquer" I have been putting ...

"Twice in my time as Prime Minister we have had to send our forces across the world to defend a small country against ruthless aggression: first to our own people in the Falklands and now to the borders of Kuwait. To those who have never had to take such decisions, I say that they are taken with a heavy heart and in the knowledge of the manifold dangers, but with tremendous pride in the professionalism and courage of our armed forces. There is something else which one feels. That is a sense of this country's destiny: the centuries of history and experience which ensure that, when principles have to be defended, when good has to be upheld, and when evil has to be overcome, Britain will take up arms. It is because we on this side have never flinched from difficult decisions that this House and this country can have confidence in this Government today." Margaret Thatcher's closing words in her last major speech to the House of Commons as Prime Minister, delivered on 22 ...

Jonathan Battishill was born in London in 1738 (e.g. 43 ears after the death of Henry Purcell and about 150 years before the rise of Elgar). Beginning at the age of nine, he sang as a chorister at St. Paul's Cathedral initially under the direction of composer Charles King. After his voice broke he studied organ, music composition, and singing under William Savage, almoner and master of the choristers. He became a highly skilled organist and was particularly talented at extempore playing; a skill that soon attracted attention and led to his appointment as William Boyce's deputy at the Chapel Royal. While serving as conductor and harpsichordist at the Covent Garden theatre, he composed incidental songs and choruses for plays and pantomime music for both Covent Garden and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. In 1758 he became a member of the Madrigal Society and in 1761 a member of the Royal Society of Musicians.  Most of Battishill's compositions date from the period 1760–1775, and...

A survey for YouGov finds that British voters now back Kemi Badenoch to be a more suitable prime minister than Nigel Farage by a 29 point margin, having been near-divided on the two leaders this time last year. Badenoch: 45% (+24 from Aug 2025) Farage: 16% (-7) This includes a 54 point net change among 2024 Conservatives and also show that 23% of 2024 Reform voters now prefer Badenoch to Farage.

"I’ve used this line many times, but one of the best Spads I’ve worked with used to tell his ministers: ‘ If you don’t want to read about it on the front page of the Daily Mail, don’t do it.’ " Tim Shipman , from an article in The Spectator about Reform UK's current funding woes. There are some other very good lines in the article including the following: "Deputy heads have rolled. Reform UK, in the person of chairman Lee Anderson, announced this morning that Dan Jukes, Nigel Farage’s right hand man, and James Orr, the party’s head of strategy, have stood down and abandoned the party conference. ‘They have left the building and they won’t be coming back,’ Anderson said." "Footage screened by Channel 4 on Thursday night showed Jukes appearing to suggest a way to get around electoral law to secure a foreign donation of £500,000. A reporter posed as a UK-based son of an American father, who was to give money to the son to give to Reform after being wooed by bo...

Thomas Erskine was born in Edinburgh in 1732 (37 years after the death of Henry Purcell) and ws the eldest son and heir of the 5th Earl of Kellie, who was improsoned for a time for supporting the Jacobites in the 1745 rebellion. Many aristocrats of the 18th century were patrons to the greatest musicians of the age - but Thomas Erskine, also known as  Viscount Fentoun and Lord Pittenweem until he inherited his father's earldom in 1756 as 6th Earl of Kellie, went one better and become one of them. By all accounts he was a superlative violinist and was sometimes known in Scotland by the nickname "Fiddler Tam". He also became a composer and began propagating the modern Mannheim style, of which he was to become widely acknowledged as the leading British exponent. Six of his three-movement "Overtures" (Symphonies) were published in Edinburgh in 1761. James Boswell took him on a visit to Lord Eglinton's in London, where the overture the Earl composed for the popula...

"If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing." ( Margaret Thatcher )

Charles Avison was an English composer born in Newcastle in 1709 (e.g. 14 years after the death of Henry Purcell) He was a church organist at St John The Baptist Church in Newcastle and at St Nicholas's Church (later Newcastle Cathedral). Although he spent most of his life in Newcastle he both studied and performed in London and elsewhere and became famous far beyond his native region of North-East England.  His works were disseminated widely and he received offers of employment not just in the capital, but also in York, Dublin, and Edinburgh. He is best known today for composing twelve Concerti Grossi, of which this is the fifth, and for his Essay on Musical Expression, which is often described as the first music criticism published in English.

General David Petraeus,  a retired US Army general who was also Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2011 until November 2012. He recently had this to say about Britain and Ukraine. "Britain's response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine provides particularly powerful example. From late 2021 onward, UK demonstrated strategic clarity. Your leaders publicly recognized the nature of Russian threat earlier than most, provided military assistance before and after the invasion, expanded intelligence support, imposed sanctions, trained Ukrainian forces, and consistently demonstrated leadership, even as others, including my country [the US] at times, hesitated. Your Prime Minister was also the first major Western leader to visit Kyiv after the invasion, and despite changes of government and significant challenges at home, Britain has maintained remarkable continuity in recognizing both the threat posed by Russia and the imperative of sustained support for ...

"The whole " but you were in government for 14 years " argument - when used to dismiss any change of policy by the Conservatives or to close down debate about what should happen next - is intellectually absurd. By that same logic Margaret Thatcher, Keith Joseph and Geoffrey Howe should have been ignored between 1975-79 because they all served under Ted Heath. They had four years in government that gave Britain the Barber boom, statutory wage and price controls, the miners’ strike in 1972 and the Three-Day Week.  Yet the whole significance of Thatcherism was that the Conservatives learnt from the failure of the policies and assumptions they had previously accepted.  Political parties are supposed to learn from failure, not remain permanently imprisoned by it.  The test is not whether Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives have changed their minds. It is whether their new diagnosis is correct and the policies they put forward are capable of addressing the problems they have ide...

The author and Oxford Don J.R.R. Tolkien, creator of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings," died on this day in 1973. He was once asked, I believe by a prospective German publisher, about his ancestry and whether he was " arisch " and he took this, almost certainly correctly, to mean that they were asking whether he was Jewish. His response, published in "The letters of J.R.R. Tolkien" and posted on X today, must be one of the most effective squelches in literary history.   

John Stanley was born in London on 17 January 1712, seventeen years after the death of Henry Purcell. At about the age of two, he fell on a marble hearth with a china basin in his hand, causing injuries  which left him almost completely blind. He began studying music at the age of seven. Under the guidance of Maurice Greene, composer and organist at St. Paul's Cathedral, he studied " with great diligence, and a success that was astonishing. "   From the age of nine he played the organ, probably as an occasional deputy, at All Hallows, Bread Street. When he was eleven years old, Stanley was appointed organist to the church at a salary of £20 per annum. When he was fourteen, and apparently " in preference to a great number of candidates, " he was chosen as organist at the church of St Andrew, Holborn, and at the age of seventeen he became the youngest person ever to obtain a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Oxford. Though almost blind, Stanley had a...