Chris Whiteside's Blog

Journalist Stephen Pollard has published on X here and in the Spectator  here a response to the smears which Reform UK has been putting round against Kemi Badenoch. I think it is worth republishing here. Zia Yusuf’s attack on Kemi Badenoch shows he is a hypocrite I’m usually resistant to the sentiment behind one of the oldest political jokes: How can you tell when a politician is lying? His lips move. In my experience – I’ve been in and around Westminster for nearly four decades – most politicians might have large egos but they are genuinely trying to do their best for their country. The idea that all politicians lie with impunity is corrosive and wrong. But it’s not always easy to make that case. And the wilful, brazen smearing of Kemi Badenoch by Reform over her reaction to the murder of Henry Nowak is one such example of that difficulty. Yusuf’s hypocrisy would be laughable if the issue at the heart of all this – the murder of a young man – was not so tragic Speaking on yester...

"I don’t want to hear about Black Lives Matter. I don’t want to hear about White Lives Matter. Everyone matters. Henry Nowak matters." Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch

On my return from Barrow (see previous post) I attended the annual meeting which Egremont Town Council, like all Town and Parish councils, is required to hold each year for members of the public to ask questions of the council. The meeting was held in Egremont Market Hall at 5.30pm this evening. It was not well attended though we did have some useful discussion about the council's Safeguarding policy and a few other issues. The chairman of the Town Council made a report which will be placed on the Town Council website.

Out today in Barrow campaigning in a council by-election. Had a friendly reception on the doorstep but what really struck me was the extent to which far more people were wiling to say who they certainly would not be voting for than who they were.  There was plenty of support for Marco, the Conservative candidate, but I was struck by how many people (including previous lifelong Labour voters) told me they would absolutely not be voting Labour. I also met more voters who told me they certainly would not be voting Reform.than I did who were certain they were going to vote for that party. Though FWIW I think the by-election is a close race between the Conservatives and Reform UK. More on this to follow In the meantime, some music to relax after campaigning: the award winning theme m usic from Sid Meier's Civilisation IV, "Baba Yetu" by Christopher Tin. (The lyrics are the Lord's Prayer in Swahili)  

Look what Labour's Welfare secretary admitted in one of the documents released yesterday following the Mandelson investigation:  

Gilbert & Sullivan's wonderful song in which the first Lord of the Admiralty seeking the hand of a captain's daughter, has no idea how forcefully his arguments plead the cause of his rival for her hand, a common seaman ...

On this day, the First of June, in 1794 the British and French fleets met in battle. Here are three of the most beautiful of the many pictures which have been created to capture what become known in Britain as "The Glorious First of June."  What was particularly unusual about this battle is that both sides succeeded in the object for which they fought. The objective of the French fleet was to get a grain convoy through to France, which they succeeded in doing, the objective of the Royal Navy was to inflict serious damage on the French fleet, which they also succeeded in doing. Here are three depictions of the event, painted respectively by Derek Gardner, Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg, and John Bentham-Dinsdale.

 

 

🚨 NEW Westminster Voting Intention Conservative: 21% (+1) Reform UK: 21% (-) Labour: 19% (+1) Green: 18% (-2) Lib/Dem: 11% (-) Via Lord Ashcroft Polls @LordAPolls Fieldwork, 21-26 May (+/- vs 27 Apr)

 

 

Out this evening in Hawcoats with our excellent candidate for a council by-election. More details coming shortly. And to relax after getting home, Elizabethan Serenade by Ronald Binge.(Paintings by Vladimir Volegov)

 

 Westminster Voting Intention: Reform:                          24% (-1) Conservative:               19% (+1) Labour:                           17% (=) Green:                             16% (+1) Lib/Dem:                         14% (=) Restore:                             3% (-1) SNP:                                    3% (=) Via @YouGov, 25-26 May. Changes wrt 17-18 May.

 

 

The new Star wars film, "The Mandalorian and Grogu" brought the characters from the streaming show "The Mandalorian" to the big screen today as it was released in cinemas. Here is the theme music: And here is a link to a review: Instant review of "The Mandalorian and Groghu

On the government's decision to allow the purchase of Russian oil refined in third countries: General Lord Richard Dannatt, the former head of the Army: “ This is a morally bankrupt move by a Government focused much more on short-term popularity and not on issues of greater significance, namely the lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.  Shameful is the word that comes to mind. ” Phil Ingram, a former colonel in Army intelligence, accused Labour of “ playing politics with people’s lives ” and said the move was an “immoral” and “ sickening act ”. Come on Starmer, you've U-turned on everything else, another urgent U-turn needed on this one.

Congratulations to councillor Adam Brierley and his team on this fantastic result: Votes cast: Con 1,185    60% (+33%) Ref 534        27% (+27%) Lab 129          7% (-13%) Lib 107           5% (+5%) Conservative GAIN from Independent (No independent candidate this time)

 Send Keir Starmer a message.  Sign our petition to Get Britain Drilling ⬇️ You can sign our petition at: Back British Oil

The following passage was being shared on X today. The people who posted it said it was a quote from  Woody Allen. I have not been able to verify whether this quote really comes from him, but whoever wrote it, I am republishing it because it is powerful. "I always thought the biggest advantage of New York was that you could be neurotic and nobody noticed. In other cities, they send you to the doctor if you talk to yourself. In Manhattan, they offer you a column in a magazine for it. Yesterday I went out to buy salmon. By the way, it's the only stable Jewish tradition that's survived Babylon, Rome, and my relationships with women. I was walking through Brooklyn thinking about death. Not because I'm a philosopher. But because I'm already over ninety, though originally I'd planned to make it to seventy at most. And suddenly—a crowd in front of a synagogue. At first I thought a famous psychoanalyst was performing there. In New York, people line up for hours to hear...

 Kemi Badenoch has set out the Conservative policy agenda to put Britain back on track:

 

I see that my friend Michael Winstanley, a former Mayor of Wigan who was my immediate predecessor as Chairman of the Conservative Party in the North West, has been adopted as the Conservative candidate in Makerfield. Michael is a really nice guy, a loyal friend, a man of great integrity, and would be an excellent MP for Makerfield,

  As Kemi Badenoch put it, "After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries. Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences. We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea. Insane."