Chris Whiteside's Blog

 

According to a survey by polling agency Find Out Now, for the Daily Mail, voters overwhelmingly support Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch's promise not to make a pact with Reform UK. In a survey of 1,049 nationally-representative respondents, when asked whether the Conservatives and Reform parties should agree a deal, 22% of those who answered said yes against 78% saying no. 60% of those respondents planning to vote Conservative and 52% of those planning to vote Reform were opposed to a deal. The survey also showed Kemi Badenoch leading Nigel Farage on who is more effective at holding the government to account and on who is trusted more on managing the economy.     

This is what happens when socialists who don't understand the market try to control prices:

"Sir John Major makes the essential point. Parents who send children to private school save the state money.  Labour’s tax on them has failed. Now the state has 2,000 fewer teachers than when Conservatives left office. So we will reverse this futile, vindictive policy." Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch , responding to a speech by former Prime Minister Sir John Major, of which you can see some of the relevant part at: Kemi Badenoch on X: "Sir John Major makes the essential point. Parents who send children to private school save the state money. Labour’s tax on them has failed. Now the state has 2,000 fewer teachers than when Conservatives left office. So we will reverse this futile, vindictive policy. https://t.co/TzwM1n68Vb" / X

 JUST ANNOUNCED: Local businessman and councillor Phil Eckersley selected as Conservative candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Yes, I know, I posted another version of the same piece a fortnight ago, but this is sung by a different choir and I thought it was interesting to compare the two performances.

 

Today is Armed Forces day. Thank you to all Britain's Armed Forces for everything you do to protect our country.

 

Congratulations to Councillor George Braeckman who has taken a ward, Stort Valley on Uttlesford council,  the Lib Dems had held since 1995.  George is 22 years old - it's always fantastic to see young people taking an active interest in politics - obviously I'm particularly pleased if they are Conservatives but it is a good thing for your people to get involved in any mainstream political party. Also worth pointing out that the seat George won yesterday had been Lib/Dem since before he was born! In one fell swoop George has ended 3 decades of Lib Dem control and put Reform in third place. Results were: 🌳 CONSERVATIVE: 46.4% (+18.7) 🔶 LIBERAL DEMOCRAT: 31.9% (-25.8) ➡️ REFORM UK: 21.7% (+16.0) No LAB (-9.0) as previous. Conservative GAIN from Liberal Democrat. Changes with respect to 2023. CONGRATULATIONS ALSO TO COUNCILLOR LINDA SILVER on gaining the Bushey park ward from the Lib/Dems, and this was an even more significant gain because it means hat the Lib-Dem / Labour coali...

Responding to statements that a senior figure in the Labour party, quote, " Even describes Burnham as Labour's 'first woman Prime Minister, '" Kemi Badenoch tweeted: "Labour might have changed leader, but they still don’t know what a woman is 😅"

"Starmer's government is full of incredible stories of social mobility, of which they are all extremely proud. None of them seem to have noticed that they all grew up under Margaret Thatcher." ( Tom Peck )

"Nigel Farage does not have enough serious candidates. Many of the people he has recruited would struggle to pass the standards of someone appointed to run the village fete, let alone govern a country." Kemi Badenoch.

“ This application is legally flawed, evidentially deficient, and procedurally defective. It constitutes an abuse of the process of this court, driven by an improper motive and facilitated by serious breaches of the duty of candor. The application for a summons is refused. ” With the above words Judge Goldspring rejected an attempt by Pro-Palestinian activists to bring a private prosecution against a man with joint British and Israeli citizenship who had been conscripted into the IDF and been called up as an ID reservist. As all Israeli citizens are conscripted into the IDF, and there was no evidence that the person concerned had actually committed any war crimes, this effectively amounted to an attempt to criminalise him for being a citizen of Israel. Looks like Judge Goldspring didn't think the application aligned very well with the law or was very truthful, either.

The satirical website NewsThump has a piece supposedly by Andy Burnham on why he has chaned his mind about having a general election when the PM changes ... You can read it at Why I’ve changed my mind about having general elections when Prime Ministers resign, now that I’m next in line – by Andy Burnham – NewsThump but here are some extracts: " Why I’ve changed my mind about having general elections when Prime Ministers resign, now that I’m next in line " – by Andy Burnham Back in October 2022, when Liz Truss resigned after roughly the shelf-life of an avocado, I joined many sensible people in calling for an immediate general election. In fact, I was so convinced that the British public deserved a say in who governed them that I even tweeted “ #GeneralElectionNow ” . A bold stance, and one I stand by completely. Well, mostly. Obviously, circumstances have changed. Specifically, the circumstances have changed to me being the person who is about to become Prime Minister. When I...

I think quotes from trade union leaders here have been less common than from Labour MPs but here is a good one. Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, Britain’s biggest trade union:  “It is no secret that I disagree with Ed Miliband on almost every issue relating to a workers’ transition. Ed only seems to be interested in one side of the equation, rushing Britain to net zero with almost no thought for jobs, skills and national security.”  Hat tip to Andrew Neil who added, " I couldn't put it better myself. "

Sir Keir Starmer has resigned as leader of the Labour party and will step down as Prime Minister when his replacement in that post is elected.

Two years ago today, during the 2024 election campaign, journalist Michael Crick posted this on X: "In two to three years time, when Starmer and his government are no doubt deeply unpopular, I hope we in the media will ask ourselves:  " Why were we so supine during the long 2024 election; why didn't we hold Labour properly to account while we could, and ask more probing questions, and explore their records, rather than give them such an easy ride? ". Michael Crick on X: "In two to three years time, when Starmer and his government are no doubt deeply unpopular, I hope we in the media will ask ourselves: "Why were we so supine during the long 2024 election; why didn't we hold Labour properly to account while we could, and ask more probing" / X Well, there was a tweet that aged well. I don't always agree with Michael Crick but I have a huge amount of respect for him, because he really does try to hold all parties to account and they are all terrif...

 'Reform are economic fantasists - the numbers never add up. They had £140 billion worth of unfunded commitments and tax cuts. The numbers do not add up and, seemingly, they do not seem to care about that. They just simply think that if you go out and promise the Earth to everybody, somehow that is going to be enough - well, it isn't responsible.' Mel Stride , Shadow Chancellor

"Voters are not ours to trade like football cards" Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch in the Mail on Sunday today, from an article ruling out any pact between the Conservatives and Farage's Reform UK. A fuller version of the quote: "Farage may be trying to unite the right. I am trying to unite the country." "If you want lower taxes, you cannot vote for a party that keeps finding new ways to spend money it does not have. Reform UK dress like Thatcherites but act like Corbynites. Reform is not like the Conservative party. At all. We are not the same, and voters are not ours to swap ike football cards." She added "I know that Reform has tapped into the country's anger. But it is easy to promise everything. It is easy to blame everyone else, as Starmer did. It is easy to shout abut betrayal, easy to offer unfunded giveaways and move on before anyone asks how the numbers add up. Winning elections may be about popularity, but government is different. Government ...

 

No apologies for posting again the so-called "Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor for Strings" as I do like this performance of it. As I have previously posted, most if not all of this piece was actually composed by 20th century Italian composer and biographer Remo Giazotto who claimed to have based it on a fragment he allegedly found in the ruins of a library wrecked during the RAF and USAF bombing of Dresden, of a piece he thought had been composed by the the 18th-century Venetian master Tomaso Albinoni.  The library which was destroyed in the 1945 Dresden bombing raids did indeed contain a substantial and irreplaceable collection of Albinoni's work and it is, sadly, almost certainly true that much of the composer's work was lost forever to allied bombs.  However, it is more than a little suspicious that neither Giazotto (who died in 1998) or his heirs have ever produced the manuscript fragment supposedly recovered from the museum, and sceptics have described the claim...

Kemi Badenoch posted today: " While the Press will be focused on the battle for the Labour leadership and Conservatives celebrating our win in Aberdeen, there are two people I want to pay tribute to. The first is Michael Winstanley @Winstamike who was an excellent candidate for us in Makerfield. He represented our party with grace, dignity and competence. The result was no reflection on him but on the circumstances of a peculiar by-election where the question was not “who would be the best representative?” but “should Andy Burnham challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership?” The second is Jack Cruickshanks @j_cruickshanks whose valiant efforts in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry took us from 3rd behind Labour to 2nd place, increasing the Conservative vote share. By-elections can be more intense than general elections because of the focus and scrutiny.  I am proud of all our Conservative candidates this morning.  Part of a strong, united team. " Kemi also published this let...