Chris Whiteside's Blog

"Spending five years 'searching for work' isn't a safety net, it's a lifestyle choice. The best form of welfare is a well-paid job." "Welfare should be a safety net for those in genuine need. It is not meant to be a comfortable option for people who can work." "If you can work, you should. We must not borrow from our children to support people who refuse to work. That’s why we’ve announced a plan for a fairer welfare system: six months on Universal Credit to find work. After that, what you receive depends on what you’ve paid in." Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, leader of the Conservative party, Newspaper article headline and posts on X You can read her article at: KEMI BADENOCH: Spending five years 'searching for work' isn't a safety net, it's a lifestyle choice. The best form of welfare is a well-paid job | Daily Mail Online

"Regarding plagiarism. Years ago, a student brought me her bachelor's thesis. After reading it, I realized that the second chapter was my academic article. At the next seminar, the following dialogue took place: - The work is excellent. - Thank you. - But I found one flaw in it. - What? - The second chapter is of my authorship. It's my academic article. - Oh dear ... - Truth be told, I haven't yet seen a student who plagiarized from their own supervisor. - I'm sorry, I didn't tell the person writing this work who my supervisor is. I fell off my chair." Posted today on X by Adam Wielomski (2) Adam Wielomski - polityczny sceptyk on X: "A propos plagiatów. Lata temu studentka przyniosła mi swoją pracę licencjacką. Po przeczytaniu stwierdziłem, że drugi rozdział to mój artykuł naukowy. Na kolejnym seminarium miał miejsce taki dialog: - Praca jest znakomita. - Dziękuję. - Lecz znalazłem w niej jeden mankament. -" / X

"We used to think that you could spend your way out of a recession and increase employment by cutting taxes and boosting government spending. I tell you in all candour that that option no longer exists, and in so far as it ever did exist, it only worked on each occasion since the war by injecting a bigger dose of inflation into the economy, followed by a higher level of unemployment as the next step.  Higher inflation followed by higher unemployment. We have just escaped from the highest rate of inflation this country has known; we have not yet escaped from the consequences: high unemployment. That is the history of the last twenty years." Rt Hon James Callaghan , Labour Prime Minister, Labour conference 1976. Truer words were never spoken by a Labour Prime Minister - and not many truer words were ever spoken by anybody.

"I think my algorithm has decided I don't need Ed Davey in my life because he just has not come across my screens at all" Comment by a London voter called "Hannah" to a "More in Common" focus group, quoted in a piece in "The Economist" called " The Liberal Democrats are Britain's pointless party. " After a brief period of relevance which roughly coincided with Nick Clegg's leadership, the Lib/Dems do indeed appear to have become astonishingly irrelevant and pointless for a party with 73 MPs in parliament. A little concerned however, that this is being seen as the result of a computer algorithm. One would like to think voters would have some agency in the matter. 

Three Conservative wins in by elections yesterday, a gain from the Green party on Cotswolds District Council and seats held on South Staffordshire council and on Windsor and Maidenhead council.

 

Thanks to Neil Stone for drawing my attention to one of the best posts ever put up on X:

"When truth becomes offensive, lies become comfortable."  Thomas Sowell  

This is what the UK had to say in response to the Argentine government's ridiculous posturing at the United Nations about the Falkland Islands.

 "Anyone willing to trust Putin is either an idiot or complicit in his crimes. Possibly both." Gary Kasparov on X, formerly Twitter. Garry Kasparov on X: "Anyone willing to trust Putin is either an idiot or complicit in his crimes. Possibly both." / X

"I don’t pretend debt is just the fault of the current government, but they are unquestionably making it worse. The next generation will pay the price. There’s only one way out of this crisis - a government willing to make tough choices and get Britain’s finances under control." Andrew Griffith MP Shadow Chancellor

J.S. Bach took Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto for four violins, which provided yesterday's music spot, and tranposed it for four harpsichords. Here is the Bach music as performed with two of the harpsichord parts actually played on that instrument, and the other two on pianos.

 

 

 Conservatives will always be on the side of British Business.

 

 Quote by former PM Rishi Sunak in tomorrow's Sunday Times:

Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5      Allegro  Affettuoso  Allegro Performed by the New York Baroque Incorporated Harpsichord: John Scott Violin Solo: Owen Dalby Flute: Emi Ferguson Violin Tutti: Katie Hyun Viola: Bryony Gibson-Cornish Cello: Ezra Seltzer Bass: Wen Yang

Congratulations to Councillor James Poland on gaining the Wreake Valley ward in Charnwood from the Greens  Wreake Valley (Charnwood) Council By-Election Result: 🌳 CON: 48.2% (+8.0) ➡️ RFM: 31.2% (New) 🌍 GRN: 16.4% (-34.3) 🌹 LAB: 3.1% (-6.0) 🔶 LDM: 1.1% (New) Conservative GAIN from Green. Changes w/ 2023.

"Macron and Tusk are speaking and acting with an urgency that makes the latest reports about Russia violating Lithuanian airspace even more concerning. It is not clear that the Government is taking the threat from Russia seriously enough. Its own intelligence assessment says an attack on NATO could come by 2030, while repeated smaller-scale incursions are already taking place.  It comes only weeks after CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow, reportedly to warn Russia against attacking a NATO member. Our European allies are responding with growing urgency, yet the Government still will not say what it intends to do on defence. The NATO Secretary General was in Britain only yesterday calling for that path to be set out, and I agree with him. The Conservatives set out two weeks ago both our route to higher defence spending at 3% of GDP and how we would pay for it. The Government should now explain what it knows about the escalations in Eastern Europe, how it...

Kemi Badenoch on the news that inflation has risen to 3%: "Inflation is rising again. Labour’s tax and spend addiction is making the problem worse. Labour has made it more expensive to hire people, run a business and produce the energy our country needs. Those costs have to go somewhere. They end up in the prices you pay at the checkout, in higher energy bills and in fewer jobs and opportunities. Conservatives would make the tough choices: cut wasteful spending, cut taxes and bring down the cost of energy. That’s how we get prices under control and build a stronger economy."

'Steerpike' writes in the Spectator: " In a cringeworthy bid to woo Muslim voters across the country, Polanski this week released a campaign video for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election in which he butchered Pakistan’s national language. Fewer than 200 people in the constituency use Urdu as their main language, but the Green leader evidently thought his linguistic gymnastics would establish him as a better voice for Muslims than the actual Muslim Labour candidate running for the seat. Today, the Mayor of London decided to put Polanski’s newfound proficiency to the test. During Mayor’s questions, the Green leader asked whether City Hall would ban new data centres and underperforming water companies. "  Mayor Khan began his answer in Urdu, presumably with the intention of giving the leader of the Green party a opportunity to demonstrate whether his command of the language extends beyond reading from a prepared text. Khan's Urdu reply translates as: " Peace ...