Chris Whiteside's Blog

Having written a post yesterday about the need for tolerance and respect for opposing views I have set myself the challenge to respond to the article from this year's "silly season" which I most disagree with and to do so in a polite and respectful way. Over the pond they have been having fierce arguments about whether to tear down statues of people who fought for the Confederate States of America such as General Robert E Lee. Not to be outdone, Afua Hirsch wrote in the Guardian that if Britain were not guilty of " inertia, arrogance and intellectual laziness " we would right past wrongs against black people by toppling Nelson's column . She accused Nelson of having been a " defender of slavery " who "used his seat in the House of Lords and his position of huge influence to perpetuate the tyranny, serial rape and exploitation organised by West Indian planters, some of whom he counted among his closest friends." While this depictio...

"After six decades of thought and political action there remains not a single successful example of a socialist society anywhere in history and anywhere in the world." (Lord Danny Finkelstein , article in The Times which you can read here .)

Puck's song from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" set to music by Thomas Arne and sung by Emma Kirkby. Three great artists with two centuries between each. Where the bee sucks, there lurk I: In a cowslip’s bell I lie; There I couch when owls do cry. On the bat’s back do I fly After sunset merrily. Merrily shall I live now Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

When it comes to open-minded, evidence-based and tolerant debate, many of us are far better at calling for it than at living up to what we preach. It is slightly unfair to call out Chris Deerin on this point because he is far from the worst offender, but  his article in yesterday's Scottish Herald , " The world is drowning in a wave of ignorance and self-interest. " particularly struck me as exemplifying those who call for tolerance and yet in the next breath or sentence speak or write of those who disagree with them in language which makes you think that there is an unconscious coda, "except for those morons who disagree with me." It is a classic example moving beyond criticising ideas to criticising the people who hold them. The other reason I'm choosing Chris Deerin to call out is that I agree with everything in his article except the sweeping insults towards everyone who takes an opposite view of the issues. In particular I agree with his call ...

"This is what it’s like to live in a world run by those who have had enough of experts. Science and deep study have their flaws, and produce plenty of mistakes, but the process is ultimately self-correcting due to relentless inquisition and the discipline of open minds. The alternative, a society motored by ignorance, ideology and self-interest, is a dark prospect indeed." ( Chris Deerin , from an article criticising the Trump administration's hostility to the evidence on Climate Change in the Scottish Herald, here .)

Alexandre Dumas is one of many people to whom the saying has been attributed One frequent generalisation which I have to deal with when speaking to friends from south of Watford Gap is jokes about living in the "Frozen North." Actually thanks to the Gulf Stream West Cumbria is often warmer than parts "dahn sarf." Yesterday was an exception when the stereotype was actually true for once ..

Recitative and Air From Handel's Messiah: "For behold, darkness shall cover the Earth, And gross darkness the people, But the Lord shall arise apon thee, And his Glory shall be seen apon thee. And the gentiles shall come to Thy Light, And Kings to the brightness of Thy rising." "The people that walkedst in Darkness have seen a great light, And they that dwell in the land of the shadow of Death, Apon them hath the light shined."

Not a good two days for accidents in Copeland. A stretch of the A595 was closed yesterday following a tragic accident on the A595 near the High House Hill junction near Bigrigg and Moor Row - one of the very sections on which we have been expressing concern about road safety and the need to improve it. And this afternoon roads in part of Whitehaven were closed by police which I understand was due to another nasty accident. Thoughts are with the people hurt and with their families.

From Handel's Messiah. Lyrics: ( Solo) "But who shall abide the day of his coming? For he is like a refinder's fire." (Chorus) "And he shall purify the sons of Levi, That they may offer unto the Lord and offering in righteousness."

"There are stretches of the 1980's where it's difficult to find a photograph of Jeremy Corbyn that doesn't have a terrorist in it. You find a nice one of him on his own, then you look at the photo credit and you're like, 'Oh, right, the terrorist took the photo. '" (Comedian Ahir Shah , from his Edinburgh Fringe show, from a review of the best political jokes at the 2017 Fringe in the Sunday Times by Stephen Armstrong)

The biggest threat to prosperity, quality of life and good public services in Britain for the last ten years has not been Brexit, or the EU, nor international markest or any other external factor. It is our anaemic growth in productivity. Economists have been worrying about productivity in Britain for a long time, but although it has not risen as fast as we would like and sometimes lagged behind our competitors, it nevertheless grew steadily from the 1950's through the decades, through the Thatcher, Major and Blair, years, but dropped sharply following the 2008 crash, and has only gradually recovered since then. This graph from the Office of National Statistics shows the problem: Earlier in my lifetime "The British Disease" was seen as strikes and industrial unrest: now the British disease is low growth in productivity. Depending on which measure you look at, productivity did eventually surpass the level before the crash, but it took too long to...

Robert E Lee has been in the news this month for a lot of wrong reasons. He may have been on the wrong side in the US Civil War but his observation about the cost of war is thought provoking ...

American communications company ESPN have removed one of their staff from commenting on a college American Football game in Virginia and moved him to commenting on a game in Pittsburgh instead. This was because his name is Robert Lee - the same name as the Confederate General about whose statue there were riots in Charlottesville earlier this month. Meanwhile people are sharing an image on social media in which an African-American gentleman is holding a confederate flag while a white gentleman is holding a "Black Lives Matter" poster. What a world we live in ...

"The success of Northern Transport depends on the North itself." "It is central government's responsibility to provide funding and a delivery structure which ensures efficiency, value for money and accountability." "But beyond this, I want the North to take control." (Transport Secretary Chris Grayling writing in the Yorkshire Post.)

The campaign by Trudy Harrison MP and local residents to keep softer water for Copeland has made significant progress with a change in policy by the water supply company. United Utilities had recently begun to mix water from Ennerdale  the traditional source of supply for West Cumbria and which provides "soft" water, with water from boreholes near Egremont which is rather "harder." Many local residents had noticed a change in the taste and characteristics of the water supply, and thousands joined the campaign by Trudy Harrison MP or contacted United Utilities themselves. Following a meeting with Copeland MP Trudy Harrison and Copeland mayor Mike Starkie, United Utilities have agreed to reverse this policy, It remains the long-term intention to replace supply from Ennerdale Water with water piped through from Thirlmere when a pipe is completed in 2022. (This should not be a problem, as Thirlmere, like Ennerdale Water, provides "soft" wat...

After being downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, Gert has been something of a damp squib, which I dare say most people will be grateful for. There has been some rain in Northern parts and will be more over the next 36 hours or so but basically what was one a ferocious storm has arrived in Britain as not much more than a slow moving area of low pressure.

As Cumbria is expected to get some filthy weather today from Storm Gert, I thought this quote was appropriate ...

After a day of techno-hell trying to sort out various problems with my computers and electronic devices I need some "hard stuff" to get me to relax, and as I don't drink alcohol the nearest equivalent of a strong dose of whisky was a piece of powerful music such as Haydn's musical masterpiece. As I have previously posted, the lyrics can be roughly translated into English as follows: "A crazed and hopeless passion invades our minds, Again and again madness fills our hearts and robs us of hope." "How can it profit you, O mortal, to seek for earthly riches but take no thought of Heaven?" "Yet if God is for you, all things are possible for you." This magnificent recording is by the choir of St John's Cambridge.

The tail end of tropical storm Gert is expected to hit the UK tomorrow (Monday 21st August) and there was at one point some concern among the relevant authorities that it might cause problems such as flooding. Teams of officers from various authorities have been discussing how serious a problem this is likely to be, and making sure appropriate measures are in place to deal with any issues. The current expectation is that 1)  Prolonged rainfall is expected across Cumbria from 2pm to 9pm on Monday with some localised intensity.    2)  High ground figures of expected levels of rainfall are circa 50mm on Monday afternoon and 40mm at lower levels. (This is a rather less than was expected last week)   3) This may trigger several Flood Alerts and worst case scenario (Environment Agency modelling) 1 Flood Warning for the lower Eden. We’ll know more on this by Monday morning.   4)  The Environment Agency are engaging with communitie...

" I think we should just ignore Doctor Mengele over there ." (Response by one colleague when Lord Danny Finkelstein, who is Jewish, suggested in a discussion on education policy that " the natural ability of pupils might differ " as described in an article in The Times this week by Lord Finkelstein. For the avoidance of doubt I am quoting this not with approval but as an illustration of the degree of venom some people are willing to use to try to shut down the expression of a viewpoint they disagree with.)

Bruce Forsythe, who has died at the age of 89, was a great entertainer with a remarkable stamina, a great sense of fun and who was capable of enormous empathy. He will be missed. Rest in Peace

I have just returned from a short family holiday on the Norfolk Broads. Working through the long list of post and emails items sent while I was away. Will try to get back to people as soon as possible.

To finish off what has become and informal "Barron Knights" week ... In the 1980's spoof below the Barron knights first sang a parody of "Top of the Pops" and then for the "Number One" spoofed the theme tune of the contemporary comedy "MASH," which was about a US Army field hospital in Vietnam, as the "Masochistic and Sadistic Hospital Song" about the NHS. There are a certain number of contemporary "in jokes" in this clip which cannot be explained without ruining them but most alert people should get most of the jokes. For the avoidance of doubt I have posted this because it is funny and no endorsement or statement of any political view whatsoever is intended by doing so.

Maddy Prior, who sings with Steeleye Span, is here with her other group, the Carnival Band, singing the familiar hymn "Love Divine" to an older tune. Unless my memory is playing tricks on me this music was written by Henry Purcell as "Fairest Isle."

Lord Lawson and Brian Cox are both highly intelligent men. The former ought to know better than to dismiss the evidence for the impact of human activity on the climate as lightly as he does. The latter ought to know better than to attack the BBC for allowing Nigel Lawson to express that view on Radio 4 . in the manner that he did You do not win arguments by claiming that the other side does not have one and should not have the right to a platform, no matter how strongly you believe - possibly correctly - that the evidence is overwhelmingly on your side.

About time too! This ought to have been done fifteen years ago but it is very welcome that it is finally happening.

If you want to be able to vote in any elections , scheduled or otherwise, over the period of the next electoral register, don't forget to register to vote. Copeland Borough Council sent out the registration form this week and other local authorities will be doing the same about now. I certainly never imagined when I registered this time last year that there would be two parliamentary elections - a by-election and a general election - to vote for in the period covered by that registration.

I think Google could think about this one too ...

The movements of this mini-oratorio are 1. O praise the Lord with one consent 2. Praise him, all ye that in his house attend 3. For this our truest interest is 4. That God is great 5. With cheerful notes let all the earth 6. God´s tender mercy knows no bounds 7. Ye boundless realms of joy 8. Your voices raise, ye cherubim Most people will find the recurring theme of the first movement rather more than slightly reminiscent of the first line of "O God our help in Ages past" ...

It's evidently a slow news day. Some pro-remain papers had a retrospective go at the Leave campaign this morning over their exaggerated claim during the referendum last year that the UK sends £350 million a week to the EU. Not to be outdone, the BBC fact checkers had a go at both sides, saying, " EU Cost: why £350 million and £156 million per week are both wrong ." The BBC is right to say that we do not "send to Brussels" either of these figures in the sense that the former is the approximate value of a purely notional gross contribution, and Maggie Thatcher's rebate is deducted before anything is paid. £156 million a weeks was the net contribution - Britain actually sent £252 million a week to the EU in 2016 but received back £96 million of EU spending in the UK. The net contribution is a far more representative measure of the net cost to the UK of payments to the EU than a notional gross contribution millions of pounds of which was never actu...

Many issues are too complex to have a perfect solution, but there is almost no case where you get towards a better one if you penalise people for expressing a view about them which you think is wrong. Even if that view really is wrong, the resentment you create if you make martyrs of those who express it - and the risk to honest debate if people keep their heads down on consequence - does more harm than good. It appears to be just as well for one of the regular posters on the comments threads of this blog that he works for Sellafield rather than Google, since one employee writing a memo expressing what were labelled as "anti-diversity" views at the latter organisation on issues like the gender pay gap appeared to have caused quite a furore at Google . Personally I do think that racial and gender inequality exist, as does the gender pay gap (though it is also estimated in Britain that it is as low as it has ever been and is reducing) and that we ought to find po...

"If we can’t have an honest discussion about this, then we can never truly solve the problem." ( James Damore , extract from the controversial memo which caused a stir at Google)

Both communism and fascism have destroyed the lives of millions of people and turned entire countries into giant prison camps. In a free society we are entitled to hold, and express within the law, any opinions we wish, but anyone who uses the liberty of a free society to express support for authoritarian tyrannies whether of right or left casts doubt on their judgement. The vast majority of people would have no truck with fascism or nazism and would regard support for either as putting the person who expresses such support outside the pale. Yet a surprisingly large proportion of those who - rightly - condemn fascist or Nazi regimes and their sympathisers do not express the same condemnation of Marxism or communism. This is astonishing given that avowedly communist or Marxist regimes have been responsible for crimes which have destroyed even more millions of innocent lives than Nazi and fascist regimes. Lenin is reported to have described those in the West who supported the...

" Success is like an Iceberg " ( Wright Thurston )

This delightful and cheerful aria was composed by Henry Purcell for Queen Mary's birthday in 1694.

From Johnny Cash's album "Silver." The painting is called " The wild hunt: Åsgårdsreien " by Peter Nicolai Arbo. This song was written by Stan Jones on 5 May 1948. It was originally recorded by Burl Ives on 17 February 1949.

One thing Nehru and Churchill agreed about (WSC, of course, is responsible for a very similar quote.)

I have just learned that my former friend and colleague Honorary Alderman Ken Haywood has died at the age of 91. Most readers of this blog in Cumbria and the North West will not have heard of Ken but if I have any readers in St Albans or indeed in Hertfordshire they will almost certainly remember him. During his twenty years as a member of the Council of the City and District of St Albans Ken was Mayor of St Albans in 1982/3 and again in 1988/9, and he was leader of the council in 1990-1 He was my immediate predecessor as leader of the Conservative group on the council and also served a term on Hertfordshire county council - he was in fact my county councillor from 1989 to 1993. Ken was a dedicated public servant with an eye for getting to the heart of the matter and he had a number of favourite expressions for concentrating on the big items and not getting so hung up on minor details that you forget the more important ones. "Fish where the fish are" was o...

I stumbled by chance on a fascinating piece in a Canadian paper which you can read  here describing the form of constitutional monarchy in those Commonwealth countries like Canada and Australia where the Queen is their head of state as a " fluke work of genius." I don't think you could ever plan for such a model - hence the valid reference to a fluke - but it makes a most interesting point.

HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, carried out his final public duties today in a career of public service which has lasted by my count for nearly seventy eight years - since he joined the Royal Navy early in World War II. His naval career was impressive and it is not entirely beyond the bounds of possibility that if he had not married the Queen he might still have become an Admiral of the Fleet by working his way up to the job as his grandfather and uncle did. After his marriage to the Queen, he has spent sixty years, well into his nineties, carrying out a punishing schedule of royal engagements. We owe him our thanks for all his work on the nation's behalf, for his untiring support to his wife, and our good wishes for a happy retirement.

My first reaction to the Times front page with the headline " Labour MPs urge Corbyn to condemn Venezuela " was to laugh uproariously and think " The silly season is off to a good start ." My second thoughts was that actually the situation in Venezuela is too sad to be funny. More than a hundred and twenty people have died in riots over the past four months as the economy becomes a basket case. What should be one of the richest countries in Latin America is spiralling down into collapse . CNN reports, "Venezuela is running out of food. Hospitals are overcrowded with sick children while doctors don't have enough medicine or X-ray machines. Electricity isn't guaranteed. About the only thing Venezuela has in abundance is chaos." As that well known right-wing newspaper The Guardian (irony warning) commented after a disputed election for a constituent assembly, 'The European Union has condemned “the excessive and disproportionate u...