Chris Whiteside's Blog

 A Tory move to stop the Labour government's plan to take away winter fuel payment from ten million pensioners has been defeated this afternoon by 348 to 228 votes - a majority of 120. Labour has a working majority in the Commons of 167. The division list showed Labour MP Jon Trickett supported the Conservation motion while no vote was recorded for 53 other Labour MPs.

 

 

  What a good question - why is he forcing it through now?

 

Not often that I quote a Labour MP, but there is an exception to every rule. It will be interesting to see who has the guts to vote this way next week. "The mitigation put in by the government is insufficient, we have to go back to why Gordon Brown introduced this. He was emphatic that he didn’t want people to go cold over winter. We absolutely should uphold those values." Rachael Maskell MP

Cognitive dissonance is believing two or more completely incompatible things at the same time. If you type it into a search engine, they could do worse for an example than to take you to a headline in this week's Independent with a quote from Tony Blair. He is presented as saying "Brexit failed - and it triggered mass immigration." Now it's perfectly possible for a well-informed, intelligent and reasonable person to hold either of those views in isolation, although I personally think one of them is broadly right and the other is broadly wrong. But anyone who believes both those things is suffering from a textbook case of cognitive dissonance. It just makes no sense to argue that Brexit made things worse in this country and at the same time that it triggered more people to come here.

The Barron Knights were a band who specialised in musical parodies - think of them as a British 1970's to 90's version of Weird Al. Here is their version of a "Top of the pops" rundown followed by their parody version of the theme from the medical comedy "MASH" with lyrics on a subject which most people in Britain wouldn't dare take the mick about then or now - the NHS. Fascinating to see which of the jokes have, and which have not, dated since the 1980's.

Congratulations to Cllr Stephen Crane who gained the Longbeck, Redcar and Cleveland seat form Labour yesterday in a by-election.  

Pressure from senior citizen's groups, Conservatives and others has obtained a vote in Parliament next week to stop Labour’s cut to Winter Fuel Payments. It’s our first big opportunity to stop Labour from depriving millions of pensioners vital support this winter.

"The jury is still out on Prime Minister Starmer. But one thing we now know for certain. No-one can trust a word he says." Former Labour and Trade Union staffer Dan Hodges , writing in the Mail this week.

"Asked afterwards why Sir Keir had called Mr Sunak 'PM' five times, a No10 spokesman said 'old habits die hard'." (No 10 spokesman quoted by James Tappenden, writing in the Mail about Prime Minister's Questions this week.)

This is the dignified and positive statement released by Dame Priti Patel as her run to be leader of the Cosnervative party finishes.

"The numbers may be a little worse than they thought at the time, and I think there were some things that were hidden from view, but the overall picture over the next four or five years is very, very similar to what we knew before the election." (Paul Johnson , director of the Independent IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies)  dismisses the Labour government's suggestion that when the

 As I wrote a few days ago, there are two Conservative leadership elections at the moment. Six MPs are standing to succeed Rishi Sunak as Party leader, and their fellow Conservative MPs will vote shortly to select four of these candidates to go through to the next stage, which is a hustings at Party Conference. The MPs will then vote to whittle those four down to the final two who go to a vote of the whole membership. Voting has also started in another Conservative election - to elect the national officers of the voluntary party who also sit on the party board. At the moment the people who hold these offices are elected by members of the National Conservative Convention - which mostly means constituency chairmen plus some regional and area officers.  As I have written before, Some candidates for the party leadership have suggested there is a case of extending the franchise to a wider group, perhaps all party members for some Conservative elections including that of party chairman. Ther

As all residents of the village will have noticed by now, and all motorists trying to drive through the village found out the hard way, road resurfacing work started today for two weeks, and all routes through Moor Row in Cumbria are closed to vehicular traffic. The area closed to through traffic during resurfacing work includes a large chunk of the East end of Scalegill Road, all the area of Church Street which would normally be open to vehicles, and a strip of Dalziel Street at the Church Street junction near to the Pearson Close junction. The effect of this is that you cannot drive through Moor Row in any direction - not from the A595 North of Bigrigg to Keekle, or vice versa and not from Wood End to Keekle. This is one of a large number of road works affecting major and minor routes through West Cumbria at the moment. If you are trying to drive anywhere in West Cumbria at the moment, particularly in the vicinity of Cleator Moor, Frizington or Moor Row, I strongly advise you to chec

  "We are now onto the 3rd leadership election of my chairmanship, This is a record I want to keep as it should not be one ever beaten." Valedictory message from (Lord)  Peter Booth , who shortly finishes his term as Chairman of the National Conservative Convention. This position, which effectively makes him the head of the volunteer/member side of the Conservative party, is held for a single five-year term. 

Possibly the most beautiful aria ever written for the human voice.  I have never quite got over the shock of discovering from the context when I got round to actually going to see the opera "The magic flute" that the singer and the song itself represent pure evil. Still wonderful to listen to. 

  "We strongly oppose the means-testing of Winter Fuel Payment because our initial estimate is that as many as two million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it." Age UK

"Is this Lab govt arrogant, incompetent or both?  You can’t say there’s no money left and rob pensioners of their winter fuel allowance while spraying money at train drivers and unions.  You can’t say your priority is growth but load employers with red tape and cancel road projects." ( Tim Montgomerie this week on X formerly Twitter)

For the next five years, the main people providing an alternative to Labour in power in England will not be MPs from any of the opposition parties. They will be Conservative local government leaders. The most powerful non-Labour politician in England at the moment is Lord Ben Houchen, the Conservative metro-mayor of Tees Valley. The only people other than Labour able to deliver things and show what a party other than Labour can do in office will be the councillors or mayors who lead Conservative or Lib/Dem run local authorities. (Or the leaders of any authority to which the voters elect a mayor or a council working majority of any other party.) Who is elected to hold office in local councils matters, both for what they can do for a local area and because they are important to providing the alternative which is an important part of democratic choice.  The Conservative group in the Local Government Association has asked leadership candidates to back "A contract to back Conservatives

"Could Labour supporters please stop screaming “But the Tories did it!!!”.  Yes, we know.  And you told us all it was an outrage they did it.  And you also told us that was why we all had to vote for Keir Starmer, because he’d make sure it stopped." (Former Labour and Trade Union staffer Dan Hodges on X, formerly Twitter.)

There are two Conservative leadership elections underway at the moment. Six MPs are standing to succeed Rishi Sunak as Party leader. After their fellow Conservative MPs have whittled them down to four, those four candidates will get to speak at Party Conference. The MPs will then vote to whittle those four down to the final two who go to a vote of the whole membership. Voting starts tomorrow (28th August) in another Conservative election - to elect the national officers of the voluntary party who also sit on the party board. At the moment the people who hold these offices are elected by members of the National Conservative Convention - which mostly means constituency chairmen plus some regional and area officers. Some candidates for the party leadership have suggested there is a case of extending the franchise to a wider group, perhaps all party members for some Conservative elections including that of party chairman. I think there is a case for this and will follow the detailed propos

 

  Under the Consumer Rights Act, anyone sold goods that are 'of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described', can return them within 30 days and receive full reimbursement. Unfortunately, when a government wins an election on false pretences, there's no such protection. Voters must wait five long years for restitution – and even then, there's no guarantee they won't be out of pocket. Millions who voted Labour on July 4 may already be experiencing pangs of buyer's remorse. By tomorrow," (e.g. 27th August) "it will be crystal clear they've been sold a pup. In a doom-laden speech, Sir Keir Starmer is to warn that things in Britain 'will get worse before they get better'. "Blaming the Conservatives for all our social and economic ills, he will herald a new age of austerity." "Labour campaigned on a promise of financial prudence and swore there were no planned tax hikes other than on private schools, non-doms and

  If you oppose Labour's plans to clobber ten million pensioners by taking away their winter fuel payment, sign the petition here: Labour is leaving pensioners out in the cold - sign the petition!

Let me be honest - the argument that the people Labour have been trying to bring in as advisors and civil servants do not have anything to offer the country has not been proven. However, the charge that Labour have been cutting corners on due process for some of their appointments, and failing to follow exactly the sort of rule which they screamed blue murder when they thought the previous Conservative government was bending, has been proven. And the case that when you compare what Labour said in opposition about cronyism with how they have behaved in their first fifty days in government, the contrast displays weapons-grade hypocrisy, is cast-iron solid. Robert Colvile wrote this in The Times: He adds on X, formerly Twitter: "A quick recap: as @HenryNewman has been arguing, Labour's appointments are qualitatively different from most of those under the Tories. Labour people appointed without competition not to advisory roles but newly created, senior positions deep within the

The former England men's football team manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who led England’s team to the quarter-final stages of two World Cups and a European Championship, having enjoyed a stellar club career that included 18 trophies, has died of cancer at the age of 76. He was a good man, and a gentleman, and did a better job for England than the press and some of the fans often gave him credit for. He met his final illness with great bravery and a positive spirit. Rest in Peace.

 

 

Labour is breaking so many pre-election pledges and manifesto promises that they must have made the strategic political decision to do all the unpopular stuff now and do the popular giveaways just before a general election and hope voters have amnesia. (Adam from the "Guido Fawkes" website on X/Twitter  here .)

 

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the reason universities lobbied the Government to quash the Freedom of Speech Act is because they’re worried it will jeopardise their cosy relationship with various authoritarian regimes, particularly the People’s Republic of China. Bridget Phillipson should have told them to put principle before profit, not done their bidding.” ( Toby Young , directoir of the Free Speech Union) “There was clearly a fear that this Act would undermine China-related income streams for universities. “This was not mentioned when the announcements were made about the scheme being paused. It’s clear that there was a decision not to communicate these concerns about China-related income. It is not unreasonable to infer this has been covered up.” ( Sam Dunning , director of the UK China Transparency think-tank)

 

Thursday night's Abbots Langley and Bedmond (Three Rivers) council by-election result: CON: 40.5% (+20.5) LDEM: 34.2% (-24.4) GRN: 15.9% (+8.4) LAB: 9.4% (-4.5) Valid votes cast: 1,463 Cramlington Eastfield (Northumberland) council by-election result: CON: 43.5% (-15.6) LAB: 31.5% (+1.4) REF: 15.0% (+15.0) IND: 5.7% (-5.1) LDEM: 2.0% (+2.0) GRN: 1.9% (+1.9) Valid votes cast: 1,179 Conservative HOLD.

Labour promise during the election:         We'll cut your energy bills. Labour in government:         Energy bills up 10% - on top of taking Winter Fuel Payments away from ten million pensioners.

“Now it transpires Starmer himself can’t even define the working class. He thinks it has something to do with people who work. But King Charles works, you idiot." ( Jeremy Clarkson, article in The Sun this week.) 

 

“For a Remainer like myself, it’s painful to admit — but when it comes to AI regulations, it’s far better we chose to 'take back control' ”. "Sadly, in the face of overwhelming evidence that their top-down approach" (to digital and AI regulation) has failed, EU leaders haven’t tried a different tack, such as market-oriented reforms to reduce barriers for digital businesses. Instead in 2022, Brussels introduced the draconian Digital Market Act, which has clobbered tech companies with fines worth tens of billions of euros. But the pièce de résistance is the EU’s AI Act, hastily drafted and passed this year in response to the public debate sparked by the launch of ChatGPT. Breathlessly heralded by European leaders as “the world’s first AI legislation”, it’s genuinely hard to overstate how dreadful for innovation and growth these rules will be. For starters, the legislation thickheadedly clamps down on AI models in general (which can be used in all kinds of ways), rather

Cumbria Constabulary has written to all Town and Parish councils in the county asking us to publicise the availability of Victim support, and to share a poster encouraging anyone who has been a victim of domestic violence to get help. There is particular concern about Violence against women and girls but of course anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse, and violence and abuse are unacceptable whoever they are directed against, Nobody should ever have to suffer domestic abuse.  Here is the poster:   

 

 

"The world is dividing up into Hawks and Ostriches. The Autumn budget will show which we are." (Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt , former defence secretary, on the need to build up defence spending, in the Independent at the weekend.)

"Don't shoot, we're conscripts!" ( Surrendering Russian troops as they gave themselves up to the Ukrainian army, according to an account published in today's Sunday Times. There are two equal and opposite mistakes the West could make about Putin's Russia. The first would be to forget that this lawless rogue state is extremely dangerous. The second would be to imagine that Russia is invincible. It is not, particularly under a leader as utterly incompetent as Vladimir Putin has now proved himself to be. At last, incompetent at everything except murdering any potential political opponents and any other innocent people who get in his way.) 

"No great party can survive except on the basis of firm beliefs about what it wants to do. It is not enough to have reluctant support. We want people’s enthusiasm as well".   Margaret Thatcher in 1968. Hat tip to Iain Dale for the quote. He added, "56 years on, it's something for all Tory leadership candidates to mull over."

Very pleased to see that one of the six candidates for the Conservative party leadership made it to Cumbria to meet local party members yesterday. I'm not making any endorsements at this stage but I will give credit where it is due to any candidate and Tom Tugendhat was a breath of fresh air when he came to meet members from around Cumbria in Penrith yesterday afternoon. There was a good attendance from all around the county with members present from Carlisle, West Cumbria, Penrith, and Westmorland.  

  The MoD also posted that, "For the past three months Russian military casualties have been averaging more than 1,000 killed or wounded soldiers a day.  Poorly trained Russian soldiers are being used as cannon fodder in an attempt to overwhelm strong Ukrainian defences." #StandWithUkraine #SlavaUkraini

"I don’t normally agree with the Telegraph. But Labour policy on taxing private education is bonkers. It will raise little money (about £1.5bn) for maximum disruption to the education system. It is vindictive class war politics." ( Andrew Sentance  on X, formerly Twitter He was replying to Kelvin MacKensie who had posted this: "The Telegraph reports that privately educated pupils in England were almost three times more likely to pass at  A* and A grade in their A-levels this year than their peers in state comprehensives.  So why does Labour want to blow up the system with a  20% VAT increase on fees and force an estimated 1,000 pupils into a system which is bulging at the seams and which gets much worse results. It’s class war or nothing."

According to figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Britain's GDP is estimated to have grown 0.6% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024, following growth of 0.7% in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar). Far from having had a uniquely bad economic inheritance as they dishonestly claim, the new Labour government has inherited an economy in which one of their election promises has already been delivered by the Conservatives - the fastest growth in the G7. And a far better inheritance than the previous Labour government left the Coalition in 2010: remember this?

 

"One thing is already clear. The Starmer government is not at all libertarian." ( Andrew Rawnsley , in an article which you can read in full at QOSHE - Call off the search to discover Starmerism. It is already beginning to reveal itself - Andrew Rawnsley )

Hat tip to Simon Myerson KC for pointing out this rare example of a judge saying exactly what he really thinks about the two criminal thugs he was sentencing ...

 

 

 

“Calm Down” ( Sir Michael Caine 's two word response to the riots,  cautioning against giving a few far-right nutters the satisfaction of allowing them to rattle us. And in case someone wilfully misunderstands, the fact that I agree with and have quoted Sir Michael on this does not mean that I in any way challenge the view that there is no excuse for riot and disorder, whoever does it, whether they are on the right or left, whatever religion they follow, if any, and regardless of the colour of their skin. Anyone who riots should be brought before a court and, if convicted, severely punished.)

The UA and German governments faced an agonising decision on whether to agree the prisoner exchange which released sixteen innocent US and German citizens and Russian dissidents, one of whom also has British nationality in exchange for a Russian state assassin and seven other Russian spies or criminals. Let's be quite clear about what has happened here. The present government of the Russian Federation - like the so-called "Islamic Republic of Iran" is a gangster regime. Both of these regimes lock up people who are either entirely innocent, or would be innocent under any civilised code of laws, in order to crush dissent or as an act of hostage diplomacy to obtain leverage against other countries by imprisoning their citizens on trumped-up charges. I have the gravest reservations about this decision by the US and German governments but President Biden and Chancellor Scholtz are not the bad guys here, they were faced with an impossible choice - whether to leave their citizen

 

 A joint statement from all the political parties in Southport.

  "Quite remarkable how the Twitter Left cavalierly dismiss the loss of the winter fuel allowance for 10m pensioners as “they can afford it”.  Some can. But they have no idea how many more will be hit by it.  And, of course, if the Tories had done this the very same twitterati would have been moaning about the “evil blood-sucking Tories”." ( Andrew Neil  on X formerly Twitter)

 

A final response to Labour's preposterous claim that the new government had a uniquely bad economic inheritance ...

  "It is the oldest sleight of hand in the political playbook. Deny until the cows come home while seeking election that you plan to raise taxes then, duly elected on a 'no-tax-rises' platform, you hold up your hands in horror. 'We've seen the books!' you exclaim. 'It's much worse than we thought.' Cue a slew of big tax rises." "Labour embarked on this phoney process the moment they took power on July 5. From Keir Starmer down – orchestrated by his Chancellor, Rachel Reeves – leading Labour politicians grabbed every opportunity to deride their 'dire Tory economic inheritance'. Ministers lined up to aver it was 'catastrophic', even a 'deliberate cover-up'. Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the House of Commons she'd discovered a £22billion black hole in the public accounts that had previously escaped her attention Reeves resorted to ridiculous hyperbole, claiming Labour had inherited the 'worst set of [economic]

 There are no words. Thoughts and prayers are with the children and adults who were killed or injured in the senseless knife attack on a children's dance class in Southport yesterday and with their families.

(Central to Labour's election campaign was)  "a promise to get Britain's economy growing faster than any other G7 country's. Muddying the picture somewhat, however, is the fact that" ... "this milestone may already have been passed - under the Tories. Britain has resoundingly bounced back from its brief recession in late 2023, and at a speedier pace than most forecasters expected. The economy grew by around 1.1% 1.1% (a 2.3% annualised rate) over the first half of 2024. That compares with 0.8% or so for America and Canada over the same period, and 0.3% to 0.5% for France, Germany and Italy. Throw in Ja[an's lacklustre numbers and Britain is likely to have outpaced the rest of the G7 over the final months of Rishi Sunak's Premiership." "The economy seems to be doing fine for now. The stronger  showing complicates Labour's narrative that its' inheritance has been uniquely dire." "Labour needs the economy to grow faster if liv

  "You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common; they don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views." ( Tom Baker,  as the Fourth Doctor, in Doctor Who, "The face of Evil.")

 

 GOP Senator Mitt Romney's statement on President Biden dropping out of the race:  “I’m a classic Republican and he’s a classic Democrat; obviously, President Biden and I usually didn’t see eye-to-eye. I opposed many of his initiatives. But we did find common ground on infrastructure, Ukraine, the Electoral Count Act, adding religious liberty protections to the marriage bill, gun safety measures, and chip manufacturing. Others will judge his presidency. However, having worked with him these past few years, I respect President Biden. His decision to withdraw from the race was right and is in the best interest of the country. Ann and I send warm personal wishes to the President and First Lady.”

"We are running out of time." Alain Catzeflis, title of a powerful piece on "The Article" website which you can read in full by following this link: Ukraine: we are running out of time | TheArticle

The Conservatives have just taken a hell of a beating. People will not be interested in what we have to say for a while.  But this government needs an opposition. And like it or not, that's us.  Every government runs into trouble. It might happen sooner than many people think. At that stage it will be important again whether the Conservatives can provide a constructive and positive alternative.  That will have to include being a broad church - addressing some of the issues which caused some of our voters to despair of us and go to Reform while also addressing the problems which caused other people who have voted Conservative in the past to vote Lib/Dem or Labour. We will not win again without winning back voters on both the right and in the centre. That will require competence, integrity, and common sense. It will not be achieved by lower-common denominator politics. And above all, we need to remember these wise words from "The great communicator" a man who was often wron

My wife and I have just returned to Cumbria after a few days in Leeds, but as we were about to set off, earlier today, I passed the Trinity Centre in central Leeds and saw a demonstration of people protesting against Russia's barbaric and illegal attacks on Ukrainian civilians. They were suggesting that Russia's repeated attacks on hospitals, most recently on a children's cancer hospital in Kiev this week, are a war crime. They are right. Putin and his crew of murderers calling themselves a government belong in the dock of the international criminal court at the Hague. I am pleased to see strong support for Ukraine being agreed at the 75th anniversary NATO summit.

I've seen a lot of versions of this quote, attributed to various different people. After the Conservatives had the worst result in our history last week, they are all relevant. We must not kid ourselves that the electorate were wrong: we must learn from what they told us. We must not imagine that there is a simple answer to the challenges facing the Conservatives any more than there are simple answers to the challenges facing the country. (If there were, we would have found them.) The country needs an opposition. At the moment, that's us. We have to provide it. We've been knocked down,  but the worst thing we could do is stay down.

"Learn from what actually happened last week, not what you are told happened by those with an axe to grind. As an example, look at the polling evidence which shows that only 36% of Reform voters say they would have voted Conservative if Reform had not stood. Simplistic solutions which involve adding the Reform vote to the Tory vote and saying “Look, there is a rightwing majority here” are delusional." "Reject any attempt to narrow the party’s appeal so that it only aims at “real Conservatives”. At a personal level I resent this attempt to say that moderate one nation Conservatives like me are lesser Conservatives than say, David Frost, who promulgates this idea frequently. I have fought nine general elections in the Conservative cause so I think I have earned my party membership card. More importantly, saying to millions of potential Conservative voters that they are not Conservative enough is weapons-grade idiocy in a first past the post electoral system. If the Conserv

 

"Democracy is never wrong" from the concession speech by Penny Mordaunt in the early hours of yesterday morning.

  Obviously I was a little busy on 4th July, but putting this up now.

 

 Andrew Neil's Election Day Monologue on @TimesRadio yesterday "In praise of British democracy.  It’s election day in the United Kingdom, a seminal event we too often take for granted. We also do it in a very British way.  There will be no armed guards at the polling stations. No intimidating mobs. Just paper and pencil, trusted tellers and friendly canvassers.  If the British people decide it’s time to change governments, that will happen quickly and without fuss. The military will not be mobilised. Barbed wire will not be arranged around public buildings. Defeated candidates will not be fleeing the country. Riot police will not be assembling on side streets.  But a removal van — something we’ve all had to use at some stage in our lives — will turn up sometime Friday morning to help the incumbent move out. Another will bring the belongings of the new prime minister and family.  A few words from the winner outside 10 Downing Street, a round of applause as he goes through the f

A big thank you to everyone who voted for me in Leeds North East. The Conservatives must think about what the voters said to us and learn from it. I congratulate the Labour government on their election & wish them well for Britain.  But the country needs an opposition to hold them accountable.

The polls are now closed and the counts are beginning around the country. I am about to head to the count in Leeds North East. The voters have spoken - now we will find out what they have said.

The polling stations have now opened in the UK general election. They will remain open until 10pm this evening (Thursday 4th July.) YOU WILL NEED PHOTO ID TO VOTE. Acceptable forms of ID include a driving licence, passport or a number of other options as listed on the link here: Accepted forms of photo ID | Electoral Commission This is an important election and in many constituencies the result could be very close. Whether or not you agree with anything that I write on this blog, your  vote matters. People have fought and died for the right to vote. And however imperfect our democracy may be - and I accept that it is not perfect - every country which holds meaningful elections is a better place for it. There is not a single country in the world which holds meaningful elections where I would not rather live than in any country which does not. So if you are a UK citizen with the right to vote, and have not already voted by post, (as I have,) I strongly urge you to go out and vote today.

It is now 12 hours until the polls open in the UK general election. Polling stations open at 7am tomorrow (Thursday 4th July) and close at 10pm. YOU WILL NEED SOME FORM OF PHOTO ID TO VOTE. Acceptable forms of ID include a driving licence, passport or a number of other options as listed on the link here: Accepted forms of photo ID | Electoral Commission This is an important election and in many constituencies the result could be very close. Whether or not you agree with anything that I write on this blog, your  vote matters. People have fought and died for the right to vote. And however imperfect our democracy may be - and I accept that it is not perfect - every country which holds meaningful elections is a better place for it. There is not a single country in the world which holds meaningful elections where I would not rather live than in any country which does not. So if you are a UK citizen with the right to vote, and have not already voted by post, (as I have,) I strongly urge you