Chris Whiteside's Blog

I have been concerned for some time that when lots of applications are going in for every job, and the people who fill them are making use of computers to filter the numbers down to manageable levels before paying them much attention, people who might deserve a chance and be very suitable but don't fit an arbitrary template may get systematically "filtered out" every time by computers without a human ever looking at their CV. So I was pleased to learn that yesterday, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has launched an examination into the potential for bias in the use of algorithms, to ensure that technology is never a barrier to how far people can go in their lives. Key facts :  The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation will examine the potential for bias in the use of algorithms in crime and justice, financial services, recruitment and local government.  Algorithms have huge potential for preventing crime, protecting the public and improving the way servic...

An Italisn politician who is a member of Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party, and who is an outspoken critic of Italy’s mandatory vaccination policy for chickenpox, has, - wait for it - been treated in hospital after contracting chickenpox .

Recent statistics from the ONS show that research and development expenditure in the UK rose by £1.6 billion in 2017 – this is good news but there is more to do. Research and development expenditure rose by £1.6 billion to £34.8 billion in 2017, an increase of 4.8 per cent, above the long-term annual average increase of 4.1 per cent since 1990. Since 2016 the government has had a Modern Industrial Strategy and committed an additional £7 billion to science and innovation – clear progress towards our target of total R&D spending reaching 2.4 per cent of the economy.

New figures show that the number of people in work is at a record high and wages have risen at their fastest pace in a decade. With wages continuing to increase faster than prices, more people have the security of a regular wage and can provide for their families. The Conservative government is helping people into work by reforming welfare so work always pays, while backing businesses to create more, better paying jobs across the whole country through our careful economic management and modern Industrial Strategy. Since 2010, businesses have created the new jobs which enabled over 3.6 million more people to find employment. The number of people out of work is at its lowest since 1975, at 3.9 per cent – as we are helping people into work so that they have the economic independence that a job brings and can reach their full potential. Behind every employment number is a person and a family whose self-esteem, mental wellbeing, economic circumstances and life chances are all vast...

Today the Conservative government launched a new strategy on urban mobility and announced £90 million of investment in transport innovation, creating cleaner, cheaper, safer and more reliable journeys. Key facts :  The Conservatives have announced the biggest review into transport in a generation which will pave the way for transforming the way people and goods move around our cities – a key part of our modern industrial strategy. The review will explore regulations around new types of vehicles including autonomous vehicles and e-cargo bike trailers, and how sharing data can reduce congestion, simplifying journeys and payments. We are also launching a competition for up to four new ‘Future Mobility Zones’ backed by £90 million to test innovative news ideas to improve journeys, making travel in towns and cities more convenient, more reliable and cheaper. Why this matters : We are at an important moment for the future of transport, with revolutionary technologies creating...

Spent much of today at the Development Control committee at County Hall in Kendal where the West Cumbria mine application was being considered. Four speakers from West Cumbria, plus the applicant, spoke in favour of the proposal: myself, Mayor of Copeland Mike Starkie, Mirehouse community worker Keith Cartner, and David Douglas. . There were also a number of "public participation" speakers against the application most of whom did not give much detail about where they live or work. None of the objectors claimed to live or work in Copeland and of those who made any reference to where they are based, none claimed to live in West Cumbria or anywhere nearer to West Cumbria than Lakeland.  I'd like to congratulate Keith Cartner on a very powerful speech about the needs of the local community in Mirehouse and David Douglas on a very effective demolition of the supposedly "green" argument against a mine to produce coking coal specifically for making steel (whic...

The West Cumbria Mining planning application for a new coal mine in the Whitehaven and St Bees area comes to the CCC development control committee today at County Hall in Kendal. The meeting starts at 10 am. The report to the committee can be read on the County Council website here . I will be attending the meeting as one of the two local members in whose divisions the application is located, and have registered to speak. Council officers are recommending that the application be approved, subject to a submission from Natural England which is still awaited, with a section 106 agreement and a long list of conditions.

Key facts: 2018 was the cleanest and greenest year ever for electricity in the UK and renewable electricity generation is now at a record highm supplying 31.7% of Britain's electricity. Since the Conservatives have been in government we have invested more than £52 billion in renewable energy, reduced UK greenhouse gas emissions by 23 per cent and committed to achieving net zero emissions – ensuring cleaner air for the next generation. In last Wednesday’s Spring Statement, the Chancellor announced a range of new green growth measures, including - steps to enable passengers to have the option of ‘zero carbon travel’,  support for businesses to cut their carbon emissions and their energy bills and  the decarbonisation of gas supplies by increasing the proportion of green gas in the grid.  Why this matters: We agree that global warming and climate change are some of the biggest issues our country faces. By investing in green industries and decarbonising ou...

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd has announced an innovative new pensions scheme to deliver improved returns for millions of savers. Key facts : The Conservative government's radical reforms in saving for retirement could see incomes rise by 7 per cent a year. The plans are backed by the Communications and Workers Union after they were successfully used by Royal Mail. With the new schemes, known as Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) schemes, members get more certainty in their retirement, with regular pay-outs. And unlike traditional final salary pension schemes, those pay-outs aren’t affected if your employer goes under. CDC pension schemes offer a regular retirement income by allowing group contributions to be pooled together and invested to give members of the scheme a higher final benefit level. The new schemes are expected to appeal to companies who want to offer strong pensions provisions to employees without having to hang on to enormous pension liabilities...

It is often observed that Common sense isn't. Voltaire wrote: Will Rogers is also credited with a similar quote. The first person known to have made a similar comment appears, however to be Nicholas Amhurst (1697 – 1742) who wrote “Terræ-filius or The Secret History of the University of Oxford In Several Essays” published in 1726, in which is found the following: "There is not a more uncommon thing in the world than common sense." Here's the full quote:

"Forced to choose, I would rather deal with the risk of staying in the customs union from 2021," (if the 'backstop' is triggered under the May deal) "than be forced into a permanent customs union by either opposition MPs or the EU ion a matter of weeks. "Having spent so much of my life campaigning for Britain to leave the EU, and having given birth to the Brexit bible, I hope that the MPs I campaigned alongside in the referendum will see the grave risks and back the deal. "My treasure trove of Eurosceptic mementos shows that some of the most vocal critics of May's deal once proposed even softer forms of Brexit. And the political declaration provides the scope for the more refined form of Brexit outlined in 'Change or Go.' "Now that MPs have ruled out leaving without a deal, and since I know the 'Remain' majority would accept even the most risible conditions from the EU to get an extension, the best way forward is to suppo...

Yesterday, to mark High Street Saturday, the Communities Secretary announced £9.75 million to help local areas clean up their high streets, making them more attractive places to work and visit. More than £12,000 of this funding will come to Copeland Borough to clean up our high streets - making them an even better place to live, work and shop. Key fact s: Every local authority in England will receive a share of the fund to back their efforts in cleaning up high streets and town centres. All councils, working with community groups, can use the cash boost to support volunteers, buy tools to clean up their high streets and provide training for residents on how to remove graffiti or tackle fly-tipping. The funding will give local authorities an opportunity to do more, encourage communities to take greater pride in their local area and support campaigns such as Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean Campaign running from 22 March to 23 April. This builds on our strong su...

The government is calling on universities to do more to support young people leaving care, so that those in the toughest circumstances have the same opportunities to succeed as their peers. Key facts :  The government has published new guidance to improve the support available to care leavers, from year-round accommodation to pastoral care.  Currently, just 6 per cent of care leavers aged 19-21 go into higher education, and those that do are nearly twice as likely to drop out than their peers.  This week the Universities Minister and the Children and Families Minister have published new guidance to encourage universities - especially the most selective and best-resourced - to think more about the offer they make to care leavers.  This builds on the launch of the Care Leaver Covenant, which sets out pledges made by the Government, businesses, charities, and voluntary sector groups to provide work and education-based opportunities to young people leaving the car...

Tomorrow, Saturday 16th March,  is the first ever #HighStreetSaturday , a chance to celebrate the place of high streets at the heart of our communities across the country. I will be supporting my local shops in Bigrigg, Mirehouse, St Bees and Whitehaven. Key facts : Our high streets are the backbone of our economy, delivering local jobs and stronger communities. However, we recognise that it is becoming harder for businesses on high streets across the country to compete with out-of-town shopping centres and online retailers.  To face up to this challenge, the Conservative government has delivered over £10 billion of business rates support since 2016 and is working closely with retail leaders and industry experts to make our town centres fit for the future.  In addition to this, on #HighStreetSaturday, Conservatives are encouraging people to: Pledge to shop locally.  Ensure their local councils apply for the Future High Streets Fund, provided by the Gove...

To hear of scores of innocent people being gunned down at or outside their place of worship would he a horrible atrocity wherever it happened, but of all the shocking places to for such a terrible thing to occur, New Zealand must be at the top of the list. I have family in New Zealand - a second cousin is a member of Dunedin City Council on South Island - and I've never met a Kiwi who wasn't a nice person. There is a lot more which will undoubtedly come out about this atrocity. But today thoughts and prayers are with the 49 people who died as a result of the terrorist attack on two Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, with those who were injured, and with their friends and relatives. Nothing can possibly justify such a barbarous act of evil as shooting innocent people at and outside their place of worship, whether it is Muslims at a mosque, Jews at a Synagogue, Christians at a church, or the followers of any other religion. I hope the people responsible for this dreadful...

"Brexiteers must now grapple with the trickiest game of risk that they have ever faced." (heading on a Telegraph article by Professor Patrick Minford .) The interesting thing about this expression of opinion is that Professor Minford is one of very few Leave supporters - in fact he is the only one I can immediately bring to mind, although I am sure there are a few others - who can truthfully claim to have argued in support of a "no deal" or "WTO" Brexit before the referendum

Anyone reading this who has been a user of email for long enough will have had some experience both of real computer viruses and of emails with false warnings about imaginary ones. Real viruses like " I Love You ," " Melissa ," " My Doom " and " Blaster Worm " did a great deal of damage:  - then there was a subsequent epidemic of hysterical hoax emails warning of the dire consequences of opening supposedly destructive computer viruses like " Good Times ," " Join the Crew ", and " Win a Holiday " which did not in fact exist. This song parodies some of those warnings - but be warned that the music is catchy enough that if you click on this you may find that it's hard to quickly forget it ...

Another golden oldie for which the title and some of the words appear curiously apposite. Offered in the same spirit as last night that in difficult times you need a sense of humour to keep going.

It has been obvious for months that there is a large majority in the House of Commons against a "No deal" Brexit. The only surprise about last night's vote was that it was so narrow. (a winning margin of four votes.) The vote today to request a short delay to Brexit was even less of a surprise, but it is far from certain that the necessary unanimous agreement of the other 27 EU member states The fact that the vote was so narrow probably reflects the fact that there are quite a few MPs who really don't want a "No Deal" Brexit but understand enough about how negotiations work to realise that voting, even symbolically, to take that option off the table might further reduce Britain's negotiating leverage in Brussels. There is still a material possibility that a "no deal" Brexit might happen by accident, but there is clearly a majority in parliament, probably a majority of a lot more than four in the House of Commons, who will vote to prevent...

Today's Quote of the Day was from Stephen Eames of North Cumbria's NHS about maternity services at West Cumberland Hospital (WCH). As the 12 month review comes to an end the NHS has been making very positive noises about the future of consultant-led maternity at WCH. I think the whole of the main body of the press release from North Cumbria Health and Care is worth quoting here. It reads as follows. "Maternity 12 Month Review Period To End Amid Positive Progress The 12 month review of maternity services at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven will end this month. There has been positive progress over the year, and there will now be a period of review before NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) Governing Body makes any decision about the long term future of services. Consultant-led maternity services and the development of ‘alongside midwife-led care’ will continue to operate and there will be no changes in the coming months simply ...

Last night's vote by the House of Commons, by the unexpectedly small margin of four votes, to take "No Deal" off the table does not actually do so. Because of the way Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is drafted, there are only two certain ways to take "no deal" off the table. One is to pass a deal.  The other is to revoke the Article 50 notification. Since the motion passed by the House of Commons yesterday does neither of those, it is merely a declaratory statement which as far as I can see has the negative impact of voting for No Deal but not the benefit. It will reduce still further any pressure on the EU to make further concessions. But it doesn't actually take "No Deal" off the table, and there is still the possibility that a "No Deal" Brexit could come about by accident. In this sense last night's vote was the worst of all worlds. That the House of Commons would vote this way was not a surprise - this was always th...

“There has certainly been positive progress over the last 18 months. The CQC report published in November was very positive about the services and about how women feel about their care, and we are making some real progress in recruitment.  We are also working very productively with the community to support maternity and paediatric services. It hasn’t been easy to establish a new way of working in co-production but we are making real strides in some areas.”  Stephen Eames , leader of the North Cumbria Health and Care System and chief executive of North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, quoted in a press release by North Cumbria NHS Health and Care, about the conclusion of the 12 month review into consultant-led maternity at West Cumberland Hospital. This and other recent statements from Stephen Eames have been widely interpreted as strong hints that the review is likely to confirm that consultant-maternity at West Cumberland Hospital is sustainable and will contin...

Sometimes the only way to deal with a difficult situation and retain your sanity is to be keep a sense of humour. In that spirit, as parliament struggles to agree on a Brexit strategy for Britain, my midweek music spot if from the Rolling Stones - " Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown. "