Chris Whiteside's Blog

Today official data confirmed   inflation has fallen again to 3.2 per cent , showing that the Conservatives' economic plan is working and that we have achieved one of the Prime Minister's top five priorities, which he took office last year.  Inflation is falling faster than expected, down from over 11.1 per cent to 3.2 per cent, the lowest level in nearly two and a half years, helping people’s money go further.  This welcome news comes on top of our cuts to national insurance, which save the average worker £900 a year, so people should start to feel the difference as well as see it in their pay cheques.

"They used their people like sandbags." Elizabeth Whiteside My late mother's comment on how the former Soviet Union treated their own soldiers as expendable during World War II.  Today's news of at least 50,000 confirmed deaths among Russian service people - and the actual total is probably a lot higher during the current illegal and uinprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine shows that Putin is still doing the same thing. 

 

There are not many issues in politics on which I have changed my mind. Nor am I a big fan of banning activities which many people enjoy. But where there is enough evidence I can be persuaded to change my mind. And the issue of smoking is an example. Until very recently I would have said that smoking should be discouraged but not banned. I still think that attempting to completely ban the practice from tomorrow would not work and would end up like prohibition in the USA. However, there is just too much evidence of the damage that cigarettes do, not just to the people who smoke, but also to those around them through passive smoking and to the NHS as probably the largest cause of easily preventable death, to ignore. It has been suggested that smoking eventually kills two thirds of those who smoke - causing 80,000 deaths per year in Britain. There is now a proposal on the table in parliament to phase out this activity by making illegal for anyone born after 2009 to ever buy a tobacco. Afte

 

President Zelesnkyy's take on the Iranian attack on Israel: "Ukraine condemns Iran’s attack on Israel using “Shahed” drones and missiles. We in Ukraine know very well the horror of similar attacks by Russia, which uses the same “Shahed” drones and Russian missiles, the same tactics of mass air strikes. Every effort must be made to prevent a further escalation in the Middle East. Iran's actions threaten the entire region and the world, just as Russia's actions threaten a larger conflict, and the obvious collaboration between the two regimes in spreading terror must face a resolute and united response from the world.  The sound of "Shahed" drones, a tool of terror, is the same in the skies over the Middle East and Europe. This sound must serve as a wake-up call to the free world, demonstrating that only our unity and resoluteness can save lives and prevent the spread of terror worldwide. The world cannot wait for discussions to go on. Words do not stop drones a

"Last night the UK intercepted and destroyed multiple one-way attack drones - launched by Iran and its proxies - that posed a threat to civilian lives in the Middle East.  Additional Royal Air Force  aircraft were deployed this weekend to bolster our presence. I thank our armed forces personnel for responding so quickly and effectively to such a serious threat. Their professionalism is second to none. All aircraft returned safely to base."

 

"I have a horrible feeling that very soon the lessons all states are going to learn from this world wide crisis is that if you have nuclear weapons, you are protected. If you don’t, you are made to suffer. And that means nuclear weapons will be developed wherever possible." ( Phillips O'Brien today on X, formerly Twitter,  here ).

 

The government has   announced Operation Prosper that will provide funding to support veterans into high-skilled jobs , championing the brave men and women who have risked their lives to protect our country and sticking to the plan to ensure a brighter future for all.  We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our veterans and they deserve our full support to continue contributing their incredible skills to the prosperity of our country. Whilst veterans' employment is at an all-time high at 89 per cent, there is more we can do.  That is why the government is  launching a dedicated employment support service, backed by £2.1 million, where they can hone the skills they developed in the military in key sectors like cyber and energy, guiding them into high-skilled high-paid jobs and helping to grow the economy.  The Conservatives are committed to making the UK the best place in the world to be both a veteran and a citizen, as we stick to our plan to grow the economy to ensure a brighter futur

Out this morning in various parts of the former South Copeland area campaigning for Mike Johnson, the Conservative candidate to be Cumbria's next Police, Fire & Crime commissioner.  Mike himself was in Millom, I was out on his behalf in Ravenglass and Gosforth.)  A glorious piece of music by Rossini to relax to afterwards.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that the UK economy is returning to growth and has has grown for the second month in a row, as we work to deliver on our priority to grow the economy. These are of course provisional figure and may be revised - but UK economic statistics are at the same time some of the most accurate and most cautious (e.g. pessimistic) in the world, and they tend to be revised upwards . These figures are a welcome sign that the economy is turning a corner, and we can build on this progress if we stick to our plan. Last week our cuts to National Insurance for 29 million working people came into effect across Britain, as part of our plan to reward work and grow the economy.

After a very difficult period, there are signs that thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, waiting lists are starting to turn the corner. Overall NHS waiting lists have decreased by almost 200,000 since September. This is the biggest 5-month fall in over 10 years outside the pandemic Made possible by the hard work of NHS staff, who are helping us make access to care faster, simpler and fairer for patients.

“It is the greatest scandal that I have ever seen in the criminal justice process. “We’ve had many miscarriages of justice but nowhere as many as these we need to re-evaluate how we approach criminal cases of this kind.  “Something went very very wrong.” Sir Anthony Hooper , the retired High Court judge who had been brought in by the Post office  as chairman of a working group, which reviewed cases of sub-postmasters who believed they had been wrongfully blamed for shortfalls, giving evidence this week to the Inquiry into the Horizon scandal. He added that he had repeatedly told the then head of the Post Office, Paula Vennels, that he was concerned that there had been miscarriages of Justice and the Post Office case didn't add up. Addressing the inquiry, he said: “As I say in my witness statement, I tried to make it clear to Paula Vennells and to the chair [of the board] that the Post Office’s case didn’t make sense and I felt that throughout and no doubt Second Sight [forensic a

 

 

Britain and France signed the "Entente Cordiale" a hundred and twenty years ago today. Before that Britain and France had often been opposed in the past, but for the last 120 years we have been friends. Long may this continue. To mark this anniversary, Britiah and French soldiers took part in ceremonies in each others' capitals. British soldiers have taken part in the traditional ‘changing of the guard ceremony' in front of the Elysée Palace in Paris for the first time, to celebrate 120 years of the Entente Cordiale between France and the UK. While in France today, 16 members of the UK Embassy's Number 7 Company Coldstream Guards - wearing their traditional ‘bearskin’ headdresses with black fur - took part in the ceremony, ‘replacing’ their French counterparts from two sections of the French 1st Infantry Regiment. The French Army Choir then sang the two national anthems, God Save the King and La Marseillaise, all in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron and th

Today, the basic state pension will increase by £900 as part of the Triple Lock guarantee. The Conservatives will always back British pensioners.

Today is sometimes nicknamed "Low Sunday" which is the Sunday after Easter, where the attendance at church is usually contrasted with the peak attendance the previous week. To be honest, this morning it didn't feel like that. There were not quite as many people at St James' Church Whitehaven this morning as there had been on Easter Sunday - which had been the best attendance I remember seeing since the start of the pandemic but it was still a respectable turnout by the standards of the last few years - higher, I would say, than the post-pandemic average. Christianity is embedded deeply into the culture and society of Britain, to such an extent that Britain's leading atheist, Professor Richard Dawkins described himself recently as a "cultural Christian." Needless to say he took quite a bit of flak over those comments but I'm not going to add to it - it is perfectly possible to be influenced by a religion and find some of its' values and cultural p

 

News from the Foreign Office today A Royal Navy ship will help get life-saving UK aid into Gaza as part of an international effort to set up a humanitarian maritime corridor in early May. Britain is also pledging £9.7 million for aid, equipment and expertise to help set up the maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza.

 

  I am reminded of a cartoon issued during the Falklands war, after Argentine soldiers on the Falklands accidentally shot down a fighter jet from their own air force.  The caption, which seems equally appropriate to this story of the Russians shooting down one of their own planes, was something like, "Nice shooting comrade - now try hitting one of theirs!"