Chris Whiteside's Blog

If someone stands for the leadership of a political party, doesn't get it, and then defects to another political party, then they have proved the people who didn't vote for them right. Any such defection probably also says more about the party which is willing to accept that kind of recruit than it does about the party they have left.

"Labour's latest partial u-turn on pubs isn't fooling anyone. Cafes, hotels, and small businesses across the country are still getting clobbered by their tax rises. Only the Conservatives will abolish business rates for thousands of firms and help rejuvenate the high street." Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch

"Not long ago I was flying back from Poland after my first visit to Auschwitz, and mulling the horror of what I had seen - the hills of children’s shoes and suitcases, the tonnes of human hair. What struck me was the sheer scale of the operation and the obvious truth that the Nazis had not done this on their own. The rounding up of innocent people and packing them into trains : this greatest ever act of mass murder was committed with the active complicity of huge numbers of European civilians in every occupied country.  On my plane back from Warsaw I happened to meet the daughter of an old colleague who told me that she no longer felt safe to wear a Star of David round her neck in London. I was furious and ashamed at the failures of policing and political leadership that have allowed her to feel so unsafe. Anti semitism is alive again in Britain, Europe and around the world. The old virus is awake. We must never be so arrogant and so conceited as to believe that our civilisation c...

The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2026, 'Bridging Generations', is a call-to-action. A reminder that the responsibility of remembrance doesn't end with the survivors - it lives on through their children, their grandchildren and through all of us. This theme encourages us all to engage actively with the past - to listen, to learn and to carry those lessons forward. By doing so, we build a bridge between memory and action, between history and hope for the future. As the years pass, we’re growing more distant in time from the Holocaust and from the other, more recent genocides that are commemorated on HMD. That distance brings a risk – memory fades and the sharp reality of what happened becomes blurred, abstract or even questioned. Bridging Generations highlights the crucial role of the next generation in preserving the memory of the Holocaust and carrying it forward. It highlights the power of intergenerational dialogue – of listening to those who came before us and ...

Eighty one years ago today, on 27th January 1945, at about 9am, the first Soviet soldier from a reconnaissance unit of the 100th Infantry Division appeared on the grounds of the prisoners' infirmary in Monowitz. The entire division arrived half an hour later. The same day a military doctor arrived and began to organize assistance. In the afternoon soldiers of the Red Army entered the vicinity of the Auschwitz main camp and Birkenau. Near the main camp, they met resistance from retreating German units. 231 Red Army soldiers died in close combat for the liberation of Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowitz. Two of them died in front of the gates of Auschwitz main camp. One of them was Lieutenant Gilmudin Badryjewicz Baszirow. The first Red Army troops arrived in Birkenau and Auschwitz at around 3 p.m. and were joyfully greeted by the liberated prisoners. After the removal of mines from the surrounding area, soldiers of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front marched into the camp and broug...

"This Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember the millions of lives lost in the Holocaust. This year’s theme, Bridging Generations, reminds us of our duty to carry these memories forward, especially as antisemitism rises again. We must never let the truth fade. We will remember them." (Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch , Conservative leader, shown here with Dr. Marcel Ladenheim, while signing a Holocaust book of remembrance.)

"Some basics about Chagos for BBC reporters, Sky anchors and others coming new to the debate. 1.  The Chagos Islands lie half-way between Africa and Indonesia, and host a key Anglo-American military base on the main island, Diego Garcia 2.  France ceded the archipelago to Britain in 1814 separately from Mauritius; the islands were always a distinct territory, though, lacking suitable facilities, their administration was sited in Mauritius 3.  To put the issue beyond doubt, Mauritius permanently renounced any claim to the islands in 1965 in return for a cash payment from Britain 4.  It eagerly trousered the money, its first post-independence PM, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, explaining that he had been glad to sell any theoretical right to “ territory of which very few people knew, which is very far from here, and which we had never visited ” 5.  Mauritius is indeed 1337 miles from the islands, and began to press its claim again only when it grew closer to China in ...

 Posted Saturday 24th: "Yesterday, the Conservative team in Parliament delivered a masterclass in how experience and teamwork can defeat bad policy. Thanks to the combined efforts of Priti Patel, Lords True, Callanan, Keen, and Wolfson, along with our defence, legal and foreign policy teams in the Lords and Commons, we forced Labour to pause its reckless attempt to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.  Labour's stupid surrender deal would have cost the British taxpayer £35 billion and weakened a vital UK-US military base in the Indian Ocean. This wasn’t the work of one speech or one person. It was the result of deep experience across the Conservative benches -people who understand how parliament works, how the law works and will knuckle down to get stuff done.  I'm so proud of my team." Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch , Conservative leader

They used to define an intellectual as someone who could listen to this without thinking of "The Lone Ranger" ...

"To Our Allies: I Am Sorry." A US Marine veteran issues a deeply moving tribute to his former comrades from America's NATO allies and apologises for the words of his president.

"Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true. But other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly - and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence." (Thomas Sowell)  

The Leader of the Conservative party had this to say about the outrageous comments from the US President about America's allies serving "well back from the front" " President Trump’s comments about British Troops in Afghanistan are disgraceful. Comments like this are factually wrong, weaken NATO, and denigrate the memory of our brave soldiers who served there. " Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch 1,100 troops from countries other than the USA died supporting the American-led coalition mission in Afghanistan, including among others 457 Brits, 149 Canadians, and 43 troops from Denmark. Those eleven hundred people were not killed "well back from the front." I wonder how many Americans realise how much anger among America's allies President Trump stirs up every time he makes another gratuitous and cruel insult to people who gave their lives when their countries came to the aid of the USA. Or how much completely unnecessary damage he has done to America's reputat...

Andrew Neil's monologue on Trump's Greenland climbdown: "So it’s peace in our time after all.   Trump marched his ego to the top of the hill then marched it down again.  After numerous demands that he be allowed to annex Greenland coupled with threats of penal tariffs on anybody who opposed him, Trump backed off in Davos yesterday, agreeing a framework with NATO to bolster security in the High North — Greenland and the Arctic region.  NATO secretary-general Marc Rutte, who brokered the deal, says US ownership of Greenland — something Trump had insisted was essential for US security — wasn’t even raised in his Trump talks.  So it was all much ado about nothing. A waste of everybody’s time for those covering this story and for those trying to follow it. Sorry about that.  The usual Trump sycophants and know-nothings are piling in to claim it’s all just another example of his negotiating genius, the art of the deal in action again, in all its vain glory.  He p...

As I have previously posted, the Labour government asked 63 councils which were going through local government reorganisation whether they would like to postpone elections due this May (2026). It is important to stress that there were councillors of all parties who voted to go ahead with elections, that a majority of councils did NOT ask to have their elections postponed, and the elections for those councils will go ahead in May. We now know which councils have asked to have their elections postponed, and for which councils the government is bringing forward legislation to do this but for some reason there are discrepancies in what is being reported in the mainstream media and shared on social media about which councils are involved. I have seen various reports that 28, 29 or 30 councils asked for, or are, having their elections postponed - but the government statement lists 29 councils for which it says it is bringing forward legislation to postpone elections this year. They are: ...

This notice has appeared at the premises which used to be occupied by an Italian restaurant, now closed.

Those who defend our country should be defended in turn - and our veterans should not be subject to vexatious "lawfare." Of course, they should do so within the law, but that should be the same law for everyone. It is outrageous that we had an amnesty for terrorists but not soldiers and police officers. Labour are not trying to remove protections for veterans which the last government put in place and only the Conservatives are opposing it. Conservative MPs voted against this bill last night: Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick did not show up. 

Great interview by Kemi - lots of important points from the need to stand up to Donald Trump by showing strength to the need to have the back of British veterans and the serious problems with the "Troubles bill."

I love both the King's Singers performance previously posted today, and this one by the Gesualdo Six, so I decided to post both

"It is appalling that Keir Starmer is removing protections for our veterans who served in Northern Ireland. I want to make sure that we do right by all our veterans. I want those who have served, are serving, or will serve to know that the Conservatives have your back." Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch , Conservative leader.

 

A statement by Shabana Mahmood, UK home secretary, explaining that she had a vision similar to Jeremy Bentham's idea of a prison called the " panopticon " where " the eyes of the state can be on you at all times. " Am I the only person who finds the idea of anyone with a vision like that as a minister responsible for either Britain's justice system or police to be both chilling and terrifying?  (Source:  Sam Ashworth-Hayes on X: "Shabana Mahmood, UK home secretary: her vision is a "panopticon" where "the eyes of the state can be on you at all times" https://t.co/S5JIJbm3i6" / X )

Yesterday Robert Jenrick criticised the leader of the Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch, for not having expelled Liz Truss from the party, implying that if he had won the leadership election he would have done so. Asked about this by a journalist, Kemi explained: “Well, I'm a fair-minded person. We have rules, and if people break the rules, they get kicked out of the party. Robert Jenrick broke the rules. That's why he got sacked, suspended, and kicked out. Whether or not you agree or disagree with what Liz Truss is saying, she's not breaking party membership rules." She added: "I believe in free speech. She can say whatever she likes. I'm focused now on the people who are actually in Parliament. And the fact that Robert Jenrick is spending time talking about kicking out Liz Truss and so on, this is all psychodrama. That's not what's going to get the country back on its feet.”