Government publishes AI opportunities action plan amid backdrop of economic uncertainty in UK

In an interview with Times Radio, Pat McFadden , the Cabinet Office minister, rejected suggestions that the government should try to halt the rollout of AI because of the potential impact on jobs. That would be like pressing the “pause button” on history, he said.

At what point in history would you have us press the pause button? This is the story of historical and economic change. And we’re on the threshold of another huge one. And the country’s got to seize the opportunities from this.

If we, again, follow the logic of your questioning, just try to press the pause button in previous history, then we’d never have become an industrialised country in the first place.

As the prime minister has made clear, AI is no longer an if, or even a when; it is here, and it is urgent. The opportunities for Britain’s economy and our public services are too great for us to ignore. This has to be the government’s priority.

Public sector workers are overwhelmed and overworked, with many choosing to leave rather than try to make a broken system work. The result is a doom loop of growing backlogs, worsening outcomes and rising failure demand. The real impact of this is felt not just by those workers, but by the British public who can’t get doctors’ appointments, the benefits they are entitled to, and the high-quality education they and their children deserve.

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Minister hits back after Tories call for PM to sack anti-corruption minister at centre of Bangladesh property row

Keir Starmer will act on the findings of an independent investigation into Tulip Siddiq’s conduct regardless of the outcome, a cabinet minister has said, as Kemi Badenoch called for her to be sacked.

Badenoch, the Conservative leader, accused the prime minister of appointing “his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is accused herself of corruption”, after the Bangladesh government raised serious concerns about Siddiq’s links to the regime of Sheikh Hasina, her aunt.

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Keir Starmer accuses opposition leader of spending ‘a lot of time on social media over Christmas’

When Kemi Badenoch used prime minister’s questions this week to echo Elon Musk’s demands for a new inquiry into sexual grooming gangs , the MPs behind her were trying to interpret the intentions of their fledgling leader. Was it a long-held view? A short-term move to wrong-foot Labour or appeal to Reform voters? A sign she was adopting a more radical politics?

There was one point, however, that seemed to unite those with differing theories about their leader’s motives. Her decision to warn Keir Starmer that refusing a fresh inquiry could prompt speculation about a “cover-up” was the kind of political gamble they had expected her to be willing to take.

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Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nigel Farage are among those who have earned large sums from broadcasters, but a tightening of rules on MPs’ outside interests is being considered

MPs would no longer be able to rake in huge sums that can see them more than double their ­parliamentary ­salaries by signing contracts with media outlets, under plans being ­considered by ministers.

The Observer has been told that ­talks on further ­tightening rules on MPs’ ­outside interests, ­including media contracts, will be started by leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, at a hearing of the all-party standards committee on Tuesday.

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Exclusive: Health secretary says ‘irresponsible public discourse’ could vilify communities and lead to terrorism

The use of inflammatory language over grooming gangs risks vilifying entire communities and could lead to atrocities such as the mosque massacre in New Zealand that killed more than 50 people, the health secretary has warned.

Wes Streeting said he had “no difficulty or qualms” calling out the “sickening” crimes of sexual abuse gangs, criticising “well meaning, but ultimately fundamentally misguided and warped views of political correctness” for letting down thousands of children.

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Applications to devolution programme by 13 Conservative-led councils in England will allow year’s delay if successful

The Conservatives have been accused of “bottling” the local elections after 13 Tory-led county councils in England said they were asking for a delay to this May’s polls to allow them to take part in a structural shake-up.

The Tory councils have agreed they will ask to be part of the government’s priority programme for devolution, which would mean they could ask to put off county elections for a year. Another council, led by Liberal Democrats, has asked to take part in the programme but also raised “significant concerns” about the implications of delaying elections.

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Martin Rosenbaum fought 18-month battle to reveal who had written letters of citation for Charlotte Owen and Ross Kempsell

The reasons given for a peerage awarded by Boris Johnson have been described as “inadequate” and a “mystery” by a freedom of information campaigner after an 18-month battle.

Charlotte Owen, a former special adviser in the Conservative government, was appointed to the House of Lords in Johnson’s resignation honours list in 2023.

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Former health minister says medical examiners, who spot cases of intentional harm, could have been in place earlier

Jeremy Hunt has said ministers took “too long” to introduce medical examiners to investigate deaths in the NHS, as he apologised to the families of Lucy Letby’s victims .

Giving evidence at the Thirlwall inquiry on Thursday, the former health secretary said he had “ultimate responsibility” for the NHS at the time Letby committed her “appalling crime” of murdering babies at the Countess of Chester hospital in 2015 and 2016.

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The language and style of British Conservatism is now taken directly from the fact-free world of online conspiracy

Things can only get worse, as Musk-Trumpery continues to invade British politics. The outrageous smears and falsehoods – Elon Musk posted 200 times on X about “grooming gangs” in three days – included the claim that Keir Starmer is “hiding terrible things”.

The era when the Conservatives were able to pass themselves off as the “respectable” party is thoroughly gone, banished along with its final upholders – former MPs such as Dominic Grieve and David Gauke. Back then, the ketamine-addled ravings of a foreign mega-billionaire might have been politely sidestepped, not eagerly echoed by the Tory leader who has now accused the prime minister of refusing another inquiry into sexual abuse gangs because he “doesn’t want questions asked of Labour politicians who may be complicit”. Remember, Kemi Badenoch last year called herself a “huge fan” of Musk. The factcheck-free world of Meta , Musk, Donald Trump and Nigel Farage is now the language of British Conservatism.

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