Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour has said it will introduce “binding regulation” on the biggest artificial intelligence firms to ensure the “safe development” of AI if it wins the General Election.In its manifesto, the party said it would target the regulation at the “handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models”.Labour said it would also ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes, and pledged to create a new Regulatory Innovation Office which it said would help regulators across sectors keep up with rapidly evolving new technologies.It said regulators were currently “ill-equipped” to deal with such advances, which often “cut across traditional industries and sectors”.The new office would help regulators “update regulation, speed up approval timelines and co-ordinate issues that span existing boundaries”, Labour said.This is in contrast to the Government’s approach during the last parliament, which chose to use existing regulators to take on the role of monitoring AI use within their own sectors rather than creating a new, central regulator dedicated to the emerging technology, which it said was a more agile and pro-innovation approach.As part of that approach, in February, the Government pledged to spend £100 million on AI regulation, including on upskilling regulators across different sectors on how handle the rise of AI.And speaking in November last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that while “binding requirements” would likely be needed one day to regulate AI, it was currently the time to move quickly without laws.Last month, a number of world-leading AI scientists called for stronger action from world leaders on the risks associated with AI, and said governments were moving too slowly to regulate the rapidly evolving technology.In an expert consensus paper published in the Journal Science, 25 leading scientist said more funding was needed for AI oversight institutions, as well as more rigorous risk assessment regimes. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer Neighbours star Holly Valance has helped Nigel Farage’s Reform UK raise £1.5m within days of his return as leader, according to reports. The news will add to Rishi Sunak’s woes after one poll put the Tories just a single point ahead of Reform. Big donors are understood to be reluctant to fund the Conservative campaign, while Tory MPs complain a snap election did not allow them enough time to build up their warchests. Meanwhile, Reform’s numbers has been boosted by thousands of new members and pledges from large donors. Holly Valance at a Reform UK press conference at The Glaziers Hall in London More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA man who believes his terminal cancer may not have spread without NHS treatment delays described Labour as “the party of hope for a brighter future I won’t live to see”, as he introduced Sir Keir Starmer’s general election manifesto launch.Nathaniel Dye, a 38-year-old music teacher, spoke emotionally to the audience at Manchester’s Co-op headquarters as he described himself as representing “the human cost of an NHS neglected over the past 14 years”.And he praised the policies put forward by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting in Labour’s manifesto “as a real tangible plan to give people the treatment they need before it’s too late”.Nathaniel Dye opened for Keir Starmer at the Labour manifesto launch More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA heckler interrupted Sir Keir Starmer’s launch of the Labour party manifesto by uncovering a banner and claiming his plans are the “same old Tory policies”.A woman described as a climate protester in the audience shouted out just minutes after Sir Keir began speaking before being quickly removed from the event in Greater Manchester.Uncovering a yellow banner showing the words “Youth deserve better”, the young woman said: “You say you are offering change but it is the same old Tory policies. We need better.”Follow live updates hereThe Labour leader quickly snapped back that “Labour stopped being the party of protest five years ago” after Jeremy Corbyn lost the 2019 general election.Do you know the protester? Email [email protected] protester was quickly removed from the event in Greater Manchester after claiming Labour’s manifesto pledges were the ‘same old Tory policies’ More

Sir Keir Starmer offered a 12-word response to a climate protester who interrupted the Labour Party’s general election manifesto launch in Manchester on Thursday, 13 June.Uncovering a yellow banner showing the words “Youth deserve better”, the young woman said: “You say you are offering change but it is the same old Tory policies. We need better.”The demonstrator was swiftly removed after they began to shout while the party leader was speaking.”We gave up on being a party of protest five years ago,” Sir Keir responded. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email The left-of-center politician aiming to become Britain’s prime minister in three weeks’ time said Thursday he will lead a government that’s both “pro-business and pro-worker” and restore stability after years of economic and political turmoil.Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said that if he’s elected on July 4, he will end the “desperate era of gestures and gimmicks” of the Conservative Party’s turbulent tenure.Launching Labour’s election manifesto in the northwest England city of Manchester, Starmer said a Labour government would “stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country.”Next month British voters will elect lawmakers to fill all 650 seats in the House of Commons, and the leader of the party that can command a majority — either alone or in coalition — will become prime minister. Labour currently has a double-digit lead over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ’s governing Conservatives in opinion polls.The Tories have been in power for 14 years under five different prime ministers. The party jettisoned two prime ministers without an election in quick succession in 2022: first Boris Johnson, felled by scandals, then Liz Truss, who rocked the economy with drastic tax-slashing plans and lasted just seven weeks in office.Starmer, a former chief prosecutor who is widely seen as competent but dull, is trying to turn his stolid image into an asset. His core message is that he has transformed Labour from its high-taxing, big-spending days into a party of the stable center.He said his platform was “a manifesto for wealth creation,” and acknowledged that a Labour government would face “hard choices” about public spending.“We cannot play fast and loose with the public finances,” he said. He said he rejected the idea that “the only levers are tax and spend,” and would get the economy expanding after years of sluggish growth.Starmer’s cautious economic approach dismays some in his party, who want bolder change, but has won the support of many business leaders.Sunak released the Conservative manifesto — the party’s key handbook of promises — on Tuesday, pledging to cut taxes and reduce immigration if the Conservative Party is reelected. More

Sir Keir Starmer made a dig at Nigel Farage as he launched the Labour Party’s general election manifesto in Manchester on Thursday, 13 June.“If you want politics as pantomime, I hear Clacton is nice this time of year,” Sir Keir added in an apparent reference to the Reform UK leader who is standing in the Essex constituency.The party leader remarked that there may be some people watching his speech who wondered where the “surprise” or “rabbit out of the hat” in his announcement was, seemingly referring to how the manifesto launch did not contain any announcements beyond what had already set out. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email There’s lots of talk of change in Britain’s election campaign, but little talk about climate change.The U.K.’s July 4 vote to choose a new government comes after one of the wettest and warmest winters on record, part of trends that scientists attribute to global warming. But discussion of climate and the environment has taken a back seat to Britain’s sluggish economy, high cost of living and creaking health care system — and whether, as polls suggest, the governing Conservatives’ time is up after 14 years in power.That frustrates the Green Party, which is battling a political system that makes it hard for small parties to win seats in Parliament, and a political climate that discourages expensive, long-term environmental promises.“I think they are very wrong, the other parties, to ignore climate change and the big investment that’s needed,” said Sian Berry, one of 574 Green candidates running in England and Wales for the 650-seat House of Commons – and one of the few with a good chance of winning. The party held just one seat in Parliament before the election.“I think people these days do recognize that to solve climate change is not something you do on the side, it has to be part of all your policies,” Berry said over the sound of screeching seagulls in the seaside city of Brighton on England’s south coast.The governing Conservatives boast that Britain is a leader in embracing renewable energy and cutting the carbon emissions that fuel climate change. U.K. greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by half from 1990 levels, mainly because coal has largely been eliminated from electricity generation.But environmentalists say the U.K. has recently gone into reverse.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is battling to close a polling gap with the opposition Labour Party, has criticized “unaffordable eco-zealotry,” approved new North Sea oil drilling and pledged to build more gas-fired power plants, while insisting the U.K. can still meet its goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.Labour leader Keir Starmer has scrapped the party’s pledge to invest 28 billion pounds ($36 billion) a year in green projects if elected, replacing it with a smaller commitment. He blames the parlous state in which the Conservatives have left the public finances.The lack of action alarms climate scientists, more than 400 of whom wrote to the political parties to warn that any leader “who does not make stronger climate action a priority for the next five years and beyond will place the prosperity and well-being of the British people at severe risk.”The Green Party embraces that message, but faces a struggle to be heard, and to convince voters that it’s not just about the environment. The party’s 44-page election manifesto, released on Wednesday, includes policies on housing, health care, education, employment and defense as well as green issues.Its pledges are expensive, including 24 billion pounds a year to insulate homes and 40 billion pounds a year invested in the green economy. The party is upfront about the tax increases needed to pay for them, including a carbon tax, a wealth tax on the very rich and an income tax hike for millions of higher earners.The Greens’ challenge is that while research suggests climate ranks among voters’ top five priorities, it often comes well behind everyday issues like housing costs or healthcare waiting lists.War in Ukraine and surging migration also have elbowed the green agenda aside in Britain and beyond. Green parties lost ground in countries including France and Germany in elections for the European Parliament this month, amid a surge for the far right.In the town of Dartford, southeast of London, 27-year-old construction worker Harry Colville said he thinks climate change is important, but “I’m more worried about my life right now. More about the near future for myself.”Emma Jade Larsson, who is about to graduate in medical neuroscience from the University of Sussex in Brighton, said she understands why the cost of living is a top concern.“Food banks are becoming more and more of a need in this country,” she said. “A lot of people are going through really difficult times right now. So I do understand the focus on it, but I think there is also definitely a need to focus on more than one issue at this moment, and look after people now but also people to come.”Unlike many European countries, the U.K. does not use a system of proportional representation. Its first-past-the-post electoral system, in which the candidate who gets the most votes in a constituency wins, favors the two big parties. The Greens got just 2.7% of votes cast in the 2019 election.Even so, Greens have won hundreds of seats on local councils, and are targeting up to four seats in Parliament, including Berry’s constituency of Brighton Pavilion. Part of a city renowned for its pebbly beach, independent streak and vibrant alternative culture, it was represented for 14 years by Britain’s first — and so far only — Green lawmaker, Caroline Lucas.When Berry visits the steep streets of Brighton’s Round Hill district, many of the Victorian houses have Vote Green signs in their windows.Roger Ballance, a university worker who has voted both Labour and Green in the past, said the Greens “present a different side, it’s refreshing.”“You need diverse voices in Parliament,” he said. “If it’s just binary, it lets both of them be way too narrow in their political thinking.”Matt Brown is skeptical that Britain’s politicians are grasping the scale of the environmental challenge. He’s new projects director at the Brighton Energy Cooperative, which installs rooftop solar panels on schools, businesses, soccer stadiums and other businesses.It’s a growing business, but Brown says “it’s literally a drop in the ocean.”“We need gigawatts and gigawatts of power. We need to generate it in a renewable manner, and we need to do it now,” he said.“I would like to see the upcoming government grab the issue by the horns,” he added. “We’re staring down the barrel of a gun, and we need to do something about it.” __Associated Press journalists Kwiyeon Ha in Brighton and Laurie Kellman in Dartford, England contributed to this story. More