UK

Local councillors are usually obscure figures, passionate local activists hoping to improve their areas or ambitious party loyalists wanting to climb the electoral ladder. But among the thousands of councillors standing across the country on Thursday, a few names stand out. From Olympians to ousted ex-MPs, The Independent looks at how the main parties are hoping star power will help their candidates over the line in one of the most unpredictable sets of local elections in British history. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is fielding several celebrity candidates More

Ed Miliband has hit back over Tony Blair’s assault on his net zero policies as the former prime minister went to war Keir Starmer’s government over climate change.The ex-PM has publicly warned the energy secretary and other western governments of the “inconvenient facts” that their eco policies are wrong because voters know their sacrifices will not have virtually no impact on climate change.In a foreword to a report by the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), the ex-PM claimed voters “feel they’re being asked to make financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle when they know the impact of global emissions is minimal”.The major intervention has been condemned by climate change activists but given succour to those who have been calling for a Donald Trump-style ditching of the agenda in favour of fossil fuels.Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband (PA) More

Kemi Badenoch has called for Donald Trump-style mass deportations and the building of a statue of Margaret Thatcher in Parliament Square, in what appears to be a last ditch attempt to win over Reform voters ahead of the local elections. The Tory leader said she “absolutely” would support mass deportations of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, adding: “It’s not going to be easy, but you’ve got to start from somewhere”.It comes after Tory peer and pollster Lord Hayward predicted a devastating night for his own party at the local elections, taking place on Thursday. Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch More

Online safety regulator Ofcom has been accused of having a “muddled and confused” response to regulating the dangers of AI chatbots which could pose a “clear risk” to the public.Andy Burrows, chief executive of online safety and suicide prevention charity, the Molly Rose Foundation, said too many AI chatbots were being rushed out by tech firms in a battle for market share in the new, but rapidly growing space of generative AI (Gen AI).Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that it had found Meta’s AI chatbots and virtual personas will take part in romantic and even sexual role-plays with users, including children.The report said Meta had called the testing manipulative and unrepresentative of how most users would engage with chatbots, but made changes to its products after seeing the findings.Mr Burrows said this latest report should prompt greater action from Ofcom to more tightly regulate AI chatbots under the Online Safety Act, a subject he said the regulator has not been clear enough on.“Every week brings fresh evidence of the lack of basic safeguarding protections in AI generated chatbots that are being hurriedly rushed out by tech companies in an all too familiar battle for market share,” he said.“Despite this, Ofcom’s response to the risks remains muddled and confused.“The regulator has repeatedly declined to state whether chatbots can even trigger the illegal safety duties set out in the Act.”If there are loopholes in the Act, Ofcom should stop dodging the question and start providing clarity on how we need to plug them.“From child sex abuse to inciting acts of violence and even suicide, poorly regulated chatbots are a clear risk to the safety of individuals and the public.”Asked about the subject during an evidence session of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee on Tuesday, Ofcom’s director for online safety strategy delivery, Mark Bunting, acknowledged that the “legal position” was “not entirely clear” and “complex”.“The first thing to say is that Gen AI content that meets the definitions of illegal content, or content that is harmful to children is treated in the Act exactly the same way as any other type of content,” he told MPs.“The Act is deliberately drawn in a way that’s technology neutral.“There are areas of the technology where we think the legal position is not entirely clear or it’s complex.“So, for example, chatbots and the character services that we’ve seen linked with harm in the last few months, we think they are caught by the Act in some circumstances, but not necessarily all circumstances.“The mere fact of chatting with a chatbot is probably not a form of interaction which is captured by the Act, so there will be things there that we’ll want to continue to monitor.“We’ll want to talk to industry about those things where we think that there’s more that could be done – we’d be very happy to work with Government and parliament to try to build on the legislation that’s already in place.”Online safety groups have raised a number of concerns around AI chatbots, including that they can easily and quickly spread misinformation because of flawed training data or through AI hallucinations, as well as through AI-image generation tools being used to create child sexual abuse material.Earlier this month, the safety organisation the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) reported finding record levels of web pages hosting child sexual abuse material in 2024, and warned that AI-generated content were a key factor in that rise. More

French police will intervene to stop migrants getting on to small boats when they’re in the water after the UK “persuaded France to change its rules”, the home secretary has said. Small boat smugglers have been picking up migrants from the sea rather than French beaches in the latest attempt to evade police.Yvette Cooper said on Tuesday that smugglers are using the dinghies as “taxies”, launching much further up the French coast and then travelling down to beaches closer to the UK to pick up migrants. Migrants are then wading or swimming out to clamber aboard the small boats in the water, rather than getting on the dinghy from the beach. These tactics have been particularly effective at evading the French police, as the authorities currently don’t intervene once migrants are in the water, Ms Cooper explained. The home secretary told the BBC Today programme that the UK has recently “persuaded France to change its rules”. The French have agreed to intervene once migrants are in the water to stop the crossings, but the plan has yet to be put into action, Ms Cooper added. Yvette Cooper said that smugglers were using dinghies like taxis to evade French police More

Britain’s first transgender judge is taking the UK to the European Court of Human Rights over the ruling that trans women are not legally women under the Equalities Act.The long-awaited judgement from the Supreme Court was hailed by campaigners but led to warnings it would “exclude trans people wholesale from participating in UK society”. Victoria McCloud, who stood down last year, is bringing action against the UK arguing a breach of her rights under article six of the European Convention on Human Rights. She claims the court refused to hear her views on how the ruling would affect her and other trans people.Victoria McCloud is taking the UK to the European Court of Human Rights More

Since its introduction in 2018, the UK’s sugar tax, officially known as the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, has sparked fierce debate over whether it actually helps reduce obesity or just adds pressure to household budgets. Originally applied to fizzy drinks with high sugar content, the levy prompted many manufacturers to reformulate products, leading to a 46 per cent reduction in sugar levels across the soft drinks sector.Now, the government is consulting on expanding the tax to include milk-based drinks like milkshakes and pre-packaged lattes, as well as non-dairy alternatives such as oat and rice drinks. Officials argue that the health risks posed by high sugar consumption outweigh earlier concerns about calcium intake, particularly for children. Supporters say the tax is a practical tool to improve public health and incentivise companies to cut sugar even further. Critics, however, warn it’s a regressive move that hits lower-income families the hardest and does little to tackle the root causes of obesity.Home Secretary Yvette Cooper insists the government is focused on “sensible measures” to protect children’s health, while others, including opposition figures and some industry leaders, argue it’s another example of overreach that interferes with personal choice.The Treasury says the levy has raised £1.9 billion to date, but as consultations continue, the big question remains: has the sugar tax really worked?What do you think? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts in the comments below. More