Smartglasses, like Meta's, are sparking privacy fears due to their potential for covert filming, especially of children, and the risk of AI-generated abuse material. While offering benefits for users like parents and blind people, the technology poses significant regulatory challenges for manufacturers and lawmakers.
Andy Burnham has emerged as a potential leader for the Labour party after a byelection victory in Makerfield, defeating Reform. His campaign highlighted his ability to connect with people and generate excitement, contrasting with Keir Starmer's perceived lack of warmth. However, Burnham faces challenges in translating his local success into a national project and clarifying his stance on key issues like immigration and economic policy.
Three former contestants on "Married at First Sight" allege they were raped by their on-screen husbands, with one also reporting violent outbursts and threats. The show's production company and Channel 4 deny wrongdoing, stating appropriate decisions were made based on available information.
The Labour Party faces an existential crisis as it struggles to maintain relevance amidst internal power struggles, declining voter support, and the rise of smaller left-wing parties. The question of whether Britain still needs a Labour party hangs in the balance.
There’s no point searching for a saviour without a genuine change in direction. Real courage is necessary – because Labour still has time to fix what is brokenIf not Keir Starmer, then who? That’s altogether the wrong question. What matters is not who but what comes next. A black cloud of near terminal despair has fallen upon Labour MPs, but seeking a saviour is a useless endeavour until they decide what it is they want to do.The party is facing a cataclysm in next week’s local elections. MPs will watch their councillors, the backbone of their local parties, vanish. Can they avoid panic? In their slough of despond they need to stop and think. Look at it this way: they have three full years ahead with a vast working majority of 165. They have the power to do everything the country most needs. Sunk so low in the polls, they have nothing to lose and nothing to fear (but fear itself). This chance may never come their way again, and they will regret it for ever if they throw it away, vainly chasing lost popularity through overcaution, trying to appease everyone while pleasing no one. By starting again unconstrained they can regain some lost respect.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnistGuardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink? On Thursday 30 April, join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss how much of a threat Labour faces from the Green party and Reform UK – and whether Keir Starmer can survive as leader. Book tickets here or at guardian.live Continue reading...
Cyber-attacks, disinformation and blockading of supplies. This is what living in a war zone can look like nowWe are at war. Four words that sound ludicrously melodramatic on a sunny spring day, when all may not be exactly right with the world – but when you can still shut your eyes to a lot of it just by switching off the news and cracking on with life. No bombs are falling, no bullets flying, no sirens sounding. Though the idea that Britain is already under a form of hybrid attack is commonplace in defence circles, politicians still mostly skirt around it; and it was jolting at first to hear the Labour MP (and former RAF wing commander) Calvin Bailey make the case for conflict being our new reality at a conference hosted by the Good Growth Foundation thinktank last week in London. But then he started to unpack his reasoning for why war is no longer what you think it is.If war can be considered an assault on five fronts – against a country’s political leadership, critical infrastructure, essentials such as food or fuel supplies, civilian population and armed forces – then Britain is arguably now being attacked on the first four without a shot being fired. Think of rampant, Russian-generated political disinformation on social media and attempts to bribe British politicians; of Russian submarine surveillance of the British undersea cables carrying most of our internet traffic, or the four “nationally significant” cyber-attacks recorded every week; of the blockading of food and fuel supplies through the strait of Hormuz. Think, too, of Keir Starmer’s warning in the Sunday Times last week of conflict with Iran coming home to British civilians via “the use of proxies in this country”. He didn’t elaborate, but counter-terrorism police say they are investigating whether a spate of arson attacks on synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses and Iranians living in Britain may have been sponsored by Tehran – a thugs-for-hire tactic familiar from the Russian playbook for sowing division and hate.Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnistGuardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink? On Thursday 30 April, join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss how much of a threat Labour faces from the Green party and Reform UK – and whether Keir Starmer can survive as leader. Book tickets here or at guardian.live Continue reading...
Ed Miliband has a rare chance to do for the climate what Nye Bevan did for health: create something future generations will be proud ofIt looks unlikely that Labour will emerge as the largest party at the next general election (though it’s by no means impossible). If just one term is Labour’s destiny, what legacy will it leave behind? There is already in the making one great success that can’t be reversed, the transition to homegrown clean energy. This is a true “taking back control” escape from the clutches of febrile oil and gas markets. Indeed it might become such a political success that it could rescue Labour’s electoral fortunes.Historically it may come to be recognised as equivalent to the 1948 creation of the NHS, with Ed Miliband the Nye Bevan of our day. He has fought his cause in much the same ruthless way Bevan did. He faces the same ferocious (and politically deranged) opposition from the right, who will have to eat their hats over rejecting renewables. Just as the NHS is a prime reason for pride in Britain, we can expect the same national pride in homegrown energy independence, freeing us from rollercoaster markets and mercurial foreign oil and gas dictators: Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump or ayatollahs.Guardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink?On Thursday 30 April, join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss how much of a threat Labour faces from the Green party and Reform UK – and whether Keir Starmer can survive as leader. Book tickets here or at guardian.livePolly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Keir Starmer has hit back at Labour peer George Robertson’s criticisms about defence funding. Why has the government been slow to prioritise defence and what trade-offs is Keir Starmer willing to make in order to increase spending?Guardian Live: Can Labour come back from the brink?With a difficult set of May elections approaching, Labour under threat from the Green party and Reform UK, and Keir Starmer’s popularity in freefall, can he survive as leader of the Labour party? The Guardian’s Gaby Hinsliff will chair our panel of Guardian columnists including Polly Toynbee, Rafael Behr and Zoe Williams.Join us as they discuss Starmer, Labour and the upcoming May elections. They will also be answering your questions. Get your tickets here Continue reading...
George Robertson has joined Reform and the Tories in making the case. Look welfare recipients in the face and say thatThe benefits budget is now a magic money tree. Whenever Conservatives or Faragists make wild promises – tax cuts, more police, more punishment, more bonuses for marriage – and are asked how they would pay, the answer is always “welfare”. The sums are enormous. “Only the Conservatives will cut welfare spending by £23bn and get Britain working again,” the party insists.More unexpected was the klaxon from the Labour peer George Robertson this week, demanding a cut in benefits to finance defence. “We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget,” said the ex-Nato chief, wanting to pluck this juicy plum to fund defence. Good to see him slapped down sharply by the government: there is no “zero-sum game” between these two budgets, said the chancellor’s deputy, James Murray.Guardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink?On Thursday 30 April, join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss how much of a threat Labour faces from the Green party and Reform UK – and whether Keir Starmer can survive as leader. Book tickets here or at guardian.livePolly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
As difficult May elections loom, Labour faces threats from the Green party and Reform UK, with Keir Starmer's popularity declining. A panel will discuss if he can survive as leader.
