Hard for people who work in or around this stuff to conceive of, but most people in Britain do not give a fuck about AI, you may as well ask why aren’t the BBC writing about the latest update to Microsoft Excel

Hard for people who work in or around this stuff to conceive of, but most people in Britain do not give a fuck about AI, you may as well ask why aren’t the BBC writing about the latest update to Microsoft Excel

🚨 New Public Grants on UKGovscan 1.56M UK public grants, including 360Giving, Innovate UK & UKRI, searchable and cross-referenced with Companies House and the charity register £384bn of grant money from 394 funders. Sport England alone has issued 50,089 grants worth £5.3bn. Comic Relief 2,110 grants totalling £600m. National Lottery 285,139 grants worth £12.2bn See what they are funding here: ukgovscan.com/grants

I think there is a case to be made for this

Defence Secretary @DanJarvisMBE has now left the new drone testing facility - barely an hour after arriving. I understand he gave a short speech inside the warehouse that you can see to an array of assembled drone companies. The mood among those present, I am told, was pretty muted as everyone knows this was not the big reveal moment it was meant to be. People had been expecting to see the Prime Minister here at least until this morning. And they had also - at least up until the start of the week - been expecting that the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP) would be out. Neither happened. Instead, in the best spirit of cracking on, the new defence secretary said the DIP is being finalised. I am told (because I wasn’t allowed in to listen) that he talked about how there are significant challenges ahead but also great opportunities. And he stressed the critical importance of new investment in drones and other forms of autonomous technology which are already transforming the way that countries fight.

Absolutely astonishing that there has been a two day racist pogrom in Northern Ireland and @Keir_Starmer hasn’t called a COBRA meeting. QWHITE revealing!

So you're working for the Fabian Society yet doing work for the Labour Party. Seems legit. Totally fine.

An important soft power project for Britain should be to spend several tens of millions on a multigenerational saga about Ulster unionists that can run on Netflix. It would have enormous benefits in educating the USA.

How many times throughout history do the Irish need to prove that you shouldn’t fuck with them?

🚨 NEW: A Treasury source attacks John Healey for resigning as Defence Secretary "Let's be clear on what John is asking for: cuts to schools and hospitals" h/t @e_casalicchio

John Healey has accused Sir Keir Starmer of only offering a 0.08 per cent increase in defence spending by 2030. In his resignation letter, published on Thursday lunchtime, the outgoing defence secretary said Sir Keir’s defence investment plan “falls well short of what is required” at a dangerous time for Britain. Mr Healey said: “As we have regularly discussed, I am certain that a headmark date for 3 per cent of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set. This commitment would have strong cross-party support. Other European allies are stepping up in this way.” He added: “Your DIP financial settlement – which I was first given in full on Monday afternoon this week – falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time. “The extra support is backloaded when the pressure of operations and imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years and it rises to just 2.68 per cent of GDP in 2030, when we will reach 2.6 per cent next year with the investment we are already making.”

“Something important is happening, which is that voters are looking for seriousness and authenticity, and they actually see in Rupert [Lowe] what they don’t see in Nigel [Farage],” Reform MP told The i Paper 🖋 @Kitty_Donaldson Read more: trib.al/wROgNlK

Chief Treasury Secretary Lucy Rigby has defended the Government’s decision to not reduce interest rates on student loans, saying the money is being used to fund benefit schemes including ‘free breakfast clubs’ and lifting the two child benefit cap. Trapping graduates in a lifetime of debt in order to fund breakfasts for children whose parents should be feeding them at home is not beneficial to anyone - children, families or young adults starting out in life.

A far-right plant, surely.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey resigns over military spending plans - follow live bbc.in/4efyKZn

Full statement by the family of Stephen Ogilvie: "We are completely devastated by the horrific attack on our loved one on Kinnaird Avenue. "This has been a massive shock to our whole family, and right now, our only priority is being at his bedside and helping him recover. ​"We want to say a profound thank you to the local people who bravely stepped in during the attack. "Your quick actions absolutely saved his life, and we will never forget what you did for him in that moment. "We also want to thank the emergency services and the doctors and nurses looking after him. "​We are aware of the tensions and talk of protests following this incident. "We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward. "We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector and we depend on them to make our country work. "We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility. "​We are asking the media and the public to please give us some space. "We need privacy to focus on our family right now, without cameras or people speculating about what happened.​ "If you know anything at all about the attack, or saw anything strange near Kinnaird Avenue, please go to the police. ​"Thank you for respecting our privacy"