02 November 2023 , 22:11
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The accusation that Matt Hancock wanted to decide “who should live and die” if coronavirus overwhelmed the NHS is yet another terrifying revelation that has come to light in the Covid inquiry.
The claim by Simon Stevens, former NHS England chief, is another nail in the reputation of the incompetent Conservative Health
Secretary during the pandemic. His office affair with aide Gina Coladangelo betrayed an aloofness that was fatal for the general public, particularly the vulnerable in care homes struck with the virus by the release of untested hospital patients. TV shows Celebrity SAS and I’m a Celebrity won’t rehabilitate Mr Hancock, a Tory who frankly was not up to the job. The more we learn from the inquiry, the worse it gets. Come an election, the voters will be the Grim Reaper for the Conservatives.
A.I. smarts
Democratic control of artificial intelligence is vital so it operates in the interests of people rather than corporations, criminals, terrorists and rogue states. Change must be embraced, but when AI poses a threat to millions of jobs in Britain alone, and could reshape our lives, it needs to be harnessed to the public good with regulations, safeguards and protections.
US or Chinese or Indian or, possibly, British tech behemoths extracting every last penny of profit, and exerting immense influence over what we think and do, is not a pretty prospect. The international summit at the Bletchley Park wartime code breaking centre is the start not the end of this debate.
Goodbye, hello
The fifth Beatle might be the audio expert engineer who created an instant classic in Now And Then for the absolute joy of music fans. What is billed as the group’s “final song” demonstrates that anything is possible With a Little Help from My Friends.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade