UK

“We need a new political voice for the working class”, says TUSC/Collective candidate Dave Nellist

#CanaryCandidates meets Dave Nellist

 by Ed Sykes
1 July 2024
in Analysis

In the twentieth of our video interview series #CanaryCandidates, we meet Dave Nellist – standing in Coventry against Labour’s Mary Creagh

Dave Nellist is the TUSC candidate for Coventry East in the general election, and is backed by Collective – which is bringing together voices on the left to build a “mass movement that will eventually transform into a new political party”. Nellist told the Canary that he’s standing as a candidate partly because of that drift to the right of Labour. It’s more authoritarian. It’s… driven out about a third of its members. And almost everything that was worthwhile in Jeremy’s two manifestos has now been ditched

Nellist quoted a recent article by Andy Haldane, CEO of the Royal Society of Arts and formerly the Bank of England’s chief economist, in which Haldane said:


Labour’s proposed additional spending is about one-tenth and one-fifteenth respectively of proposals in their 2017 and 2019 manifestos

This drastic reduction in spending proposals, Haldane asserted, was a result of both Tories and Starmer’s Labour having “self-imposed constraints” which saw them “committing to near-identical fiscal rules”.

Labour will have increasing tensions with trade unions

Because of Labour’s current absence of any meaningful proposal for ordinary people, Dave Nellist said, it is likely to have more and more problems with the trade union movement in coming months and years, assuming it wins the election as polls predict.

 He asked:
What do unions with members in public services, that are going to continue their decline after the election, say when their members hoped that the new government was gonna be different from the last and are disappointed that it isn’t?

How do they then say at the next council elections ‘vote Labour, even though they’re not gonna give you a pay rise that meets the rising prices, even though they’re not gonna secure or replace the lost jobs in the services that you’re trying hard to provide’? So there will be tensions.

But he also pointed out that for the most people “what changes their view is experience”. So there won’t be a truly massive shift away from Starmer’s Labour Party until ordinary people actually see the results of its awful political positions with their own eyes.

Nellist wants the trade union movement to play a bigger role in left politics going forwards, and reminded us that:

This country was at its most equal at the point when trade union membership was at its highest and when its influence was the greatest, which was the mid-1970s.

In terms of his own electoral promises, he insisted he would continue his commitment to only taking a reduced salary:

As it was my Labour Party’s policy in the early 1980s, only taking the wage of a local skilled factory worker for the nine years I was in parliament or the 14 years I was in the local authority.

And he stressed that his current campaign is largely about trying to:

find the people who think the same way as we do: domestically on poverty and inequality, or internationally on Israel’s war on Gaza. You need anti-austerity, anti-war candidates.

We’re back to square one. And we need a new mass movement urgently.

Dave Nellist is also a firm believer that we desperately need a new mass movement on the left now that Keir Starmer has set in motion the terminal decay of the Labour Party.

 He argued:

We’re roughly where we were a century and a quarter ago when the trade union movement at the back end of the 19th century was looking at the Tories and Liberals and saying ‘I can’t really see a difference there, we need a Labour Party’.

We’re now looking at the Labour Party and the Tories and the Liberal Democrats and saying ‘well I can’t see much difference in that overlapping agenda, we need a new political voice for the working class’.

And he pointed out that the left is already sowing seeds in this general election for the creation of the mass movement that the country sorely needs right now:

After the election, I think there will be discussions taking place, both within the trade unions but also across the trade union movement and the left campaigns that exist. I suspect… Jeremy’s Peace and Justice Project will be part of if not central to the bringing together of those discussions.

Again, what we’re doing in this general election: we’re sowing seeds in all our local areas trying to build up networks, hoping that there can be a better collective discussion and approach that brings forward a new party. Exactly what form it will be, exactly what it’s programme will be, will take negotiations and discussions and so on.

What it can’t be, by the way, is one individual at the top and it being a top-down organisation. It has to have democracy, it has to have accountability. And in my view, it has to fight and win a battle amongst the rank and file of the trade union movement to move trade unionists in there and if possible trade unions into that new structure. Because in my view, that’s what will give it weight and longevity

His message of hope and urgency, meanwhile, is that this movement must be democratic, and it must come into being as soon as possible:

We have to get together in large numbers. The new party we need has got to have millions of votes eventually. It’s got to have hundreds of thousands of people actively supporting, at least tens of thousands of people… putting their main effort into supporting it. And I think that is possible.

So that’s my message of hope, if we can get the organisation, the conferences, the meetings and so on… If we don’t do that, then we do face that problem – having to confront the far more confident and authoritarian far-right populists like Farage and others. It is an urgent job… Labour will begin to disappoint certainly within one or two years, possibly within months of taking office.

For more on Nellist’s comments see the full interview on our YouTube channel:

 

UK

Starmer says he will work with fascist Le Pen against refugees

BySKWAWKBOX (SW)01/07/2024

on Starmer says he will work with fascist Le Pen against refugees

Red Tory plumbs new racist depths hot on heels of offending Bangladeshis with unfounded comments

Keir Starmer, not satisfied with appalling Bangladeshis and all anti-racists with his deportation comments this week, has plumbed new racist depths by saying he would work with fascist Marine Le Pen’s ‘National Rally’ (formerly National Front) party against the small boats used by desperate refugees to reach the UK, according to the Telegraph:

Every day, Labour becomes more and more a racist endeavour. In his eagerness to appeal to the racist right, Starmer is embracing, and opening the door wider for, outright fascism in the UK – while supporting the fascist, genocidal Israeli regime.

Scottish Greens: Nuclear will ‘leave legacy of debt and radioactive waste’

1st July, 2024

By Lucy Jackson@LucyAJackson_Multimedia Journalist

he Scottish Greens have reiterated their opposition to nuclear energy

NUCLEAR power would “leave a legacy of debt and radioactive waste for generations to come”, the Scottish Greens have said.

The party has reiterated its opposition to nuclear, claiming its greater inclusion in the energy mix could hamper the move to 100% renewable energy.

Co-leader Lorna Slater also hit out at comments from Labour leader Keir Starmer, who said the sector will be a “critical part” of his energy plan.

“More nuclear power would leave a legacy of debt and radioactive waste for generations to come,” Slater said.

“Backing it is not just a distraction, it undermines our journey to 100% renewable energy. The Scottish Greens will oppose any attempts to expand or impose it.”

The Green co-leader also hit out at the management of the construction of Hinkley Point C on the south coast of England, where delays and cost overruns have spiralled.

“The disastrous mismanagement of Hinkley Point C tells us everything we need to know about how unreliable and expensive nuclear has become,” Slater (below) said.

(Image: PA)

“It is now running 14 years behind schedule and costs have inflated to £46 billion – seven times Scotland’s entire annual capital budget.

“Even though Hinkley is on the south coast of England, Scottish households will be paying for this travesty for decades.

“It’s outrageous that instead of learning from this catastrophic mismanagement the Tories and Labour are committing to pouring even more of our money into new nuclear power. ”

The UK Government said earlier this year the UK taxpayer will not be on the hook for the cost increases faced by the EDF-run facility in Somerset.

“The Tory and Labour nuclear fantasies will do nothing for our climate and will leave future generations with a costly and dangerous legacy to clean up,” Slater added.

(Image: Gordon Terris)

“Scotland and the UK has a vast potential for renewable energy, but we need to invest in it.

“The huge sums of money being wasted on nuclear energy could be far better spent on rapidly expanding our green industries, delivering 100% renewable energy and investing in the jobs of the future.”

Douglas Lumsden, Scottish Conservative shadow secretary for net zero, energy and transport, said: “The dogmatic opposition of the Greens – and the SNP – to nuclear energy shows that neither party have a clue when it comes to energy policy.

“The SNP and the Greens also oppose new oil and gas production in the North Sea – which would cost tens of thousands of North East jobs – when they know full well that renewable sources alone can’t yet meet our energy needs.

“Nuclear is clean, green and should be a key part of our energy mix – which is why countries around the world are embracing it.”

UK Greens pledge to abolish Ofsted and SATs testing

The party is also proposing to scrap tuition fees, provide free school meals for all children, and have a qualified counsellor in every school.


THE PARTY IS ALSO PROPOSING TO PROVIDE FREE SCHOOL MEALS

 FOR ALL CHILDREN (DANNY LAWSON/PA)
PA ARCHIVE

RHIANNON JAMES

The Green Party has pledged to abolish Ofsted and bring in continuous assessments to replace SATs testing, as part of an £8 billion education package.
The party is also proposing to scrap tuition fees, provide free school meals for all children, and have a qualified counsellor in every school and college.

Co-leader Carla Denyer said the Greens are providing an “A-star offering” which is “fully inclusive and costed”.

Greens also believe that a more holistic education, where arts and vocational subjects are treated equally within the curriculum, will help more students thrive

CARLA DENYER

She said: “To help relieve the stresses in our education system and improve wellbeing, for both teachers and pupils, Greens want to replace high-stakes formal SATs testing in primary and secondary schools with a system of continuous assessment, and abolish Ofsted.


“We also want to see a massive boost in funding for special needs provision in mainstream schools, and for a qualified counsellor in every state school and college.

“No child must be left behind by poverty. Opportunities must be available to all.

“Alongside scrapping the two-child benefit cap and uplifting Universal Credit by £40 a week, Green MPs will push for all children to be provided with a healthy school meal every day – free of charge.

“Greens also believe that a more holistic education, where arts and vocational subjects are treated equally within the curriculum, will help more students thrive.

“We also want children to learn about the climate and nature crises to equip them for the challenges ahead and so they can be part of the solution.”

Ms Denyer, who recently received an endorsement from the Love Actually star Hugh Grant, added: “We don’t pretend there’s a magic money tree lurking in the playground. We are being honest.

“Generating the billions needed to invest in our education system – including giving hard-working teachers a much-needed pay uplift – requires reforming our tax system to make it fairer and greener.

“Our A* offering is fully inclusive and costed. We know it gets top marks.

“Green MPs will push a Labour government to take some lessons from our manifesto and offer better funded support for both students and teachers.”

Under the party’s proposals, £2.5 billion will go to repairing schools with Raac concrete, £5 billion for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and £12 billion to “skills and lifelong learning for further education”.

Ms Denyer said: “Post-16 education and training opportunities must be better designed to support lifelong learning.

“Greens will seek to restore the education maintenance allowance to financially support young people to extend their studies.

“Marketisation has been disastrous for higher education, pushing universities into financial crisis and burdening a whole generation of students with debts.


“So elected Green MPs will push to end tuition fees and restore maintenance grants.”

 

UK universities urged to end drugs zero tolerance and focus on harm reduction

Sally Weale Education correspondent

THE GUARDIAN

Mon, 1 July 2024


Jeni Larmour, 18, who died on her first day at Newcastle University in 2020, after consuming a lethal combination of alcohol and ketamine

UK universities are being urged to ditch a zero-tolerance approach to drug use and focus instead on public health and harm reduction, with drug testing and non-judgmental support for students seeking help.

The warning came as new research found students are less likely to use drugs than those of the same age group in the general population. Of the minority that do, more than two out of five would like to reduce their use.

Experts remain concerned that a zero-tolerance approach still deployed on some campuses, including fines, suspensions and expulsions, does little to reduce drug use and could deter students from coming forward for help.

Almost one in five (18%) out of 4,000 students who took part in a poll for Universities UK (UUK) – the organisation that represents 142 higher education providers – told researchers they had used drugs in the past, while one in eight (12%) had used drugs in the past year.

Of those who had ever taken drugs, the most commonly used in the past year were cannabis (53%), cocaine (8%), prescription drugs (7%), ketamine (6%) and ecstasy (4%).

Among non-students, almost 18% of 16- to 24-year-olds in England and Wales reported drug use in the year up to March 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics, while in Scotland, 23.5% of the same age group had used drugs in the year prior to being surveyed.

According to UUK, only one in five students who have used drugs in the past 12 months have asked for support from their institution. Of those students who did seek support, nearly half (46%) said their university’s drug policy was a barrier, while more than a third (37%) feared the consequences of coming forward.

Jeni Larmour, 18, of Newtownhamilton in Northern Ireland, died in October 2020 on her first day at Newcastle University after consuming a lethal combination of alcohol and ketamine given to her “by another”, according to a coroner.

Her mother, Sandra Larmour, welcomed the report and said her own views on drug policy had changed. Where once she might have backed zero tolerance, she now favours educating and supporting students, though she said universities should never condone drug use.

“If you tell a bunch of teenagers ‘don’t do something’, you’re on a hiding to nothing. Anybody that’s got children knows that – they’re going to go out and do it,” Larmour said.

“But if you’re doing something in an open and informed manner, that can only help. If you’ve got people there with insight, knowledge and professional experience that can give them guidance on it, and they feel they can come forward, that’s a very positive step.”

The SafeCourse charity, which was set up to promote harm reduction policies on UK campuses, welcomed UUK’s new framework for action. Its founder, Hilton Mervis, whose son Daniel died of an accidental overdose, said a zero-tolerance approach may have discouraged him from seeking help because of fear of expulsion.

“Drugs left a hole in my family’s life because Daniel was failed by zero-tolerance policies,” he said, adding that the college now has a “clear harm reduction policy which puts the safety and wellbeing of their students first.

“Yet many universities continue to declare zero tolerance on drugs. In practice, this means zero action. This puts students at risk. The time has come for universities to adopt active, student-led harm reduction approaches.”

The UUK report, Enabling student health and success: tackling supply and demand for drugs and improving harm reduction, published on Tuesday, also calls on universities to promote and inform students of drug checking services. “Students often do not know the contents and strength of illicit drugs at the point of purchase,” it says.

“The consequences of this can be fatal. Drug checking provides an independent service which encourages students to have any substances of concern tested by chemists, and the results discussed during a consultation with a health professional.”

It also suggests a sliding scale of warnings of increasing severity for repeat incidents over an agreed timeframe to ensure a university is not perceived as permissive about the use of drugs.

Larmour urged parents whose children are preparing to go off to university in the autumn to talk to their child. “Make sure that you’re open and honest with them.” To youngsters about to leave home, she said: “Be aware of your surroundings. Be aware of who your friends are. Think before you do anything.

“I miss Jeni every day of my life. I think about her all the time. Everything I do, I do it for one reason. That’s to keep her name alive, to keep her name on people’s lips, to keep her memory alive.”

CAPITAL STRIKE

Energy giant boss warns investing in Britain is 'uneconomical' as they plan to move expansion abroad to the US and Denmark

By JESSICA CLARK

PUBLISHED: 1 July 2024 


An energy boss has warned that his firm will prioritise expansion in the US and Denmark as Britain's political parties 'put pain' into the oil and gas industry.

David Bucknall, chief executive of Ineos Energy, said investing in the UK could become 'uneconomic' under Labour's tax plans.

His comments came ahead of the election where energy policy has become a key battleground.
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Mr Bucknall, who runs the energy arm of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's petrochemicals group, said there was greater stability overseas.

His warning comes days after the head of Serica Energy, one of the UK's top independent oil and gas producers, said Britain was 'second only to a war zone' for planning future investment.

Labour has pledged to raise the windfall tax on energy firm profits from 75 per cent to 78 per cent and axe investment allowances.


David Bucknall (pictured), chief executive of Ineos Energy, said investing in the UK could become 'uneconomic' under Labour's tax plans

Mr Bucknall, who runs the energy arm of Sir Jim Ratcliffe 's petrochemicals group, said there was greater stability overseas. Pictured: An offshore oil platform in the North sea

Sir Keir Starmer's party has also said it will not issue new licences for exploration and drilling in the North Sea.

Hundreds of businesses led by the Unite union signed an open letter opposing the policy amid concerns about job losses.

Experts play down fears of further fuel bill hikes as Britain prepares to import a record amount of energy from Europe 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak introduced the energy profits levy when he was chancellor in 2022, and the tax has since been increased and extended.

Mr Bucknall said UK political parties have attempted to outdo 'each other in how much pain you can put into the industry'.

He added: 'If you take away investment allowances and pile on windfall taxes, it's very easy to make things uneconomic'.

His firm will push ahead with expansion in America and Denmark, where it is 'much easier to invest', he said.

Last year Ineos Energy entered the US market for the first time after buying some of Chesapeake Energy's assets in Texas for around £1billion.

Despite political uncertainty in the States ahead of the presidential election in November, Mr Bucknall said the country's energy policy was more stable.

Sir Keir Starmer's party has also said it will not issue new licences for exploration and drilling in the North Sea

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak introduced the energy profits levy when he was chancellor in 2022, and the tax has since been increased and extended

There has not been 'very much change at the operational level in the US, regardless of who the president is', he told The Times.

Last week Ineos Energy was awarded the first onshore carbon capture and storage licence in Denmark.

In the UK, however, the company will focus on developing existing licences rather than launching new projects.

The move comes after David Latin, chairman of Serica Energy, said it was looking abroad for 'acquisition opportunities' due to the windfall levy. Such policies 'are going to drive oil and gas investment overseas, and it will take with it jobs, tax revenues and energy security', he added.

He has previously accused politicians of a 'race to the bottom' to extract more money short-term, despite risking long-term damage to production and making Britain more dependent on imports.

Election backlash looms for UK Indian diaspora’s ex-poster boy Rishi Sunak

Story by Biman Mukherji • 

 South China Morning Post

July 1,2024

Dissatisfaction with rising living costs and economic stagnation could see the PM lose his seat, as Indian diaspora joins anti-Tory wave

Rishi Sunak, once a poster boy for Britain's Indian diaspora, now faces their growing dissatisfaction amid rising living costs and economic stagnation - further hurting his prospects in the country's general election on Thursday.

The opposition Labour Party has been more than 20 points ahead in surveys for over 18 months as Britons tire of Conservative Party rule. Polls last month forecast that Sunak could even lose his own seat in the general election.

The Indian diaspora makes up about 2.5 per cent of Britain's population, meaning their disenchantment with Sunak and his Tories could prove significant.

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"A lot of pain points are coming out in the open and the larger diaspora is going with the sentiment of an anti-Tory wave. People are saying that maybe it's time to bring a new government," said Ashwin Krishnaswamy, a UK-based technology investor and a trustee of the Bridge India charity.



A man makes his way through a food aisle in a supermarket in west London last month. Rising living costs have added to anti-Conservative sentiment. Photo: AFP© Provided by South China Morning Post

Rising living costs and disappointing economic growth have contributed to this perception, said Krishnaswamy, adding that the Conservatives are "getting squeezed from both sides because they have not increased wealth creation".

The downbeat sentiment contributed to a drubbing for Sunak's Conservatives in local elections held in May. The Tories lost control of 10 councils and more than 470 council seats, besides ceding 10 police and crime commissioners to Labour.

Since announcing snap elections about a month ago, Sunak's election campaign, which has heavily focused on promises to fix the economy and public services such as the National Health Service (NHS), has not gained much traction.

"Sunak's campaign has been about looking to the future. But in the past you [Conservative Party] have had so many leadership changes, [people are thinking] what is the guarantee that you will remain," said Priyajit Debsarkar, a London-based Indian author.

Sunak, the first British Asian prime minister, has served in the position and as leader of the Conservative Party since 2022. He previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson from 2020 to 2022.

"The diaspora had lots to celebrate when Rishi took charge of 10 Downing Street. The euphoria has fizzled out due to a failure to keep fundamental promises like tackling the cost of living and the National Health Service crisis," Debsarkar said.

Since late 2021, prices for many essential goods in Britain have been increasing faster than household incomes, resulting in a fall in real incomes. The phenomenon has been termed a cost-of-living crisis.



Sunak meets the public at an event in London on Saturday. 

Photo: Pool via AP© Provided by South China Morning Post

Economic riddle

Born to parents of Indian descent who immigrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s, Sunak earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University and worked for Goldman Sachs and later as a partner at hedge fund firms the Children's Investment Fund and Theleme Partners.

He was elected to the House of Commons for Richmond in North Yorkshire at the 2015 general election, and supported the Brexit campaign in the country's 2016 European Union membership referendum.

Sunak was expected to help fix Britain's economic woes since the nation's withdrawal from the EU in January 2020. But gross domestic product was estimated to have increased by only 0.1 per cent last year, following growth of 4.3 per cent in 2022, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Public sentiment has also soured over the state of facilities such as health services, which have suffered from chronic under-investment, spurring frequent protests by doctors over pay disputes since last year.

"The NHS is a big disaster. There is a huge pay disparity in the NHS between different sections of doctors," Krishnaswamy said, on the reasons for the loss of confidence.

Labour traditionally enjoyed a stronger support base among British Indians, but it has weakened over the years with a new breed of richer and well-educated diaspora identifying more with the Conservatives, a trend which was only expected to accelerate under Sunak.

"However, a lot of water has now flowed between the Thames and the English Channel, so even the Indian diaspora has had second thoughts," Debsarkar said.



Labour leader Keir Starmer at a rally in central London on Saturday, during campaigning for the July 4 general election.

 Photo: PA via AP© Provided by South China Morning Post

Labour leader Keir Starmer has been able to project the party as a stable government-in-waiting, which has resonated with voters struggling with rising costs of living.

"House rents are 100 per cent higher than six to seven years back," said Supriyo Chaudhuri, CEO of e1133 Ltd, a firm specialising in higher education, noting that it was tough for new immigrants to Britain to buy a house. "If you are a new immigrant, you can't [afford to] buy a house."


Chaudhuri, who has been living in the UK for a decade, said Sunak "does not talk about public services and the cost of living crisis", nor had he succeeded in creating business dynamism.

If Labour toppled the Conservatives, they too "will need to find a new play book" to resolve the issues, he said.

Cedomir Nestorovic, a professor of geopolitics at the ESSEC Business School Asia-Pacific in Singapore, said the key to enticing voters would be solving the economic riddle.

Companies needed to be provided with opportunities to create a ripple effect of jobs and salaries, which had not come through strongly under Sunak, he said.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trevor Phillips Destroys Nigel Farage With One Devastating Question

Kevin Schofield

HUFFPOST
Sun, 30 June 2024

Nigel Farage clashed with Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips after he was asked why Reform UK attracts “racists, homophobes and anti-Semites”.

The pair faced off against each other after the party was forced to ditch three candidates accused of making offensive statements.

Farage distanced himself from Edward Oakenfull, Robert Lomas and Leslie Lilley during a brutal grilling on the BBC’s Question Time on Friday night.

Reform UK has also gone to war with Channel 4 after it broadcast secretly recorded footage showing one of the party’s canvassers, Andrew Parker, advocating shooting people arriving in the UK on small boats across the Channel.

Farage has insisted it was a “set-up” because Parker is an actor - claims denied by the broadcaster.

On Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips, the presenter asked him: “Do you ever ask yourself this question, in the words of the immortal Mrs Merton, what was it about you, Nigel Farage, that first attracted these racists and homophobes and anti-Semites to your party?”

Farage, who took over as Reform UK leader earlier this month, replied: “The candidates that we’re kicking out came when I wasn’t there, that’s the first point to make.”

But Philips hit back: “Come on, Reform is your party, you own it, they knew it’s your party. So answer my question, what is it about you that attracted them?”

Farage said: “Ironically, destroying the BNP, means people who are minded that way don’t any longer have a home to go to, and some will gravitate in our direction. When we find out who they are they’ll be gone.”

The presenter then asked: “Why do you think that is? Why do they think that you are the person that’s going to give them a home?”

But Farage pointed out that at a Reform UK election rally in Birmingham later today, the “star of the show” will be Zia Yusuf, who he described as “a practicing Muslim who is going to say things about the growth of Islamic extremism”.

He added: “I can assure you that anybody who has a racist point of view, I don’t want to know.”

Bot-like accounts spreading 'hate' during UK election: NGO

AFP
Mon, 1 July 2024 


Global Witness found that 10 suspected bot profiles on X shared 'disinformation and hate' before the UK general election (LOIC VENANCE)


Bot-like social media accounts have spread "disinformation and hate" in tens of thousands of posts viewed an estimated 150 million times during the UK general election campaign, a watchdog investigation revealed Tuesday.

Global Witness found 10 suspected bot profiles on X (formerly Twitter) have shared more than 60,000 messages containing conspiracy theories and violent hate speech, including Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, homophobia and transphobia, before Thursday's vote.

The NGO assessed that the accounts, which also promoted praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, may have had "an oversize influence" given their prolific output.

Bot profiles are run by computers but have been programmed to look like human-run accounts.

The findings follow warnings that the integrity of key elections around the world this year could be threatened by rapid advancements in cyber-tech, particularly AI, and increasing friction between major nations.

UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden warned on Sunday that hostile actors such as Russia were seeking to influence the country's democratic process after reports emerged of Facebook pages spreading identical pro-Kremlin talking points.

Ava Lee, campaign leader at Global Witness, urged X and other social media companies to "clean up their platforms and put our democracies before profit".

"Political discussion online is often toxic -- we all know that. But when we go on social media, we believe we're seeing what real people think," she said.

"When that's not true, when the conversation may have been influenced by someone who has paid for bots to spread division or to get a particular party into power, our democracy is in jeopardy."

- Overtly party political -

Global Witness researchers identified the sample of suspected bot accounts by searching for posts and hashtags on climate change and migration -- two hot button issues often subject to disinformation.

The team then identified and tracked at least 10 profiles pumping out scores or hundreds of posts daily on these issues in the weeks after the UK election date announcement on May 22.

Eight were overtly party political, clearly aligning themselves for or against a particular party by using its logos as their profile picture or regularly re-posting its content or hashtags, according to the NGO.

It did not find evidence that any UK party was paying for, using or promoting the bots as part of their campaigns.

The content shared by the suspect accounts was overwhelmingly extreme, Global Witness said.

"Some spread anti-Semitism and transphobia. Some state that climate change is a 'hoax', that vaccines have created a 'genocide'," it added.

One of the 10 profiles was recently deleted, but the other nine remained active as Global Witness released its findings.

It urged X -- known as Twitter until US billionaire Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022 and rebranded it the following year -- to investigate the accounts, which likely violate its own policies.

Global Witness also demanded X invest more in "protecting our democratic debate from manipulation".

X did not respond to requests for comment.

jj/phz/rlp

‘Bot-like’ X accounts having ‘oversized influence’ on General Election – study

A new investigation looked at 10 accounts that have shared more than 60,000 posts on the social media site in the last few weeks.


A NEW INVESTIGATION LOOKED AT 10 ‘BOT-LIKE’ ACCOUNTS THAT HAVE SHARED MORE THAN 60,000 POSTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA SITE X SINCE THE GENERAL ELECTION WAS CALLED

 (DOMINIC LIPINSKI/PA)
PA WIR

A new study has found that posts from 10 “bot-like” X accounts spreading disinformation and hate have been viewed more than 150 million times ahead of the UK General Election.

The accounts in question have shared more than 60,000 posts on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, since May 22, with those posts estimated to have been seen 150 million times, an investigation by non-governmental organisation (NGO) Global Witness found.

Many of the posts from these 10 prolific accounts contain “extreme and violent” hate speech, disinformation, conspiracy theories and praise Russian President Vladimir Putin, the organisation said.

It found that posts amplified by these bot-like accounts have spread Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia and transphobia, state that climate change is a “hoax”, that vaccines have created a “genocide”, and that Mr Putin is “the greatest president ever”.

The investigation found the bot-like accounts by searching among hashtags on migration and climate change covering a wide spectrum of views, from #welcomerefugees to #migration and #stoptheboats.

Global Witness, an international NGO that focuses on the environment and human rights, said it considered accounts were “bot-like” if they had three or more “red flags”.

These included posting prolifically, having handles that end in a long string of numbers, and not having a profile picture that purports to be of the person running the account.

The 10 accounts identified by Global Witness have all posted frequently, with all 10 of them having days when they have shared more than 200 posts.

Four of the accounts have had days when they have shared more than 500 posts, and together they have spread some 60,000 posts since the election was called.

The study said: “The number of bot-like accounts we uncovered is also limited, but they have an extremely oversized influence given how prolifically they post and the number of people who are seeing their content.”

Nine of the bot-like accounts focus on UK politics and one focuses on US politics and the UK royal family but was uncovered through searches of accounts using UK-related hashtags, Global Witness said.

Two of the three accounts investigated by the NGO that have posted #stoptheboats encourage people to vote for Reform UK and all of the five accounts using the hashtag #labourlosing promoted Reform UK.

One of the 10 accounts had MBGA (Make Britain Great Again) alongside MAGA (Make America Great Again) and anti-migrant hashtags in their bio – it reposts anti-migrant, transphobic and far-right content and supports Reform UK.

On occasion it has posted nearly 600 tweets in a day and has increased the amount it posts since the election was called by more than 50%.

Another account described itself in its bio as being pro-Palestine, the environment and the NHS, is focused on stopping votes for the Conservative Party and regularly posts anti-Nigel Farage memes.

There is no evidence that any UK political party is paying for, using or promoting bots as part of their election campaigns, Global Witness said.

Ava Lee, campaign leader at Global Witness, said: “Political discussion online is often toxic – we all know that. But when we go on social media, we believe we’re seeing what real people think.

“While we might not agree with it, we trust that what we see are genuine views held by other voters.

“When that’s not true, when the conversation may have been influenced by someone who has paid for bots to spread division or to get a particular party into power, our democracy is in jeopardy.

“The UK is going to the polls in under a week. The US in four months. Half the world’s population this year. X, and all social media companies, need to clean up their platforms and put our democracies before profit.”

X did not respond to Global Witness or PA news agency attempts to obtain a comment on the findings.

Rishi Sunak Left Squirming As He's Confronted With Ordinary People's Lives In Tory Britain

Kevin Schofield

HUFFPOST
Sun, 30 June 2024 



Rishi Sunak was confronted by what ordinary people think. BBC

Rishi Sunak was left squirming as he was confronted with ordinary people’s experiences of living in Tory Britain.

The prime minister was forced to read comments from viewers as he appeared on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme this morning.

He had earlier insisted that Britain was a “better” place now than it was when the Conservatives came to power in 2010.

But moments later, Sunak had to look on as the viewers’ comments were projected onto a screen behind him.

One, called Julian, said: “Why oh why isn’t anything working in this country? It grieves me sorely to see the state that this country has degenerated into.”

A viewer's comment on the state of the country. BBC

A second viewer, called Michael, said: “Why does my son’s school not have enough money for glue sticks? Why do I have potholes on almost every road I drive on? Why can’t I get a doctor’s appointment? Why are beaches closed when it rains and rivers polluted beyond measure?”

The views of another ordinary voter. BBC

Meanwhile, viewer Sheila said: “Our biggest worry is not about tax, it’s about having the basics.”

Viewer Sheila said she did not even have "the basics". BBC

Kuenssberg asked the PM: “Can you say to our viewers this morning that you can do anything about how they feel? Do you understand it?”

In response, he said: “Yes, of course I do. Of course it’s been very difficult. When inflation rises to the highest level we’ve seen in decades, when energy bills double because of a war in Ukraine, of course that has an impact on Sheila and everyone else.

“And that’s why I’m working so hard to deliver people financial security, and I do think it’s about tax because people are working very, very hard and I want them to be able to keep more of their money so that they can spend that on their families in the way that they want.”

Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth said: “It’s excruciating to watch Rishi Sunak just gloss over the concerns of ordinary working people.

“Rishi Sunak has no remorse for his record: prices are up in the shops, NHS waiting lists have rocketed, and mortgages have soared. He just doesn’t understand what the Conservatives have inflicted on voters over the past 14 years.”