UK News and Discussions

[wjfox]

I don't even...

[Time_Traveller]

I don't even...

Nor me either, by this if the poll is correct and calculates into votes they would be Labour's opposition after the next general election which makes me cringe and shudder. What would the UK become if this comes true?

[Powers]

I don't even...

It's over.

[weatheriscool]

Pretty much the freedom caucus for the uk in control of the government. You've not seen shit yet is all I'll say.

[wjfox]

Yeah, this is actually quite scary.

I mean, I hate the Tories... but I hate Reform UK even more.

At least the Tories have some moderates and centrists.

Reform UK, however, is entirely hard-right (if not borderline fascist), and contains some absolute lunatics. They were among the loudest voices who pushed for Brexit, the single worst policy decision in our country's history.

[Time_Traveller]

Tories censored for sharing misleading information on social media five times more often than Labour

3 hours Ago

The Conservative Party is almost five times more likely to be censured on social media for sharing false or misleading information online than Labour, new research has claimed.

Top government accounts, including the prime minister, cabinet ministers and the official Conservative Twitter/X feed have accrued almost five times as many community notes as the opposition, a campaign group has said.

A fact-checking feature was made available on Twitter/X in the UK in January last year and allows users to add context or clarifications below posts that contain false or misleading information. Contributors can leave notes on any post and if enough contributors from different points of view rate that note as helpful, the note will be publicly shown.

Research commissioned by pro-European campaign group Best for Britain examined the number of community notes accrued by all members of the cabinet and shadow cabinet, as well as their official party accounts, on Twitter/X.

In total, 73 posts from government party accounts had community notes attached, compared to 15 from official opposition accounts.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 16194.html

Not a surprise here, they have lied to the country for years or maybe decades..

[Time_Traveller]

BBC looks for commercial deals as it faces potential end of licence fee

Mon 25 Mar 2024 00.01 GMT

The BBC is to sign more deals with commercial partners in an effort to shore up its finances, with further cuts to services expected as it faces the potential end of the licence fee.

Tim Davie, the director general, will use a speech on Tuesday to pledge to “secure the future of the BBC” with a range of measures including more aggressively chasing profitable deals, such as the recent partnership with Disney to produce Doctor Who.

Davie will say it is necessary to “radically transform and renew” the BBC, another indication that further changes to the corporation’s output and job losses may be looming. Long-running expensive programmes could be for the chop, while there is a debate over whether the corporation can continue to support dozens of separate TV channels and radio stations at the same time as investing in digital output. Some of the BBC’s previous rounds of financial cuts have been going on for so long that they are likely to overlap with the next round of cuts.

He will acknowledge that the corporation is lagging behind global streaming rivals when it comes to its streaming apps, with the iPlayer homepage lacking the powerful personalisation and recommendation algorithms that power the likes of Netflix. As a result, he will pledge to rebuild all its online products to offer a more personalised service.

Davie will also warn about the effect on British society from losing shared cultural moments and allowing “US and Chinese algorithms” to shape what we consume and squeeze out British dramas: “We are in danger of allowing the UK’s world-class creative industries to be undermined, and diminishing our unique cultural identity and its remarkable influence worldwide.”

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/ ... icence-fee

[Time_Traveller]

Avanti to pay train drivers £600 a shift for overtime

15 hours ago



Train drivers at Avanti West Coast will see their fee for an overtime shift increase to £600 following a deal between the company and union Aslef.

Avanti said it hoped offering more attractive terms to its drivers to work extra shifts would make its services "more reliable and resilient".

The company has faced criticism over cancellations, delays and poor service.

The new rest day working agreement, up from £125, is in addition to a driver's salary.

The deal was struck on Thursday and will come into force on 29 March, remaining in place for 12 months, the BBC has been told.

The Sunday Times, which first reported the story, suggested some drivers could enjoy a salary of up to £100,000 a year, but neither Aslef nor Avanti were able to confirm these figures.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68650114

[Time_Traveller]

China accused of ‘malign’ cyberattack on Electoral Commission ‘after hacking data of 40million voters’

34 minutes ago

China has been accused of a “malign” cyberattack on Britain after it allegedly accessed millions of voters’ personal details during a hack on the election watchdog.

The UK is poised to sanction those believed to be involved in Chinese state-backed interference, after deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden sets out details about the alleged incident later on Monday.

He is expected to tell parliament that Beijing is behind a wave of cyberattacks on the Electoral Commission as well as against 43 MPs and peers, in a major hack which is reported to have begun in August 2021 but was not identified until October 2022.

Nuclear minister Andrew Bowie said the government will “stop at nothing” to protect British democracy.

He told LBC Radio: “The fact is that this government has invested a lot of time, money and effort in ensuring that our cyber security capabilities are at the place they need to be, we’ve increased the powers of our intelligence and security community to be able to deal with these threats.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 18002.html

[Time_Traveller]

At least four judges resign from men-only Garrick Club after backlash

Mon 25 Mar 2024 11.56 GMT

At least four senior judges have resigned from the men-only Garrick Club, the Judicial Office has said, as men in the legal profession come under increasing pressure over their close association with an organisation that has repeatedly blocked attempts to allow women to join.

The office confirmed that the appeal court judge Sir Keith Lindblom and the high court judges Sir Nicholas Cusworth, Sir Nicholas Lavender and Sir Ian Dove had resigned.

A spokesperson added that it was possible more had done so but had not reported such to the Judicial Office, which provides training and human resources advice to the judiciary in England and Wales.

The four judges were among dozens in the legal profession now known to have been members. Their number included a further four appeal court judges, five more high court judges, dozens of serving and retired judges, current and former ministers in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and numerous senior solicitors.

Their resignations followed those of the head of the civil service, Simon Case, and the MI6 chief, Richard Moore. They had faced intense criticism of their decision to join the club in the first place, and their decisions to leave last week placed further pressure on those then retaining membership.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... rrick-club