Labour to scrap government power over elections watchdog amid fears of abuse
Ministers are to repeal powers imposed by the Conservatives that allowed them control over the elections watchdog, after warnings they could be abused by a future government with authoritarian ambitions.Steve Reed, who as communities secretary is overseeing a new elections bill, announced the move to MPs, saying he would “repeal in full the power for government to impose a strategy and policy statement on the Electoral Commission”.The powers, laid out in the Conservatives’ Elections Act from 2022, were criticised as giving ministers the chance to interfere politically in the work and enforcement priorities of the commission, which is meant to be independent.A series of groups and MPs had urged Keir Starmer’s government to reverse this in its representation of the people bill, saying the powers could be exploited by a future government.A report last year by the campaign group Spotlight on Corruption warned that the powers over the Electoral Commission “could easily be abused to undermine our democracy”.
Reed’s announcement comes after days of criticism by Reform UK about the conduct of elections, after Nigel Farage’s party failed to win the Gorton and Denton byelection, coming more than 4,000 votes behind the Greens.Farage has claimed that his party was “cheated”, citing what he said was the incidence of people deciding votes on behalf of family members, and what he called widespread corruption in postal voting, which he wants to greatly restrict.Speaking in the Commons debate on Monday night, Danny Kruger, a Reform MP, claimed that large numbers of UK voters from Asian backgrounds were “taking their orders on how to vote from mosques and from clans – often direct from Pakistan”.The Electoral Commission takes a different view.Its report into the 2024 general election concluded that confidence in the voting system was high, and that the main issue with postal voting was people not receiving their ballot papers in time.
Arron Banks, a Reform mayoral candidate and senior supporter of the party, has said that he would like to see the Electoral Commission abolished if Farage won power.In November, a cross-party group of MPs and peers called on the government to fully restore the commission’s independence, saying failing to do so would see the UK lagging behind global standards when it comes to electoral integrity.Some of the MPs who joined the call hailed Reed’s announcement in the Commons on Monday evening.Lisa Smart, the Liberal Democrats’ Cabinet Office spokesperson, said she welcomed the move, while calling for action to “further strengthen the Electoral Commission in the face of historic threats to our democracy”.Ellie Chowns, a Green MP, made a similar point.
The Labour MP Valerie Vaz said she was “delighted”, adding: “A government of any kind should not be interfering with the Electoral Commission,It should get no direction from a government,”Tom Brake, chief executive of the Unlock Democracy campaign, said: “This power risked opening the door to political influence over the elections’ regulator,Scrapping it is a decisive step towards rebuilding public trust,”The representation of the people bill includes a series of other changes, including votes for 16- and 17-year-olds, and moves to try out automatic voter registration.
It will also ease some of the rules introduced by the Conservatives about the types of ID voters need to show before voting,Speaking on Monday, Reed said that this could also now involve types of digital ID,
Iran conflict could have ‘very significant’ impact on UK economy, OBR warns; FTSE 100’s biggest fall in 11 months – as it happened
Time to wrap up….Rachel Reeves insisted Labour has “the right economic plan” for a world that has become “yet more uncertain” as she delivered a spring forecast that downgraded growth for this year.The chancellor was addressing MPs against the backdrop of surging energy prices, as investors fret about the impact of the war in the Middle East.Reeves said she was in close touch with the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, as they monitored the situation and would meet representatives of the North Sea energy industry on Wednesday.New forecasts from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), published alongside her statement, showed that as Reeves said, “inflation is down, borrowing is down, living standards are up and the economy is growing”
China calls for vessels in strait of Hormuz to be protected amid soaring shipping costs
The Chinese government has called for vessels passing through the strait of Hormuz to be protected by all sides in the escalating Iran conflict, as shipping freight rates soared.Maritime traffic through the strait – a narrow channel on Iran’s southern border that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman – has effectively been closed since the US and Israel launched missile attacks on Iran at the weekend, prompting a retaliation from Tehran.Beijing’s foreign ministry on Tuesday urged “all parties to immediately cease military operations, avoid escalating tensions and safeguard the safety of navigation in the strait of Hormuz”.China is the world’s largest importer of oil and fossil gas and has in recent times been the major buyer of Iranian oil, making it one of the countries most exposed to the interruption to energy shipments.The strait of Hormuz, located on Iran’s southern border, is one of the most important global trade arteries and remained devoid of ships for a fourth day on Tuesday
Iran war heralds era of AI-powered bombing quicker than ‘speed of thought’
The use of AI tools to enable attacks on Iran heralds a new era of bombing quicker than “the speed of thought”, experts have said, amid fears human decision-makers could be sidelined.Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, was reportedly used by the US military in the barrage of strikes as the technology “shortens the kill chain” – meaning the process of target identification through to legal approval and strike launch.The US and Israel, which previously used AI to identify targets in Gaza, launched almost 900 strikes on Iranian targets in the first 12 hours alone, during which Israeli missiles killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Academics studying the field say AI is collapsing the planning time required for complex strikes – a phenomenon known as “decision compression”, which some fear could result in human military and legal experts merely rubber-stamping automated strike plans.In 2024 the San Francisco-based Anthropic deployed its model across the US Department of War and other national security agencies to speed up war planning
Anthropic’s AI model Claude gets popularity boost after US military feud
The AI model Claude has surged in popularity after being blacklisted by the Pentagon last week over ethics concerns.Claude climbed to the No 1 spot on Apple’s chart of top free apps on Saturday in the US – dethroning OpenAI’s ChatGPT, just one day after the Pentagon tapped OpenAI to supply AI to classified military networks. The bot’s app climbed the iPhone app charts in the UK but did not beat out ChatGPT. Claude also raced up the Android charts in the US and UK, though ChatGPT reigned supreme, according to data from Sensor Tower.Claude and other apps by the startup Anthropic suffered outages early Monday amid what the company described as “unprecedented demand for Claude” over the last week
Racing’s crisis intensifies with tracks on verge of civil war after Allen quits BHA
A grouping that includes most of Britain’s major racecourses on Tuesday fired the opening shot in what could prove to be a civil war involving the country’s tracks, following confirmation by the British Horseracing Authority earlier in the day that Charles Allen had resigned from his position as chair of the sport’s ruling body after just six months in the role.Jockey Club Racecourses, which controls a significant number of high‑profile tracks including Cheltenham, Aintree, Epsom and Newmarket, issued a joint statement with four of the biggest “independent” courses: Ascot, Newbury, York and Goodwood shortly after Lord Allen had issued a statement of his own, confirming his departure.The racecourses’ statement made it plain that the major tracks were supportive of Allen’s plans for a fully independent BHA board, the first step in what he saw as a plan to turn the sport into “a modern, commercial and cultural powerhouse”. This, in effect, directed the blame for his departure directly at the sport’s smaller tracks, and in particular those owned by Arena Racing Company, which run mainly lower-grade meetings to serve the off-course betting market.“Ascot, Goodwood, the Jockey Club, Newbury and York racecourses have today written to the chairman of the Racecourse Association,” the statement said, “calling for a formal governance review of the RCA [and] requesting a proposal for reform by the end of April 2026
Jon Rahm accuses DP World Tour of ‘extorting players’ by issuing LIV fines
Jon Rahm’s dispute with the DP World Tour has escalated after the Spaniard accused the organisation of “extorting” golfers over fines for competing on the LIV circuit. Rahm’s Ryder Cup future remains in peril with no resolution to the matter in sight, with insiders at the DP World Tour and Europe’s Ryder Cup fans baffled by his stance.Rahm incurred fines and suspensions as a DP World (formerly European) Tour member playing on what are regarded as competing Saudi‑backed LIV events. Rahm signed for LIV in 2023 in a deal reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars.Rahm has appealed against those sanctions, with a hearing to come
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Labour to scrap government power over elections watchdog amid fears of abuse
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