Labour politicians should put the country before their party | Letters
As an active and loyal Labour member, I am infuriated by what is happening within the party (Burnham allies warn against quick ‘coronation’ of Streeting if Starmer quits, 12 May).The ongoing circus about the leadership is a terrible distraction from the numerous global and national issues that the government and the prime minister should be focused on.But the most infuriating aspect of the entire shambles is the relentless speculation and briefings from so-called “allies” of Andy Burham.No Labour member has an innate right to be selected as a parliamentary candidate.The assertion that a sitting Labour MP should give up the seat voters elected them to, necessitating a byelection so that Burnham can run, then assuming that he would automatically retain the seat, is arrogance beyond belief.
And it makes the party look ridiculous.There are more than 400 Labour MPs already elected to parliament; if there has to be a leadership contest, which I am not convinced there should be, surely there must be at least a few of them suitable for the job? Burnham chose to give up his seat as an MP to become the mayor of Greater Manchester, and he’s already run for the Labour leadership twice unsuccessfully.The country needs a stable, credible and capable government.Trying to prevent others, whoever they are, from running to become Labour leader while Burnham scrambles around trying to wangle his way back into parliament somehow is not in any way putting country before party.Fiona O’FarrellRichmond, London Jess Phillips, the departing safeguarding minister, was correct to insist in her resignation letter that deeds are more important than words.
In the two years since its election, the Labour government, under Keir Starmer’s leadership, has pushed through several pieces of significant legislation including the renters’ reform bill and the online safety bill, increased the minimum wage and laid out a clear plan to remodel our educational provision for students with special educational needs and disabilities.In 2024 we voted for change, not revolution, and these are all substantial steps towards deep social change.On the international scene, through tumultuous times, Starmer has trodden with finesse the tightrope of transatlantic relations, and made substantial repairs to the broken relationship with Europe that Boris Johnson left behind.When will we the voting public have the wisdom to value deeds instead of words? Instead, in the local elections last week, the electorate gave their votes to a man of many words but few policies and still fewer principles, and this week we are embroiled in a potential leadership challenge.Sarah MulhollandGoldsithney, Cornwall In all the furore surrounding Keir Starmer, I find myself wondering: where is Rachel Reeves in all this? She is the architect of many of the disastrous decisions his government has made: restrictions on the winter fuel allowance; the delay in removing the two-child benefit cap; the rise in national insurance contributions; the threat to personal independence payment; the moves to restrict spending on Send provision.
I could go on.Yet she appears to sail onwards, oblivious of the harm that she has caused.Starmer should sack her and bring back Anneliese Dodds to put our economy on to a more sustainable footing.Jennifer Evans Aldershot, Hampshire Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Google announces raft of free upgrades for Android phones
Google has announced a range of features coming to Android phones this year, including a new Gemini Intelligence AI system and a tool to help users avoid distracting apps.Revealed in a livestreamed “Android Show” event, the free upgrades are scheduled to arrive in waves over the next year for high-end new and old phones alike, including Samsung and Pixel devices. Google also revealed that a new lineup of laptops will arrive in the autumn.Gemini Intelligence will combine the company’s top AI tools into one system aimed at being more proactively useful.It will be able to automate tasks by directly interacting with the apps already on a phone
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The head of Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary will step down in the wake of an inquiry that has scrutinised its business dealings with the Israeli military.Microsoft ordered the inquiry last year in response to a Guardian investigation revealing the military had used the company’s technology to operate a powerful surveillance system that collected Palestinian civilian phone calls on a mass scale.The joint investigation with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call found the military’s elite spy agency, Unit 8200, had used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store a vast trove of intercepted calls from Gaza and the West Bank.The inquiry commissioned by Microsoft is understood to have recently concluded. Its findings are unclear; however, sources familiar with the situation said they prompted an announcement last week that Microsoft Israel’s general manager, Alon Haimovich, would leave the company
GameStop’s $55.5bn bid for eBay rejected as ‘neither credible nor attractive’
The board of eBay has rejected the US video games retailer GameStop’s surprise $55.5bn bid (£41bn) for the online marketplace, describing the proposal as “neither credible nor attractive”.Earlier this month, GameStop made an unsolicited bid for eBay, publishing a letter on its website outlining a half-cash, half-stock proposal.This was despite the US games company – which became a global household name during the meme stock craze of 2021 – being worth far less than its takeover target. GameStop had a market valuation of roughly $12bn before its bid, almost a quarter of eBay’s $46bn valuation
Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian.Donald Trump is headed to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, would join Trump
Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech while emulating Xi Jinping on AI
Donald Trump is heading to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president. Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official.Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO – who is close to Trump but criticized the US’s limitations on chip sales to China in an April interview, saying that he didn’t want a “loser mentality” to cost the US its edge in AI – will not be joining the president
Molière Ex Machina: AI used to create ‘new work’ by beloved French playwright
Molière is to the French what Shakespeare is to the English: the last word in historical literature, drama, wit and satire.Now, more than 350 years after his death, the 17th-century dramatist has been revived after scholars at the Sorbonne University in Paris used artificial intelligence to help write an experimental play in his style.L’Astrologue ou les Faux Présages (The Astrologer, or False Omens), a three-act comedy, made its debut at the Royal Opera at the Château de Versailles last week.The two-hour play tells the story of a wealthy bourgeois Parisian who, under the instruction of a charlatan astrologer called Pseudoramus, insists his daughter Lucile marry a debt-ridden and elderly wigmaker.While the theme could well have been dreamed up by Molière, the dialogue, music, costumes and scenery were all created with the help of a French AI tool called Le Chat (The Cat)
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