Dear John,

Spooky season appears to be over and Guy Fawkes night tomorrow marks the start of colder (and darker) days. Although Parliament has been prorogued this week there has been plenty of fireworks from the Covid Inquiry, clearly Cummings and co couldn’t wait until tomorrow to light the touchpaper.

From AI to rail ticket office closures, here is what has been happening this week - and to think we thought it may be a bit quieter.

Fireworks and Fawkepigs

It’s been a busy week in the Covid inquiry, with Martin “Party Marty” Reynolds, Dominic Cummings, Helen MacNamara and Boris Johnson’s former director of comms, Lee Cain, being interviewed.

The fireworks came in the form of WhatsApp messages sent at the height of the Covid-19 pand  emic, revealing how senior officials really felt about the government’s handling of the pandemic. Safe to say that they weren’t happy either.

The WhatsApp messages revealed that the government had no plan, Ministers were incompetent (or “useless f***pigs” as Cummings so eloquently put it) and Boris Johnson would rather older people “accept their fate” instead of doing his job and protecting them. It isn’t just that Boris Johnson severely lacked empathy, but he was also ‘unfit for the job’, ‘couldn’t absorb any information’ and had to be ‘babysat’ by his team - and these are the words of those that worked closest with him. 

All of this highlights the UK’s desperate need for a new government, one with fewer incompetent ministers and that actually cares for the people they are entrusted to protect. As our CEO Naomi said, it is utterly terrifying that these people were responsible for saving lives and we can no longer hand the keys to power to people that have minority support. We need to reform this broken system.

The (failed) ticket office plot

Something lower on the news agenda this week, yet no less important, was the reports that the Government had U-turned over its decision to close rail ticket offices in England. We welcome this decision, but how did we get here in the first place?

It all started when the government began to pressure train companies to cut costs by 12%, one of the proposals being the closure of rail ticket offices in stations up and down the country. Although the cost-cutting proposals were made by the train operators managing the station offices, they were widely understood to have been pushed by a government eager to trim the subsidy for rail.

In September, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said closing ticket offices was "the right thing for the British public and British taxpayers", but passenger watchdogs Transport Focus and London Travelwatch objected to the proposals, saying they had received 750,000 responses from individuals and organisations in a public consultation.

And that brings us to this week, when the government told train operators to scrap the proposals due to public pressure. It appears the government has a short memory, forgetting the disruption caused by rail worker strikes throughout the year, spawned by unfair pay and treatment. 

We welcome a U-turn on a proposal that frankly should never have seen the light of day. This Government, rapidly running out of ideas will continue to flip flop, causing undue stress and harm to the British people. Britain Can’t Wait any longer for a new government, we need change now.

The King and the Parliament

The King's Speech (called as such as the speech is delivered by the Monarch from the Throne in the House of Lords) takes place at the State Opening of Parliament. It’ll be held next week on Tuesday, November 7th.

It is essentially where the Government outlines their legislative agenda for the year ahead - a wishlist of laws they would like to pass. As we are heading towards an election, the amount of legislation outlined in the King's Speech could be an early indication of approximately when the Government plans to hold the next election, as well as what they hope to achieve before then.

Speaking of the next General Election, do you know what’s changed for you when you vote? Watch out for Get Voting for detailed information on how your constituency has changed and how you can enhance your chances of making your vote count. Anyway, back to the King’s Speech.

We have heard rumours that the government will use next week’s King’s Speech to advance expansion of North Sea oil and gas exploration, as well as pro-car policies - looks like the promise of reaching Net-Zero by 2050 is another U-turn by this shambolic government. The change in environmental policy is proof yet again they simply don’t care about future generations and in fact never planned to do anything about the climate crisis.

Tech Bros Unite

The AI Summit this week  brought together global leaders, tech executives, academics and civil society figures at Bletchley, the birthplace of computing. Regulation in AI was at the forefront of talks, making sure the new technology will not cause harm.

On Wednesday, 27 countries (and the EU) signed a declaration that promises dialogue and research within AI. The declaration pledged to work together to assess the risks associated with AI and take international action when needed, an additional hopeful sign is that China also signed the declaration. Things didn’t always go to plan at the summit however, as at the big, technology conference the Wifi stopped working. How ironic.

At the end of the conference the Prime Minister sat down with Elon Musk for a live interview and Q&A. Somewhat oddly, the PM was the interviewer and appeared to be heaping praise on to Musk as he mumbled through his answers. The key takeaway from this is that Sunak said the next UK General Election will (probably) occur next year. The sooner the better.

That’s all from us. Keep an eye out for next week’s Weekend Wire when you’ll be joined by Martha, our Print & Online Press Manager.

All the best,
Cameron Stocker
Press Manager (Broadcast)
Best for Britain