Ministers must end ‘barking mad’ restraints on civil service pay, union leader warns

Ministers must end “barking mad” restraints on civil service pay or risk being unable to recruit the technical and digital specialists it needs to keep pace, a union leader has warned.Mike Clancy, the Prospect general secretary, said the government should end the “rightwing trope” that restrained the pay of highly skilled civil servants and left government unable to compete with the private sector. He said it should be realistic for senior specialists in competitive fields to be paid more than the prime minister.His intervention comes after the prime minister’s chief secretary, Darren Jones, said he wanted more risk-takers and delivery experts to create a civil service that “moves fast and fixes things”, saying hiring criteria would be changed to “promote the doers, not just the talkers”.Clancy said the civil service had significant issues retaining technical experts because of the low pay and lack of progression

Countries that do not embrace AI could be left behind, says OpenAI’s George Osborne

The former chancellor George Osborne has said countries that do not embrace the kind of powerful AI systems made by his new employer, OpenAI, risk “Fomo” and could be left weaker and poorer.Osborne, who is two months into a job as head of the $500bn San Francisco AI company’s “for countries” programme, told leaders gathered for the AI Impact summit in Delhi: “Don’t be left behind.” He said that without AI rollouts they could end up with a workforce “less willing to stay put” because they might want to seek AI-enabled fortunes elsewhere.Osborne framed the choice facing countries as one between adopting AI systems produced either in the US – such as Open AI’s – or China. The two superpowers have so far developed the most powerful AI systems

When dual nationality leads to double trouble | Letters

The new border controls being introduced for dual nationals create anomalies that will surprise no one who has followed recent Home Office policy changes (Dual nationals to be denied entry to UK from 25 February unless they have British passport, 13 February). At worst they are cruel; at best they are exploitative money-making exercises, unthought out, or the bureaucratic consequence of the introduction of digitisation.I, a Belgian citizen, have worked in the UK for 32 years. My “settled status” now allows me to travel freely between the UK and Belgium using my EU passport. A few years ago, I applied for British citizenship because I was uncertain whether my “entitlement” to live and work in the UK would be maintained after Brexit, and because I wanted to vote in the UK

Why dispute ruling on Palestine Action, but accept legal challenge on elections? | Brief letters

Faced with adverse legal advice, the government has reinstated local elections and will pay £100,000 for Reform UK’s legal costs (Report, 17 February). But last Friday, faced with a unanimous unlawful verdict from three judges on the proscription of Palestine Action, the government intends to appeal. Why is it that the law, both in the UK and internationally, can always be ignored when it comes to Palestine?Phil TateChester One of the finest songs inspired by a book (From Brontë to Ballard, Orwell to Okri: the best songs inspired by literature – ranked!, 12 February) is Woody Guthrie’s Tom Joad, based on John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath. In 17 verses, Guthrie distilled the essence of Steinbeck’s harrowing chronicle of the Joad family’s enforced migration from Oklahoma to California in the Great Depression. Mike PenderCardiff You say (Pass notes, 16 February) cabbage is “having a moment”

UK politics: Starmer says Reform’s pledge to restore two-child benefit cap in full is ‘shameful’ – as it happened

Keir Starmer has responded to the Robert Jenrick speech. Referring to Jenrick’s commitment to bringing back the two-child benefit cap in full (see 11.45am), Starmer said in a post on social media:double quotation markShameful.I’m incredibly proud that this government has scrapped the cruel two child limit.Reform wants to push hundreds of thousands of children into poverty

Labour insiders fear ‘annihilation’ in Lancashire local elections after U-turn

Labour figures in the county with the highest number of reinstated council elections, following the government’s recent U-turn, have said they fear the party will be “annihilated” when voters go to the polls in May.The polls had expected to be postponed pending a reorganisation of local government in the county and a move to unitary authorities, but earlier this week the local government secretary, Steve Reed, scrapped plans to delay the elections, after Reform UK threatened a legal challenge.Two councils, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool, are already unitary authorities, while the other 12 districts are two-tier and sit under Lancashire county council.With the government’s U-turn, seven councils will now have elections in May they had not expected; Burnley, Blackburn, Hyndburn, Pendle, Chorley, West Lancashire and Preston – an area with nearly 790,000 people – meaning the county will have more unexpected elections than any other. A total of 30 local authorities will now hold elections in May when they had not expected to, with almost a quarter of those in Lancashire