Latest news with #ElonMusk-inspired
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nigel Farage to launch Elon Musk's 'DOGE' on Reform's local councils. Here's what that means
Reform UK is to send its Elon Musk-inspired Department of Government Efficiency-style unit to look at 'wasteful spending' in councils. Nigel Farage's populist party said the department would be led by an unnamed man described as one of the country's "leading tech entrepreneurs with a specialism in data analytics who has also been a turnaround CEO". Media reports later said this is 28-year-old tech entrepreneur Nathaniel Fried. A team of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors will 'visit and analyse' local authorities, starting with Kent County Council on Monday, the party said. Reform says it is aiming to "eliminate wasteful spending" among the councils it won in May's local elections, with party chairman Zia Yusuf arguing that "for too long British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole". However, Reform is facing criticism over the cancellation of Kent County Council's first governance and audit committee meeting since the election, and a lack of transparency over who will lead its team of external auditors. The Local Government Association (LGA) has meanwhile said that councils are already going to great efforts to make efficiency savings, and that without "adequate investment" from Westminster, they could struggle to provide crucial public services. Reform gained control of 10 councils in May's local elections – giving the party a foothold in local government for the very first time with 677 newly elected councillors. Farage's party took Derbyshire, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, North Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, and West Northamptonshire from the Conservative Party. Reform also took Doncaster from Labour, and gained control of Durham, which previously had no overall majority. Reform has pledged to investigate and crackdown on wasteful spending within the councils under its control, starting with Kent County Council, which it says has total debt of £787 million, equivalent to £499 per person. This is undoubtedly high, the average debt per person across councils in the UK is £1,137 per person, according to BBC figures. Birmingham City Council has more debt than any other council in the country, owing more than £2.9bn as of the financial year of 2023-24, while Leeds faced a total debt of over £2.2bn. Looking at other county councils, Surrey is facing over £5bn in debt, including £2.6bn owed by Woking Borough Council and £1bn by Spelthorne, GetSurrey reports. Cornwall County Council, the fifth largest local authority in England, is now in over £1.3bn of debt, Cornwall Live reports, while Somerset Council is in a similar position to Kent with debts of around £760,000. Tesla and X owner Elon Musk was tasked with leading a new government efficiencies department for the Donald Trump administration and took inspiration from a internet meme when naming the new body. In a nod to the popular 2010s 'Doge' meme, which depicts a puzzled-looking Shiba Inu dog, Musk named his department... you guessed it, DOGE, which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency. In practice, Musk's spending crackdown meant a purge of public sector jobs, with his department either firing or laying off 260,000 people, according to PBS, accounting for 12% of the workforce. The broadcaster adds that many of these job losses were challenged in court, while some people were re-hired, while in March, the Trump administration was reported to be re-hiring 25,000 workers. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of DOGE's campaign was its targeting of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, with Trump signing an executive order on his first day in office terminating federal jobs offices and programmes related to these hiring policies. Musk's department laid off people from a number of departments most people would consider important, including the Forest Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Education, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, Veterans Affairs, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The Trump administration also drew criticism for attempting to shut down the US Agency for International Development, which funds humanitarian efforts around the world. With more than 70% of Kent's revenue budget coming from council tax, Reform has said it wants to "deliver real value for voters" by using "cutting edge technology" to aid the party in its spending blitz. Reform said that the unit will use artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis tools and forensic auditing techniques to 'identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions'. 'For too long British people have been British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole," said party chairman Zia Yusuf. 'Their taxes keep going up, their bin collections keep getting less frequent, potholes remain unfixed, their local services keep getting cut. Reform won a historic victory on a mandate to change this. 'As promised, we have created a UK Doge to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Our team will use cutting-edge technology and deliver real value for voters.' However, the Local Government Association (LGA) has suggested there may not be much left for Farage's party to cut. In a statement, the association said councils "continue to embrace efficiency and innovation in a way that has not been replicated anywhere else in the public sector". "Between 2010/11 and 2022/23, councils made an estimated £24.5 billion in cuts and efficiencies in service spending in order to manage funding reductions, inflation, wage growth, demographic pressures and growing service demand," the LGA said. "Opportunities for savings in discretionary services - to fund growing demand for statutory services - have largely been exhausted and many of these services have effectively been halved in size." The LGA said that without "adequate investment now" from central government, "there is a risk that many will not be able to deliver crucial services that so many depend upon". Reform says its team of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors will be working "for free" out of "patriotic duty", but the party has faced criticism over its decision to bring in external auditors. Antony Hook, Liberal Democrat opposition leader of Kent County Council, told BBC Kent: "We have at KCC a governance and audit committee, that was due to have its first meeting since the election next week. Reform have cancelled it. "Reform have cancelled most of the committee meetings for this week or next week, without any explanation. They haven't even named who their nominees to chair these important committees are. "If Reform were serious about making the council work well they would be getting their councillors to do this job, not bringing in unnamed anonymous people who haven't been elected." Will Scotland ride the 'Farage tsunami' at the Hamilton by-election like England has with Reform? (Sky News) Does the key to uniting against divisive politics lie in our personal lives? (The Conversation) Scottish Labour councillor defects to Reform (The Guardian)
New York Post
02-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Feds slammed for mailing free cash
Federal agencies and contractors have been mailing small amounts of cash to hundreds of thousands of Americans in recent years, according to an investigation by the Republican leader of the Senate's DOGE caucus. Now, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) wants the Elon Musk-inspired Department of Government Efficiency to put an end to the giveaways — which are meant to entice Americans to open government mailings. NY Post reporter Ryan King shares this story.
Business Insider
22-04-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
These 6 Chinese EVs are giving Tesla a headache in Europe
Tesla's sales are collapsing in Europe amid an Elon Musk-inspired brand crisis. It also faces growing competition from Chinese EV firms like BYD, which has seen sales surge. Here are six Chinese electric cars that are giving Tesla a headache in its third-biggest market. Tesla has had a nightmare start to the year, and nowhere more so than in Europe. The automaker's sales across the continent have dropped by 37% in the first three months of the year, according to figures from market researcher Dataforce, as it battles a global brand crisis tied to CEO Elon Musk's involvement with the Trump administration. Once all but the only EV player in town, Tesla now faces a wide array of competitors in Europe, adding to the company's woes. Some of those new rivals are from China. Not content with crushing Tesla in their home market, Chinese firms like BYD are expanding rapidly overseas, particularly in Europe. Although Tesla still dominates the EV market in Europe, and Chinese automakers have only a small presence, sales data suggests they are catching up. BYD saw its sales balloon from around 7,000 in the first three months of last year to 27,000 over the same period in 2025, an increase of nearly 300%, per Dataforce's figures. As Tesla fights to hold on, here are some of the Chinese EVs that should trouble Elon Musk in Tesla's third-largest market. BYD Seal U BYD has launched a flood of models in Europe over the past year, but the Seal U is the one that should be making Tesla nervous. The Chinese automaker has sold around 12,400 of the hybrid SUVs this year, with over half of those sales coming in the past month. Like many of its Chinese rivals, BYD has placed a renewed focus on hybrids, which Tesla does not sell, in Europe, as they are exempt from the tariffs on imported Chinese electric cars introduced by the European Union last year. BYD Dolphin Another entry in BYD's line of aquatic-themed EVs, the all-electric Dolphin made its European debut in 2023. The electric hatchback has sold around 4,500 units so far in 2025, a 175% increase from the same period last year. The $35,000 EV will soon be joined by the Dolphin Surf, the European brand name for BYD's Seagull hatchback, which sells for as little as $7,800 in China and is set to go on sale this year. MG ZS Historic British car brand MG was acquired by Chinese giant SAIC Motors in 2007, and its lineup of affordable EVs and hybrids is currently going toe-to-toe with the US automaker in Europe. MG has sold 36,400 of its MG ZS hybrid so far in 2025, a 44% increase from the same period last year. That surge saw the $30,000 compact SUV outsell Tesla's Model Y, which competes in the same segment, in the first three months of the year. MG3 MG sales have also been boosted by its $25,000 MG3 hybrid, which launched in Europe last year and has sold 15,200 units so far in 2025. The carmaker's sales surge has turned SAIC Motors into one of the biggest threats facing Tesla in Europe. The state-owned Chinese brand's sales overtook Tesla's in the first two months of 2025, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. Leapmotor T03 Jeep and Chrysler owner Stellantis has partnered with Chinese EV maker Leapmotor to sell its cars in Europe, and the T03 EV was one of the brand's first cars to come to the continent when it launched late last year. The $21,000 "city car" is just 3.6 metres long and has a range of up to 263 miles. Leapmotor and Stellantis have sold 2,500 of them this year in Europe. Polestar 4 Swedish brand Polestar, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Geely, has been aggressive in its attempts to snatch market share from Tesla. CEO Michael Lohscheller told Bloomberg he had told his salespeople to target Tesla owners, describing the backlash against Musk as an opportunity for the EV brand. Sales data from Europe suggests it might be paying off, with Polestar seeing its sales double to over 9,000 in the first three months of the year. The surge was driven by the Polestar 4, which launched in Europe last year. The luxury electric coupe, which is manufactured in China, has sold 4,700 units so far in 2025.
