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Perth Now
19 hours ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Family devastated after teen allegedly stabbed to death
frontpage David Skaith Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith has confirmed York and North Yorkshire's bid to become one of five UK AI Growth Zones, positioning the region at the forefront of the UKs digital economy. Led by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, and developed in close partnership with North Yorkshire Council, Drax Power Station, and the University of York, as well as a host of other public and private sector organisations, the bid sets out how a Government decision to locate an AI Growth Zone in York and North Yorkshire could unlock growth of circa £85billion, across the whole of Yorkshire and Humber region. Mayor David Skaith said 'Seizing on our long-established history at the forefront of innovation, York and North Yorkshire will deliver a pioneering, world-class AI Growth Zone. Our pitch to Government aligns with their 'Plans for Change'. It is bold and credible plan that could transform the economic future of Yorkshire and the Humber. 'Our submission to Government is ambitious and backed by a strong coalition of regional partners. An AI Growth zone in our region will create a pathway to the world's first carbon-negative data centre, as part of an AI and Clean Energy Campus. 'The bid is underpinned by clear plans to accelerate adoption of AI, igniting innovation across industry and academia, creating public-private partnerships to unlock prosperity, and empower the potential of our communities through skills, jobs and digital inclusion. 'York and North Yorkshire stands 'shovel ready' to work with Government and to seize on this transformational opportunity.' The submission to Government sets out how a York and North Yorkshire AI Growth Zone will deliver on national priorities, such as energy and food Security, and data sovereignty - whilst driving growth for the region and the UK. Capturing a 15% share of the UKs AI economic growth by 2035, securing the opportunity would supercharge the region's Growth Plans, harnessing AI to revolutionise food and farming innovation whilst also transforming high growth sectors in life sciences, clean energy, rail innovation and creative industries. Selecting the ready-made site at Drax Power Station near Selby, the country's largest single source of renewable power, will help protect up to 7,000 jobs, including 3,500 in the North of England. It will also support the development of BECCS and enable the site to deliver carbon negative power and the carbon removals the UK needs to meet binding climate targets. Drax Development Director, Richard Gwilliam, said: 'We are proud to support York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority's AI Growth Zone bid which provides a pathway to unlocking billions of pounds of growth for the whole region and facilitating the Government's ambition for the UK to become an AI superpower. 'Securing AI Growth Zone status would enable the creation of an AI and Clean Energy Campus at Drax Power Station, accommodating a potential carbon negative data centre alongside university, R&D and learning and development facilities. An AI Growth Zone in the region could create its own innovation ecosystem, foster entrepreneurship, attract major businesses, as well as drawing in more investment and turbocharging our economy.' By backing the bid, the Government would demonstrate its commitment to supporting York and North Yorkshire as a growth leader, both within the UK and globally, showing the importance of rural areas in transforming the national economy by bridging the rural-urban productivity gap. The investment would catalyse thousands of new jobs and transform the region's local economies with digital infrastructure and innovation. North Yorkshire Council's leader, Cllr Carl Les, said: 'This is such an exciting opportunity to place York and North Yorkshire at the forefront of the artificial intelligence revolution and bring thousands of new jobs to the region. 'This will help to diversify and build resilience in our economy in North Yorkshire unlocking billions of pounds in growth while developing a sector which will provide new career opportunities, particularly for our own workforce in the county. 'It provides us with the chance to lead in delivering a first for the world with a carbon-negative data centre, which will also help to build on our commitment to protecting the environment while growing our economy. 'We will work closely with our colleagues at the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority along with Drax and the University of York to help to ensure that the bid to the Government is successful and such a major project becomes a reality.' MP for Selby and Kippax, Keir Mather said 'As Selby's Member of Parliament, I fully support plans to develop a site in my constituency as one of five AI Growth Zones planned across the UK. 'Selby has a proud history of leading the way in terms of industry – whether it be our shipbuilding industry on the banks of the Ouse, our highly advanced coalfield developed in the later twentieth century, or indeed our ongoing role at the heart of Britain's domestic energy production. 'The united support this proposal enjoys shows that it's a project which is ready to hit the ground running. I'm pleased to support it because it creates local jobs, crowds in investment and demonstrates the enormous potential of York and North Yorkshire to play its part in delivering the Government's growth mission' University of York Vice-Chancellor, Charlie Jeffery said 'This is such an opportunity for York and North Yorkshire to be a beacon for responsible AI innovation. It would mean developments in AI can be pursued hand-in-hand with our world-leading research on safety and ethical considerations. We'd attract further investment and talent, all committed to building trustworthy AI systems, and all for the benefit of this region, the UK and beyond'. An announcement on the AI Growth Zone is anticipated after the Comprehensive Spending Review on 11th June.
The Sun
04-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Election mauling means Labour needs to get radical & controversial soon – does the party have the balls to do it?
'I WANT to respond by saying I get it,' mewed Sir Keir Starmer after the mauling voters gave his government given their first opportunity. But does he really understand? 3 3 The Prime Minister insists: 'We must deliver that change even more quickly, we must go even further . . . ' Which sounds a lot like more of the same, chalking up the extraordinary breakthrough of Reform as a mere protest vote that will melt away. It's a bold reaction to the public telling you that they don't like what they have seen so far, only to tell them they are going to get even more of it even sooner. Yet the breadth and scale of the Government's pummelling last week should stop that coping mechanism dead in its tracks. What Thursday's message from the public showed is Plans for Change and policy tinkering is not going to cut it. Nor are the traditional playbooks of party politics. Starmer threw the kitchen sink at Nigel Farage, branding him on the eve of polls a Putin puppet who was going to personally bill voters for their hip operations. Fatal error Labour screamed, like the Tories tried before them, that Reform were a bunch of lazy cranks that never turned up to Parliament and cannot be trusted to run a whelk stall let alone a council. But the voters heard it all and thumbed their noses. Instead they were led by the continued cost-of-living pain after that promised growth failed to ever turn up, and immigration now topping voters' concerns across the country. Farage promised an earthquake & he delivered - Labour are badly bruised & Tories face being brushed aside as opposition The Tories borked(?) it, Labour promised change and the public feel like they have been sold a pup. So why not give the other guys a go? They can't be any worse than the current or last lot. Which leaves the Government in a tricky bind — fighting on uncomfortable ground but frankly with very little to lose. If Labour don't get radical and controversial soon, then they're going to be out on their ear anyway. What Thursday showed was just how out of touch Westminster is to how hardened public opinion over borders has become, and a classic Westminster tinkering response would be a fatal error. Fatal error Sacking a few ministers in a panicked reshuffle is not going to be enough, and those in No10 pinning their hopes on a new immigration White Paper to be published in ten days time should temper expectations. Yes, there will be some red meat in it, tightening up absurd legal migration rules that allow successful asylum seekers to ship over their families on the taxpayers' tab, but it risks looking like too little too late. Some close to Starmer get it. One senior Government source hit back at reports the Education Secretary and Culture Secretary were for the chop, saying: 'Just sacking Bridget Phillipson and Lisa Nandy would be a joke response.' But Labour MPs from all wings of the party are starting to loudly wonder whether this cautious government has the balls to turn things around. Hemmed in by a slavish unwillingness to go to war with the international order over migration, the scale of the radicalism required to really change the country goes against the grain of everything this PM believes. Starmer's enemies on the left have already gone public with their criticisms, which is hardly a surprise given they have been carping almost since the moment he entered office. But even the most ardent loyalists were reeling from Thursday's bloody nose this weekend, keeping their powder dry publicly, for now, but acutely aware No10 needs a far punchier strategy. There are real shades of Rishi Sunak's doomed premiership in the predicament that Starmer finds himself in right now. Inheriting a mess largely not of their own making, no one doubts their technocratic ability but questions always linger over their killer political instinct. Lofty ideals Sunak entered Downing Street desperate to keep the show on the road but refusing to countenance bold measures like leaving the European Convention on Human Rights or calling time on various nonsense from the United Nations. He was constantly accused of not wanting to upset his global elite mates or being too squeamish to pull levers previously thought of as unthinkable, but now being demanded by the anger of the public. But by the time Sunak woke up to the scale of the problems facing the nation and tried to get radical, especially on migration, it was too late. A warning for his successor right there. But can Mr Human Rights, happiest when mingling with his fellow lawyers on the international circuit, really be the one to get his hands dirty and reject the European Court? The contradiction at the heart of Starmer's premiership is about to play out. We are about to find out whether the PM's desire for power, to retain it and really use it, trumps the lofty ideals that made him the man he is today. There's still a fair few years before Starmer has to face all of the voters, and with his massive majority, if any one can rip up the established rules, it is him. If he doesn't do it, then the person who replaces him will be elected with a mandate to shoot his sacred cows anyway. The public seem to have woken up to the scale of the response needed — will Sir Keir? RUMOURS abound that No10 is mulling some dramatic Whitehall changes. Both Labour peer Maurice Glasman, who has the ear of powerful Downing Street chief Morgan McSweeney, and Jonathan Rutherford, who is advising No10, have both suggested breaking up the Treasury in recent days. Lord Glasman told the New Statesman: 'I believe the abolition of the Treasury is necessary for our economic renewal. It is an outdated institution at odds with contemporary reality.' And he called for 'a new economics ministry instead of the Treasury and Business in which priority is given to industry'. While Rutherford told The House magazine: 'I'd destroy it if I had half the chance. I would split the Treasury, like Harold Wilson, but not in a ministry – I'd put it in No 10 . . . frankly, this is the age of Trump. You've got to start doing stuff.' With Rachel Reeves letting it be known she would quit before having to scrap her sacred fiscal rules to limit government borrowing, could they be on to something? Eyebrows have been raised by a senior official from former Cabinet Office boss Pat McFadden's team who has been sent to keep an eye on things at the Treasury, with McFadden tipped to run any emerging super department.
