It is not so much'killer robots' keeping one cabinet minister awake as the idea of concentrated, super-intelligent power ending up in the hands of bad actors. It is not so much'killer robots' keeping one cabinet minister awake as the idea of concentrated, super-intelligent power ending up in the hands of bad actors. The power of AI is worrying senior Labour figures - as is the fear of'falling behind the public' "I have this sense that, within a few months, AI is going to be all anyone is talking about," said one cabinet minister, with an ominous stare. It was Labour conference, with everyone from ministers to activists jubilant at Andy Burnham's takeover and a bounce in the polls after the change of leader. But a number of senior Labour figures were privately starting to name the power of AI as the thing worrying them most, alongside the immediate pressures on the cost of living and fragile economy.

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Figure caption, Archie Goodburn said he'couldn't ask for much more' at this stage of his cancer research plea Swimmer Archie Goodburn has been successful in his efforts to improve brain cancer care for patients as the UK government announce new measures. The Scottish athlete, who was diagnosed with three inoperable brain tumours two years ago, met Prime Minister Andy Burnham after making a tearful TV appeal for more investment to be put into brain cancer research. After the meeting, Burnham announced a new national brain cancer clinical lead and promised a review of brain cancer progress and action to get patients treatment sooner. Goodburn, 25, thanked the prime minister and said all three of his requests have been promised to some extent but fleshing out needs to be done on the details.

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. We are behind you and that will not change, Andy Burnham has told Volodymyr Zelensky, as he hosted the Ukrainian leader in Downing Street. Zelensky was in London as part of efforts to reinforce backing from allies after Donald Trump called for him to go and lifted sanctions on Russian diesel. The prime minister said Ukraine was willing to discuss an energy ceasefire proposed by the US president but said Russia's response had been further attacks on critical national infrastructure in Ukraine. Zelensky said: Our people, we survived and continue to do this because we have strong partners and I'm very proud that we have one of the strongest partners in our history and it's your people, Andy.

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. First Minister John Swinney says he does not have confidence the UK is safe from potential Russian threats. The SNP leader said the UK government, which is in charge of Britain's defences, did not have a sufficient presence in vulnerable areas off Scotland's coast. He said he was very worried by security fears highlighted this week by the head of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, who named Russia as aggressor number one. Speaking to BBC Scotland News ahead of the SNP's annual conference, Swinney also denied that independence would weaken Scotland's security.

Burnham rules out coalition with Greens after'Zionism is racism' motion To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Figure caption, Burnham condemns Green Party's'antisemitic' Zionism declaration Andy Burnham has said he will not support his party forming a partnership with the Green Party as long as it maintains a policy of defining Zionism as a form of racism. Speaking in the House of Commons, the prime minister said the motion, backed by Green members at its party conference earlier this month, was wrong and antisemitic and Labour would have nothing to do with it. The motion said Zionism was an ideology supporting an ethnonationalist Jewish state in historic Palestine to the exclusion and/ or domination of the non-Jewish population. It was criticised by Jewish groups, as well as four Green MPs and two former leaders, one of whom said it was dangerous and divisive.

Burnham careful before Zelensky meeting but promises Ukraine won't leave'empty handed' President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to London follows a well-trodden diplomatic path in a war now in its fifth year. For months, US President Donald Trump had been a largely benign presence in the conflict, promising Ukraine greater access to American air defence technology and threatening more sanctions on Russia. Then last week Trump carried out an abrupt U-turn, lifting sanctions on Russian diesel and calling for Zelensky to be replaced. Once again Ukraine's leader got on his plane to shore up support among European allies. Burnham says he wants to'repair bridges' between Ukraine and US Starlink restrictions affecting Ukraine's front line operations, Kyiv says Russia's offensive ability is broken, Kyiv's former top general tells BBC For the prime minister there was the tricky but now familiar diplomatic task of needing to show solidarity with Zelensky without appearing to criticise Trump. Burnham's answer was to say and announce as much as he could without exposing himself to questions from journalists asking about Trump's latest betrayal of Kyiv.

Andy Burnham had two hospitality dinners with Manchester City football club's chairman while mayor of Greater Manchester, it has emerged. The PM dined with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at matches in 2017 and 2018 - but this was not detailed in a statement on Monday by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) about his meetings with the club. Burnham has been under pressure to clarify his previous discussions with Man City since the club was found guilty of having systematically broken Premier League rules, which it will appeal. The PM, who was mayor until June, sparked widespread controversy when he said last month he would be really concerned if the club's owners now sold up. On Monday, the GMCA released a statement about Burnham's meetings with Man City in his role as mayor for the region for almost a decade.

PM says it is'clear' Russia interfered with Brexit vote Andy Burnham has said Russia did interfere with the Brexit referendum and warned that similar activities were taking place in France and Germany. The prime minister told The Rest is Politics podcast, external that upon arriving in No 10, he had asked about possible Russian interference in the 2016 vote, adding: I've had the clear answer that, yes, there was. I think we've been too much on the back foot on that actually and we haven't informed people sufficiently about the extent to which people are seeking to disrupt the political process from overseas, he added. Burnham did not provide further details about the type or extent of Moscow's activity during the Brexit referendum. Britain Unbound, a pro-Brexit campaign group, said Burnham's comments were another crude attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the decision that the British people made in 2016.

A Mysterious Nonprofit Run by SpaceXAI's Top Lawyer Is Paying the Salaries of Government Workers The National Design Studio has been something of a successor agency to DOGE. A WIRED investigation finds some of its members are on loan from a nonprofit run by SpaceXAI's general counsel. Following billionaire Elon Musk's departure from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in late spring 2025, several of the group's members found a new home within the federal government: the National Design Studio . Led by Joe Gebbia, a cofounder of Airbnb, a former member of DOGE, and currently the chief design officer of the US, the NDS is nested in the Executive Office of the President and has been tasked with redesigning government websites and services. As with DOGE before it, who exactly is a part of NDS--and what they're working on--often remains opaque.

An artist has said he is taking legal advice after accusing the Conservative Party of copying his cartoon image of Andy Burnham at their party conference. People attending the party's conference in Birmingham have been handed water bottles featuring the image and labelled Bottler Burnham, 0% strength. Labour supporter Stanley Chow, who created the portrait for Burnham's 2021 mayoral campaign in Greater Manchester, has claimed the party did not ask for permission to use the image. A Conservative Party spokeswoman said the bottles were were not on sale and merely handed out to attending media in goody bags. Manchester illustrator Chow said: I was stunned and angry when I saw what they had done.