Naomi Mott @namott

The UK government is on a deranged mission to install spyware on your phone and control your internet activities. But it's destined to fail. Here's why. The problem is that what the UK government is asking phone operating system providers to do is illegal in other countries. That gives the phone manufacturers a huge problem. How do they know it's a UK phone with absolute certainty? After all, if they install UK spyware on a US phone and start reporting US phone activity to Ofcom, it's jail for them in the US. Most articles talking about the Online Safety Act being such an abomination focus on the surveillance and control aspects, but nobody is talking about how it will be implemented. So let's do that. In order to determine that it's a “UK” phone, there are a few ways to go: 1. Decide based on the country the phone was purchased in. 2. Decide based on the user's IP address. 3. Decide based on the app store country. Option 1 doesn't work because everyone will just order their phone from Amazon US. Apple may as well close up shop in the UK. Option 2 doesn't work because what if an American or Chinese tourist comes to the UK – do they have spyware installed on their phone when they step off the plane in Heathrow? How will the spyware be uninstalled later? When word gets out, tourism to the UK will drop to zero. Option 3 sounds like an easy way to go. To show how effective that's going to be, I saved Apple some time and made a mock-up of the warning messages they would show before they installed spyware on your phone. This plan by the government is going to drown in implementation details and fail dismally. Every government minister involved in this needs to understand that and bail out now, because it's only going to get more embarrassing for them as time goes on. @jimmy_wales @prestonjbyrne @SpeechUnion @nym @HarryStebbings @freddienew @KanishkaNarayan

The proportion of disabled people who are successful in their claim for the main disability benefit has plunged by nearly a quarter since Labour came to power two years ago, new figures have revealed. #PIP #DWP #Labour disabilitynewsservice.com/proportion-of-…

Where are we at as we go into the weekend after a remarkable and consequential week in British politics? For now, all is quiet. Andy Burnham has been whisked away from the front line to spend the weekend with his family, while Keir Starmer has gone to Chequers to reflect on his future with his family. Senior party figures tell me not to expect any public interventions of top Labour figures this weekend, but there is of course a huge amount going on - and the next few days are going to be critical: As one Burnham ally put it to be on Friday, the Prime Minister can have a dignified exit or a bloody one, but the die is cast, Burnham is going to become the Prime Minister What’s going on for Keir Starmer? He has been adamant that he would fight any contest, and that is what he repeated when he faced the cameras on Friday, but one of those who have had conversations with him tell me that behind closed doors he is it beginning to hit home that he might have to give way, as a growing number of the cabinet and his MPs indicate that he no longer has their support. As @HarrietHarman, put it to me & @RuthDavidsonPC our Electoral Dysfunction podcast today, “the herd isn’t moving, it is stampeding...the parliamentary Labour Party have made a decision that they’re not hanging around with Keir Starmer.” “We don’t want a situation where cabinet ministers are resigning to try and push Keir Starmer out,” says Harman. “One MP who's been a real big Keir-Starmer supporter, who's now signed up for Andy Burnham, said to me that he doubts there's even 30 MPs now who actually believe it's possible for Keir Starmer to stay, not that they necessarily don’t want him to stay, but they just feel it’s over" The scale of Burnham’s victory - much bigger than anticipated - has sealed the deal with many MPs who are now convinced that Burnham is the one that will help Labour keep Reform off its heartlands and save the party from another terrible set of election results next May. “The idea that we can beat Reform has gripped the party,” said one senior figure. “The notion is settling that Andy is the only hope, and members are excited that there’s a change their areas won’t be taken over by Reform,” says one senior source. There is little appetite for a leadership race on the Burnham side or the wider party. Starmer has publicly warned that it will tear the party apart, while one cabinet minister told me it would be “awful” to get to a place where the Prime Minister and rivals tear pieces out of each other in public, trashing the Labour government and destroying Starmer’s legacy. Wes Streeting has been very vocal about the need for one and saying he will run. Others whisper that it might be that he and Burnham do a deal. There are lots of ifs and buts in all of this.... I’m told by party insiders that when it comes to MPs, “probably the majority” want the PM to stand down by party conference, while a “sizeable number” of cabinet colleagues are privately telling the PM he needs to set out a timetable. Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, was the latest to do so on Friday. The Prime Minister told me last week that he would speak to Burnham after the weekend, while Burnham’s team also want a meeting between the two men next week. Many in the party hope that Starmer and Burnham might come to an agreement and arrange something between them. There is a lot of upset and sadness amongst those around the Prime Minister, as the walls close in and Starmer’s departure becomes more inevitable. “I feel a sense of bereavement,” said one loyalist. “But it hasn’t worked out. I never thought we’d be here two years in.” For my part, having interviewed the PM on his future a number of times, I think he would like to fight on if he could and his allies point out to me that “the PM’s agency in this shouldn’t be underestimated”. He has built a £100,000 war chest to fight a contest and has key staff and a leadership website ready to go. But if Starmer does not have enough support in his cabinet or his parliamentary party night he conclude that he cannot fight on? That’s why what the cabinet, senior ministers and Labour MPs do in the coming days is so critical.

@Nicklezard @LindaR39 Backbench MPs complaining numerous times about not having access to Starmer. Many hadn’t seen him a year after the GE. Several junior ministers complaining about the same thing. Schmoozing is Politics 101, instead he hides away . He’s simply not a politician.

@Nicklezard @LindaR39 Starmer deselected several Muslim candidates in the run up to the GE because they highlighted the developing genocide in Gaza.

@Nicklezard @LindaR39 Starmer’s in the pocket of the Israeli Government. He wanted to join Trump and Netanyahu’s attack on Iran but his Cabinet voted against it. Meanwhile he’s been sending the RAF reconnaissance planes over Gaza and Lebanon to give Netanyahu intelligence reports.

@Nicklezard @LindaR39 look at what Starmer does, not what he says. For example, U-turning on the introduction of Digital IDs, which wasn’t in the manifesto, and now it’s in the Kings Speech and he’s pushing age verification online for which….. you’ll need a Digital ID. Introduced via the back door

@Thomas1774Paine Since Trump’s swiss cheese brain can’t keep a secret, your source is Trump himself. He’s already said Vance will be President, and Rubio will be VP. The only unknown is the timing.

Good Law Project wins a major High Court ruling against Reform UK in a case that could expose how the party handles voter data. Reform might even have to pay over £200,000 in legal costs. Embarrassing! thecanary.co/uk/analysis/20…

Big new study concludes that it will take very little more warming to start the unstoppable collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Would raise sea levels but four feet, inundating coastal land and cities. spacedaily.com/n-scientists-s…

This needs explanation. Israel is planning to assassinate Candace Owens just as Charlie Kirk? This woman posted and deleted the post immediately, obviously posted too early while scheduling?

As a benefits adviser, I completely agree 💯 In my 13yrs of experience, only those with the most severe mental health symptoms might be awarded PIP, if at all. It’s sickening to see the most vulnerable in society being vilified by the media and consecutive governments . Used as scapegoats to score political points!!

Doctors 25% more likely to miss a diagnosis on a patient within 3 months after Ai is implemented. The results indicate Ai has an immediate negative effect on professionals skillsets vs prolonged reliance. nature.com/articles/d4158…

The Issa brothers have fucked @asda and this needs to be talked about as a crime against British legacy brands… They sold all the freeholds for the supermarkets in leaseback deals and took huge loans against the remaining revenues, they themselves cashed out their initial investment, so it’s been lucrative for them. The business is practically insolvent now, with HUGE interest payments on debt Enterprise Value ~£4.5–6.5bn Total debt: £3.1bn net / ~£4.9bn gross (FY24) Revenue: £25.9bn (FY25) Interest on debt: ~£393m (FY24; FY25 not yet disclosed) This great video breaks it down further…. youtu.be/dyIq-RfkM2w?is…

Sky News @SkyNews

a day ago

Asda losses grow to almost £1bn as it fends off Aldi Read more 🔗 trib.al/WKJxxvz

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BREAKING: Following the full closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's IRGC Navy warns all vessels and ships approaching the Strait "will be unequivocally attacked," emphasizing it's closed to all commercial vessels under any circumstances, per Fars.

🚨 Lord Falconer (ex-Starmer Shadow Attorney General) just dropped a bombshell on BBC Today: Keir Starmer has “absolutely no authority” and his position is “completely unmaintainable.” He says Starmer shouldn’t even stand in a leadership contest because Andy Burnham would win and key decisions are now paralysed.

🇮🇷 Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Israel’s continued violations of the Lebanon ceasefire have placed the entire U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding in jeopardy, with Washington failing to uphold its commitment to restrain Israel. Baghaei said the agreement’s first clause, ending the war on all fronts including Lebanon, is its central pillar. While Iran has complied with its obligations, he said the U.S. has failed to ensure a halt to Israeli attacks in Lebanon. He added that although steps have been taken toward ending the naval blockade and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the memorandum is a “single package,” and violating its first clause calls the entire agreement into question. Baghaei also said talks on a final agreement cannot begin until implementation of key provisions of the memorandum is underway, and that those conditions have not yet been met.

@LizWebsterSBF Apparently he’s going to ask his wife. Like Biden, ignoring all the expert advice, asked his wife. 🙄

🔥Jewish Actor Mandy Patinkin (brillant in Homeland) gets really passionate about Gaza and the child killer Benjamin Netanyahu.

139 kids who'd had COVID. Half of them turned up with autoantibodies - antibodies that attack the body's own tissues. In uninfected kids, only 14%. And it barely mattered whether the child had been hospitalized with pneumonia or had next to no symptoms. 🧵