“The UK was hit by “widespread failure” in its response to Covid-19, the official inquiry into the pandemic has heard, with Boris Johnson believing old people should contract the virus to protect the economy and wavering on whether to impose lockdowns. Dominic Cummings…said in evidence on Tuesday that a “dysfunctional system” led vulnerable groups to be “appallingly neglected” in March 2020. “Overall, it’s widespread failure but pockets . . . doing excellent work,” he said, adding that the Cabinet Office, the department that runs the machinery of government, was a “dumpster fire”… The entries and the messages add to the series of damaging revelations from former top officials about Britain’s response to the global health crisis…” – The Financial Times
Editorials, Comment, and Sketches:
>Yesterday:
“At least 50 people were killed in Gaza’s largest Palestinian camp in a strike as fighting that included hand-to-hand combat intensified in the densely populated territory. The massive airstrike, which used bunker-busting munitions to target a Hamas commander, came as two Israeli soldiers were killed and two others seriously injured in clashes with Hamas. They are the first Israeli military deaths to be recorded since the Oct 7 massacre in which 315 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops died. The IDF said the strike on the Jabalia camp, just north of Gaza City, killed Ibrahim Biari, the commander of Hamas’s Central Jabaliya Battalion, and other Hamas combatants. The airstrike collapsed underground tunnels, as well as several surrounding buildings.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has defended his position on the Israel-Hamas conflict after days of criticism from inside his party, insisting that a full ceasefire would only strengthen the militant group Hamas…Starmer repeated his call for a humanitarian pause to allow people out of the enclave and let aid in, in line with the position of both the US and UK governments. “It is the only credible approach which has a chance of what we all want to see in Gaza,” he said. He added that he understood why people wanted a ceasefire in response to “horrifying” scenes of civilian suffering. Starmer said a permanent ceasefire at this stage would leave Hamas with the infrastructure and capability to carry out the sort of attack seen on October 7…” – The Financial Times
Editorial and Comment:
“Academics are acting as “useful idiots” for Hamas, the universities minister has said. Robert Halfon criticised lecturers on Tuesday after it emerged that members of the University College Union (UCU) at one institution in London had approved a motion calling for a “mass uprising” against Israel and “intifada until victory”. Mr Halfon said the motion approved by academics at University College London was “appalling”. He added: “A fifth column of Hamas’s ‘useful idiots’ [is] far too prevalent at some of our universities.”…The controversy comes as King’s College London became embroiled in a row with its students over its failure to condemn Hamas, a proscribed terror group, for eleven days after the war broke out on Oct 7.” – The Daily Telegraph
>Today:
“The Government plans to put “maverick” Elon Musk at the centre of the AI Safety Summit this week, despite warnings from Tory insiders that the “idiotic” move could backfire. The owner of X, formerly Twitter, was a co-founder of tech firm OpenAI, and has called for a six-month pause on the development of new artificial intelligence in order to minimise the risk that it escapes the control of humans and threatens our collective future….Mr Musk, who runs Tesla and SpaceX as well as X, will attend a number of events at the summit on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a reception for business leaders on Thursday evening and a “conversation” with Rishi Sunak about AI risks which will be live-streamed.” – The I
>Today:
“Plans for the mass closure of railway ticket offices in England have been scrapped after the government intervened following a public backlash. Transport secretary Mark Harper told train operators on Tuesday to withdraw the proposals, which were part of a government-backed cost-cutting plan announced in July. “The proposals that have resulted from this process do not meet the high thresholds set by ministers,” Harper said. The U-turn came after two passenger watchdogs — Transport Focus and London TravelWatch — had lodged formal objections to the planned closures, which were opposed by unions, passenger lobby groups and disability charities, as well as some MPs.” – The Financial Times