A Ministry of Truth is coming

Adam James Pollock has a very interesting Critic piece on the latest UK government attempt to establish a Ministry of Truth, recently announced by Andy Burnham (real name Andrew Murray Burnham).


A Ministry of Truth is coming

BBC Verify shows why Burnham’s Ministry of Truth won’t work

This week, the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, told the United Nations that his Government would create a new National Centre for Information Defence to counter the threat of disinformation online. Burnham argued that this new body would allow “stem the poisonous tide” of disinformation that arose largely from Russia, claiming that the United Kingdom’s government could act as an “honest broker” of such arrangements, protecting the truth.

This new Ministry of Truth — as it may as well be named — would do no such thing, which has already been proven by numerous prior failed attempts at regulating information. To achieve similar ends, the Government already runs the National Security Online Information Team; the Government Communication Service; the Cabinet Office’s Media Monitoring Unit; the Home Office’s Research, Information and Communications Unit; the Foreign Office’s Hybrid Threats Directorate; and the Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit. Not to mention whatever goes on within the intelligence services, the British Army’s intelligence units, and the National Cyber Force.


The whole piece is well worth reading as Pollock offers repeated failures as an interesting angle on the issue, particularly the ludicrous BBC Verify.

The limitations of such a vehicle’s aims can be summarised most coherently by none other than the most famous of all failed attempts at countering “misinformation”: BBC Verify.

Launched in 2023 with a team of sixty taxpayer-funded zealots, BBC Verify sought to bring “radical transparency” to, er, the news, by “pulling back the curtain” on its own staff’s journalism. What it revealed, more than dedicated and documentable disinformation campaigns, was a failure of both the BBC and BBC Verify to accurately report the truth.

Stand and Deliver

‘I can deliver’: Burnham pledges radical change on eve of Labour conference

Exclusive: UK prime minister says delivering fiscal stability would be ‘crucial’ to be able to fix bigger problems

Andy Burnham has said he can deliver on his promise of radical change for the country despite severe economic headwinds, telling the Guardian: “There’s always things you can do; it’s just whether you’re prepared to do them.”


More low grade twaddle, particularly low when we consider the level of confidence which must have induced Makerfield voters to go skipping off to the polling station or faithfully fill in their postal vote(s). 

Nothing about bus fares in there, but Burnham makes an unusually good point when he says -

“There’s always things you can do; it’s just whether you’re prepared to do them.”

Two good points in one really, there are always things he can do, but it is a question of whether a leader with his party background and remarkably modest abilities would be prepared to do them. 

The answer is 'no'.

Strewth, this is poor stuff

Andy Burnham pledges to set UK on ‘new course’ a decade on from Brexit vote

Andy Burnham promised to set the UK on a new course because the decade since the Brexit vote had resulted in “drift and division”.

The Prime Minister vowed to set out how he will deliver “good growth in every postcode, hope in every heart” as he arrived in Liverpool for his first Labour Party conference as leader.

Mr Burnham said: “We’re going to make this a really important week where we set out a new direction for the country.


Let us rummage through the twaddle. Ah, here we are -

Bridget Phillipson manages to come across as even worse than Burnham, she speaks of 'taking things to the next level'. Perhaps in a sense they are, but it's not a level up. 


Speaking to the Press Association on Saturday, Ms Phillipson said Labour recognised it had “a massive fight on our hands with Reform, with the Tories”.

She expressed caution about the latest polling, “because the only poll that will matter is the one that happens on election day in 2029”.

The Labour chair added: “But what we have seen with Andy Burnham is a real sense of connection with the public, taking things to the next level. That hope, that optimism, that sense that Britain’s best days lie ahead of us.

Give a bureaucrat a bone

Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce report

Defra commissioned research from Middlesex University (The Middlesex Report), to investigate measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership, which was published in 2021.

The Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce was established in 2022, to consider these findings and make recommendations on measures to encourage responsible dog ownership. The taskforce includes representation from the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations. The taskforce is comprised of a steering group and four subgroups, which focus on four key areas: enforcement, data, education and communications, and training (for both dogs and their owners).

The whole thing is worth reading for anyone who has trouble falling asleep. Alternatively any reader could zip down to the official conclusion before reaching their own unofficial conclusion. 

Conclusions

The taskforce concluded that dog attacks and dog control issues should be considered as complex and multifactorial issues, affecting different communities across the country in different ways. There is no single policy solution that could be seen as a ‘silver bullet’. As such, a range of interventions, both legislative and non-legislative, is required, from a range of parties working in partnership at national, regional and community levels.  

The taskforce hope that Ministers will consider these recommendations in detail and take action to progress them. Meaningful change will require collaboration. It is clear that everybody has a role to play, including government, police forces, local authorities, dog owners, animal welfare organisations, the wider public, healthcare providers and safeguarding professionals to name but a few. It is hoped that the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce can continue to play a role in coordinating these groups to ensure significant improvements in responsible dog ownership over time.

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men... but it's mainly mice these days

Launch of UK’s 'largest AI supercomputer' delayed by power supply problems

A huge datacentre project hailed by the UK government will miss its launch date next year and could be delayed into the mid-2030s.

The site in Loughton, Essex, was described as the country’s largest AI supercomputer when it was announced in 2025, but power supply problems mean it now faces a lengthy wait before coming online.

Doubts had already emerged about the scheme after the Guardian revealed in March that the planned location was still an operational scaffolding yard...

Keir Starmer’s government cited the Loughton project when announcing the UK’s AI strategy in 2025, describing the site as the “largest UK sovereign AI datacentre”. Datacentres are the central nervous system of AI technology such as chatbots.

Ofgem, the energy industry regulator, has warned of a logjam in applications for electricity connections. In June, it revealed there were 315 datacentres queueing to connect to the National Grid, representing 73GW of demand – compared with the peak energy demand for the entire country of 45GW.

Translation. Yes we had a scheme because it is true that we wish to build a significant number of AI datacentres here in the UK. An excellent and well thought out scheme it was too, but we didn't claim any of it was plausible.

Probably the first trick acquired by any Stone Age schemer was to give his enemy certain truths so that he should not regard the balance as lies.

Christopher Bush - The Perfect Murder Case (1929)

Why should we trust them now?

Tories had 14 years to change Britain and they failed - why should we trust them now?

• Tax-Free Shopping Flip: Tory leader Kemi Badenoch announced bringing back tax-free shopping for tourists, despite having scrapped the VAT Retail Export Scheme in 2021, which she previously defended.
• Policy Failures: Over 14 years, the Tories failed to address immigration, IR35 rules, Brexit issues, and ECHR obligations, while also neglecting schools, hospitals, and crime control.
• Legacy Concerns: The party left the UK with record debt, low productivity, a crumbling NHS, and rising street crime, raising doubts about their ability to fix problems they created.

A very common question of course, but we could also ask - 

The UK government had decades to change Britain and it failed - why should we trust it now?

We shouldn't, obviously, but too many voters do. 

If you have no drying paint to inspect -

  

Zack Polanski says he can pull off 'one of biggest upsets in British political history' and win Holborn and St Pancras by-election

Exclusive: Green Party leader rejects suggestions his party has reached the limits of its recent surge in popularity

Zack Polanski has acknowledged that he is the “underdog” in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election but insisted that the Green Party can defy expectations and take the safe Labour seat vacated by the former Prime Minister...

This is despite a YouGov survey this week suggested the Greens would win zero MPs in the capital if a general election was held tomorrow amid a “Burnham bounce” for Labour across the country.