Business
Badenoch ‘worried’ UK may need IMF bailout
Kemi Badenoch has said she is “really worried” that the UK might be forced to embark on a 1976-style bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
The Conservative leader told BBC Newsnight that the UK could be forced to go “cap in hand” to the IMF unless the government delivers a plan for economic growth.
She made her remarks as she offered to work with Sir Keir Starmer “in the national interest” to cut welfare spending. She said welfare cuts and growth were needed to help the government out of a “doom loop” of rising taxes and precarious public finances.
A Labour Party source said Mrs Badenoch had a “brass neck” for offering such advice, after the Conservative government had “crashed the economy”.
The Labour government of the late prime minister Jim Callaghan was forced to apply for a $3.9bn (£2.9bn) emergency loan from the IMF during the 1976 sterling crisis.
That was seen as a seminal event in post war economic history which severely undermined the economic credibility of the Callaghan government.
Asked what made her think the UK is heading towards the need for an IMF bailout, Badenoch said: “A lot of the indicators are pointing in that direction.
“Many very well respected commentators and economists are saying this.”
A number of economists, mainly on the right, have in recent weeks raised the prospect of a version of the 1976 sterling crisis repeating itself. Other economists have dismissed this as hyperbole.
Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy, wrote of “eerie parallels” between the position of the current chancellor and that of the late Denis Healey, chancellor during the 1976 sterling crisis.
But in an article for the Sun last month, Mr Sentance concluded: “The UK may not end up calling in the IMF.”
Governments borrow money from investors by selling bonds – which is a loan the government promises to pay back at the end of an agreed time. The yield on 30-year UK government bonds – which are known as gilts – has been rising for a number of months, although has now fallen back slightly.
Badenoch said there was a “crisis” in UK bond prices.
She pointed to UK borrowing costs hitting a 27-year high last week as “yet another indicator” and stressed “we are not growing enough”.
The Tory leader said: “Labour does not have any plan for growth,” adding: “They thought that as soon as they got into power, things would just work because they’re Labour and they believe in their own righteousness.
“That is not working – they need to get a plan to grow our economy, otherwise we will end up going to the IMF cap in hand.”
Dismissing a suggestion she was talking the country down, she claimed that doing nothing “would be a dereliction of duty on my part” and said was instead offering “an olive branch” to the prime minister to work with him.
“If we do get that sort of crisis because of their bad decisions, we’re all going to suffer,” she said.
“There is no benefit for the opposition party in a country that’s doing badly.
“We want our country to do well and we will work with the national interest to get that.”
The Conservatives have two key demands for working with Sir Keir, which are maintaining the two child benefit cap and slashing welfare, although the Tories did not support the government when Sir Keir was forced to water down the welfare Bill by a backbench rebellion in July.
“I’m sure that we’ll be able to come up with some suggestions, and then if we agree to that – it’s not a blank cheque – but if we can find some agreements, then yes, we’ll support it,” she said of the Bill.
In response to Badenoch’s comments, the Labour Party source said: “Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives crashed the economy and sent mortgages spiralling. The brass neck Kemi has to think she can offer advice on the economy now is astonishing. The Tories haven’t listened and they haven’t learned.”
Business
SC permits Centre to review Rs 6,000cr additional dues on Vodafone-Idea – The Times of India
NEW DELHI: The Union govt on Monday convinced the Supreme Court to permit the department of telecom to review its demand of Rs 6,000 crore additional adjusted gross revenue demand for the FY 2016-17 on Vodafone-Idea. Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran was informed by solicitor general Tushar Mehta that since the previous round of litigation, in which Vodafone was ordered to pay the AGR dues, there had been a change of circumstance as the Centre has acquired a 49% stake in the company. Mehta said, “We do not want the company, in which the govt has a huge investment, to go bankrupt to make 20 crore people suffer. ‘Govt wants to prevent monopoly’ Govt wants more players in the mobile telecom sector to prevent monopoly,” said solicitor general Tushar Mehta. Vodafone through senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi had argued that the SC had frozen the AGR dues at Rs 58,254 crore as of 2016-17 and that the DoT cannot raise additional AGR dues in breach of the SC order. Govt had converted Rs 36,950 cr dues as its 49% equity in the telecom service provider.
The bench noticed the element of public interest in the case and permitted the Centre to take a fresh view of the additional AGR demands, especially when the issue is purely in the policy domain and involves the interests of 20 crore people. “We see no reason why the Centre should be prevented from taking a relook at the additional AGR dues,” the bench said.
OpenAI has released new estimates of the number of ChatGPT users who exhibit possible signs of mental health emergencies, including mania, psychosis or suicidal thoughts.
The company said that around .07% of ChatGPT users active in a given week exhibited such signs, adding that its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot recognizes and responds to these sensitive conversations.
While OpenAI maintains these cases are “extremely rare,” critics said even a small percentage may amount to hundreds of thousands of people, as ChatGPT recently reached 800 million weekly active users, per boss Sam Altman.
As scrutiny mounts, the company said it built a network of experts around the world to advise it.
Those experts include more than 170 psychiatrists, psychologists, and primary care physicians who have practiced in 60 countries, the company said.
They have devised a series of responses in ChatGPT to encourage users to seek help in the real world, according to OpenAI.
But the glimpse at the company’s data raised eyebrows among some mental health professionals.
“Even though .07% sounds like a small percentage, at a population level with hundreds of millions of users, that actually can be quite a few people,” said Dr. Jason Nagata, a professor who studies technology use among young adults at the University of California, San Francisco.
“AI can broaden access to mental health support, and in some ways support mental health, but we have to be aware of the limitations,” Dr. Nagata added.
The company also estimates .15% of ChatGPT users have conversations that include “explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent.”
OpenAI said recent updates to its chatbot are designed to “respond safely and empathetically to potential signs of delusion or mania” and note “indirect signals of potential self-harm or suicide risk.”
ChatGPT has also been trained to reroute sensitive conversations “originating from other models to safer models” by opening in a new window.
In response to questions by the BBC on criticism about the numbers of people potentially affected, OpenAI said that this small percentage of users amounts to a meaningful amount of people and noted they are taking changes seriously.
The changes come as OpenAI faces mounting legal scrutiny over the way ChatGPT interacts with users.
In one of the most high-profile lawsuits recently filed against OpenAI, a California couple sued the company over the death of their teenage son alleging that ChatGPT encouraged him to take his own life in April.
The lawsuit was filed by the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine and was the first legal action accusing OpenAI of wrongful death.
In a separate case, the suspect in a murder-suicide that took place in August in Greenwich, Connecticut posted hours of his conversations with ChatGPT, which appear to have fuelled the alleged perpetrator’s delusions.
More users struggle with AI psychosis as “chatbots create the illusion of reality,” said Professor Robin Feldman, Director of the AI Law & Innovation Institute at the University of California Law. “It is a powerful illusion.”
She said OpenAI deserved credit for “sharing statistics and for efforts to improve the problem” but added: “the company can put all kinds of warnings on the screen but a person who is mentally at risk may not be able to heed those warnings.”
UK domestic airline Eastern Airways has suspended operations and all of its flights have been cancelled.
Customers of the airline, which operated regional services from airports across the UK, are being urged not to go to the airport as flights will not be operating, the UK Civil Aviation Authority said.
Destinations the airline flew to included Aberdeen, Humberside, London Gatwick, Newquay, Teesside International and Wick, according to its website.
Eastern Airways customers are being urged to make their own alternative travel arrangements via other airlines, rail or coach operators.
On Monday morning Eastern Airways (UK) Ltd filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator at the Insolvency and Companies Court, which is within the High Court.
Selina Chadha, consumer and markets director at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “We urge passengers planning to fly with this airline not to go to the airport as all Eastern Airways flights are cancelled.
“Eastern Airways customers should visit the Civil Aviation Authority’s website for the latest information.”
Following the suspension of Eastern Airways operations, London and North Eastern Railway, ScotRail, TransPennine Express, and Northern will offer free standard class travel to Eastern Airways staff and customers on October 28 and 29, on suitable routes operated by each train company, the UK Civil Aviation Authority said.
To access this support, present either an Eastern Airways employee ID, boarding pass, or flight confirmation to station staff.
SC permits Centre to review Rs 6,000cr additional dues on Vodafone-Idea – The Times of India
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