Labour accuses PM of being ‘missing in action’ amid Brexit border issues
Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy has accused Boris Johnson of being “missing in action” on the issue of border controls in Northern Ireland.
The Labour minister told Sky News the government must sort out the border in the Irish Sea which is “causing absolute havoc” and warned ministers they have a responsibility to ensure any kind of checks or disruption are minimised.
Her comments came as the UK’s Brexit minister warned Brussels that time is “starting to run out” to fix the problems facing Northern Ireland after Brexit.
Lisa Nandy also urged Mr Johnson to do more to resolve the issue as quickly as possible
On Sunday, Lord Frost said the UK government had “underestimated” the impact that the Northern Ireland protocol – part of the treaty which enabled the UK to leave the EU – would have.
In an article for the Financial Times before his upcoming meeting with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic in London, Lord Frost – who was the PM’s chief negotiator during the negotiations with the EU, admitted ensuring the protocol worked had led to “political turbulence”.
“We underestimated the effect of the protocol on goods movements to Northern Ireland, with some suppliers in Great Britain simply not sending their products because of the time-consuming paperwork required,” Lord Frost said.
He added: “The EU needs a new playbook for dealing with neighbours, one that involves pragmatic solutions between friends, not the imposition of one side’s rules on the other and legal purism.
“But time is starting to run out. We need to see progress soon. I hope we can this week.”
Speaking to Sky News on Monday, Solicitor General Lucy Frazer also acknowledged the trade complexities surrounding Brexit and Northern Ireland are “more difficult than we anticipated”.
Brexit minister Lord Frost said the UK Government had ‘underestimated’ the impact that the Northern Ireland protocol would have
“It is very difficult on the ground in terms of trade. It is really important that we sort it and Lord Frost is doing just that.
“As it has panned out, on the ground it is more difficult than we anticipated and we do need to sort out that trade arrangement,” she said.
But over the weekend, new Democratic Unionist Party leader Edwin Poots said: “The Northern Ireland Protocol is bad for business in Northern Ireland and it is bad for every one of our citizens.”
He urged those “who want to make Northern Ireland work” to “speak with one voice against the absurd barriers placed on trade”.
Labour’s Ms Nandy also urged Mr Johnson to do more to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
She told Sky News: “The prime minister made promises to the people of Northern Ireland that haven’t been kept.
Edwin Poots said Northern Ireland can only ‘work’ if ‘absurd barriers placed on trade’ are removed
“I think the best way to resolve this is through decent relationships, investing in those relationships and through pragmatism.
“We need to make sure we minimise any kind of border checks or disruption, and we can do that with good will on both sides.
“But there’s a feeling at the moment that the government is missing in action on this, particularly the prime minister.
“Boris Johnson has created this problem and yet he’s nowhere to be seen, I think there’s a real feeling of dismay about that, but he could turn that around.”
Meanwhile, former Brexit secretary David Davis said difficulties with the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol were inevitable after former prime minister Theresa May “conceded the so-called full-alignment wording”.
Former Brexit secretary David Davis said he predicted at Chequers that the Northern Ireland protocol would be problematic
He told Sky News: “It was one of the things I resigned over you may remember.
“I did predict that the prime minister at the time, when she conceded the so-called full-alignment wording, that this was problematic, not what we were promised, and would lead to difficulties in the future – and that is exactly what we are seeing.”
Conservative Mr Davis added: “Once you’ve got to the point of agreeing the alignment of Northern Irish regulations with the south Irish regulations you are creating a border.
“Of one sort or another, you are creating a border which would end up falling in the Irish Sea.”
Mr Davis added that the issues “will be resolved” but that it is “an unnecessary difficulty” which “will add a couple of years of negotiation to the overall outcome”.
Business
In Halifax’s night-time economy, no one is holding back over what is required in the budget
In the upstairs bar of a slick new brewery, the cheese-lovers of Halifax are paying “homage to fromage”.
It is one of the first events in the historic West Yorkshire town for the monthly cheese club and there is a decent turn-out.
Sky News visited Halifax’s clubs, bars and restaurants to get an insight into people’s priorities
The night-time economy in Halifax is a useful measure of how the landscapes of our town and cities have changed
Discussion of Wednesday’s budget is not as popular as an accompaniment to the cheese as the selection of wines. But no one holds back on what is required of the chancellor.
Natalie Rogers, who runs her own small business with her partner, said there needs to be focus.
Small business owner Natalie Rogers wants to see more investment in local industries
“I think investing in small businesses, investing in these northern towns, where at one time we were making all the money for the country, can we not get back to that? We’re not investing in local industries.”
At the next table, with a group of friends, Ali Fletcher said there needs to be bigger targets.
“I think wealth inequality is a major problem. The divide is getting wider. For me, a wealth tax is absolutely critical. We need to address this question of ‘Is there any money left?’. There’s plenty of money, it’s all about choices that government make.”
At this monthly cheese club, people told us about their priorities ahead of the budget
The evening’s cheese tasting was being marshalled by Lisa Kempster. “The impression I get from talking to people is there’s a lot of uncertainty, but when you ask them what they’re uncertain about, they’re not really sure, there’s just a general feeling of uncertainty and being cautious.”
Ali Fletcher reckons wealth inequality is a major problem
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This corner of Halifax, close to the town’s historic Piece Hall, is buzzing with clubs, bars and restaurants, trying hard to defy the crunch in the night-time economy. It is a useful measure of how the landscapes of our town and cities has changed.
“Whenever there’s a budget, for a few days afterwards, there’s a drop off in trade,” said Michael Ainsworth, owner of the Graystone Unity, a bar and music venue in the town.
“I accept the government needs to raise money but, in this day and age, there’s better ways to go about doing that, like closing tax loopholes for the huge businesses to operate up with banking arrangements outside the UK.”
Michael Ainsworth owns a bar and music venue and thinks the chancellor needs to close tax loopholes
In the bar, a folk singer is going through a quirky and caustic set. In the basement, a punk band called Edward Molby is considerably louder.
On a sofa in the main bar, recent graduates Josh Kinsella and Ruby Firth, newly arrived in Halifax because of its more affordable housing, pinpoint what they want on Wednesday.
“Can we stop triple-locking the pensions, please? Stop giving pensioners everything. For God’s sake, I know they have hard times in the 70s and the 80s, but it just feels like we’re now paying for everyone else.”
Josh Kinsella and Ruby Firth feel there’s too much focus on pensioners
Ben Randm is a familiar face at the bar and well known on the music scene with his band, Silver Tongued Rascals.
“Everyday people are seen as statistics, we’re always the afterthought. When the cuts are done, we’re always impeded and the ramifications that has for people’s livelihoods, for people’s mental health, for people’s passion and drive… it’s such a struggle.”
He, like many in the night-time economy sector, wants extra help for hospitality and venues that, he says, provide a vital community link.
Ben Randm who has his own band reckons everyday people are ‘always the afterthought’
David Van Gestel chose Halifax to open the third branch of MAMIL, a bar in jokey honour of those cycling “middle-aged men in Lycra”. On a busy quiz night, he said venues had to provide something different to get people out of their homes.
“I think the government needs to start putting some initiatives in place. They talk about growth but the reality is that the only thing we’re seeing grow is our costs.”
There’s a lot going on at TikTok right now.
As well as online safety updates and new features, the company is introducing sweeping changes to how it moderates the platform’s content.
At the same time, there’s an intense focus on online safety, particularly here in the UK.
With all that going on, Sky News got a rare, exclusive sit-down with one of TikTok’s senior safety executives, Ali Law.
The increasing role of artificial intelligence
One of the biggest changes happening at TikTok is around artificial intelligence.
Like most social media companies, TikTok has used AI to help moderate its platform for years – it is useful for sifting out content that obviously violates policies, and TikTok says it now removes around 85% of violative content without getting a human involved.
File pic: Reuters
Now, it is increasing its use of AI and will be relying less on human moderators. So what’s changed that means TikTok is confident AI can keep young users safe?
“One of the things that has changed is really the sophistication of those models,” said Mr Law, who is TikTok’s director of public policy and government affairs for northern Europe. He explained that AI is now better able to understand context.
“A great example is being able to identify a weapon.”
Whereas previous models may have been able to identify a knife, newer models can tell the difference between a knife being used in a cooking video and a knife in a graphic, violent encounter, according to Mr Law.
“We set a high benchmark when it comes to rolling out new moderation technology.
“In particular, we make sure that we satisfy ourselves that the output of existing moderation processes is either matched or exceeded by anything that we’re doing on a new basis.
“We also make sure the changes are introduced on a gradual basis with human oversight so that if there isn’t a level of delivery in line with what we expect, we can address that.”
Human moderator jobs being cut
That increasing use of AI means TikTok will rely less on its network of tens of thousands of human moderators around the world.
TikTok moderators and union workers protested outside the company’s London headquarters over job cuts
In London alone, the company is proposing to cut more than 400 moderator jobs, although there are reports a number of those jobs will be rehired in other countries.
On 30 October, Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC union, said “time and time again” TikTok had “failed to provide a good enough answer” about how the cuts would impact the safety of UK users.
Ali Law speaks to Sky News from TikTok’s European headquarters in Dublin
When Sky News asked if Mr Law could ensure UK users’ safety after the cuts, he said the company’s focus is “always on outcomes”.
“Our focus is on making sure the platform is as safe as possible.
“We will make deployments of the most advanced technology in order to achieve that, working with the many thousands of trust and safety professionals that we will have at TikTok around the world on an ongoing basis.”
Dame Chi Onwurah speaks at the House of Commons. File pic: Reuters
The UK’s science, technology and innovation committee, led by Labour MP Chi Onwurah, has issued a probe into the cuts, with Ms Onwurah calling them “deeply concerning”.
She said AI “just isn’t reliable or safe enough to take on work like this” and there was a “real risk” to UK users.
However, Mr Law said that, as a parent himself, he is “also highly concerned and highly interested in issues of online safety”.
“That’s why I’m so confident in the changes that we are making at TikTok in terms of content moderation as a whole,” he said.
“The power really comes in the combination of the best technology and human experts working together, and that still is the case at TikTok and it will be going forwards as well.”
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UK’s online safety rules: One month on
New wellness tools
The interview came at the end of an online safety event at TikTok’s Dublin office, its European headquarters.
During the conference, the company announced a number of new features designed to increase user safety, including a new in-app Time and Wellbeing hub for TikTok users.
The hub is designed with the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital and gamifies mindfulness techniques like affirmations, not using TikTok during the night and lowering your screentime.
Ali Law, TikTok’s director of public policy and government affairs for northern Europe
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Cori Stott, executive director of the digital wellness lab, said many people use their phones to “set their wellbeing, to reset their emotions, to find these safe spaces, and also to find entertainment”.
The hub was built as part of the TikTok app because young people want wellness tools “where they already are”, without needing to go to a different app, she said.
Still, there are plenty of reports suggesting that phone use and social media has a damaging effect on young people’s mental health… is TikTok trying to solve a problem of its own creation?
“If you are a teen on the app, you will load up and find that you have, if you’re under 16, a private profile, no access to direct messaging, a screen time limit set at an hour, [and at] 10pm sleep hour suggestion,” said Mr Law.
“So the experience is one that does try and promote a balanced approach to using the app and make sure that people have the options to set their own guardrails around this,” he said.
“I think the other thing I’d say is that the content on TikTok is, in the main, inspiring, surprising, creative.”
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