Ellie Chowns, Green Party MP for North Herefordshire. CC image Wikipedia.
Ellie Chowns, MP for North Herefordshire and Green Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson, said: “I welcome the news of a ceasefire agreement between the Israeli government and Hamas. This is a vital step to halt the devastating violence that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and caused unimaginable suffering, particularly for the people of Gaza. I also welcome reports that hostages are being released, bringing relief to many families.
“The Green Party has been calling for a ceasefire since October 2023, and while this agreement offers hope, it must mark the beginning of addressing the root causes of the conflict. The ongoing occupation, the siege of Gaza, and systemic violations of Palestinian rights cannot continue.
“The UK government must formally recognise the State of Palestine. Recognising Palestine is a vital step toward justice, equality, and a sustainable peace. It demonstrates a commitment to international law and a balanced approach to the region.
“Suspending some arms sales to Israel is not enough. The Green Party has consistently called for a full suspension of all arms exports to the Israeli military. This includes UK-supplied weapons parts, such as components of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which evidence suggests have been used in ways that violate international law and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis.
“The UK must support efforts to hold all those responsible for violations of international law accountable. We must ensure that humanitarian aid flows freely into Gaza to address the urgent needs of those who have endured this catastrophic violence.
“True peace requires justice, dignity, and equality for all people in the region. This is a moment for global leaders to act with courage and commitment, working towards a future where Palestinians and Israelis can live in peace, free from fear, violence, and oppression. Let us ensure that this ceasefire marks not just the end of the bombs, but the beginning of a pathway to lasting peace and justice.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
The UK government’s goal to increase public-controlled artificial intelligence computing power twentyfold by 2030 would significantly raise electricity demand. Can renewable energy supply meet it – and still have enough left over to electrify sectors like heating and transport, which must be fully decarbonised by 2050?
First, let’s discuss why AI is so energy intensive. AI systems demand a huge amount of computing power. The creation and use of AI involves training the programmes on models and algorithms that must be invented and calibrated, all of which demands computing power. Then, that AI model must draw conclusions from the new data it is fed, which is another energy-intensive process in itself.
The need for more and more computing power has risen sharply as AI has become more sophisticated. Computing power is becoming scarce as a result and is a major bottleneck for the further development and use of AI. Indeed, the UK’s national AI strategy published in 2021, recognised that computing power capacity must be increased if the potential of AI is to be realised.
The more sophisticated the AI, typically, the more energy intensive it is. This has significant implications for the UK.
How much energy does the AI rollout need?
Data centres (facilities that store, process and distribute data) are a significant and growing consumer of electricity. From training complex AI models, which requires immense computational power and data storage, to running data through trained AI models to make predictions or solve tasks, data centres are central to every stage of AI’s use and development.
According to estimates by the International Energy Agency, data centres globally account for approximately 1%-1.3% of total electricity consumption. One recent observation suggests that developing the most sophisticated AI systems currently requires a fourfold increase in the amount of computing power annually. The total amount of data required for AI training has also risen by 2.5 times a year, increasing reliance on data centres.
Britain’s electricity grid will strain to meet rising demand even without AI. SuxxesPhoto/Shutterstock
In the UK, AI and related infrastructure consumed around 3.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in 2020. If this consumption increases twentyfold, as per the government’s target, it could reach 72 TWh by 2030. This would represent over one-quarter of the UK’s total electricity consumption in 2021, which was approximately 261 TWh.
The rapid growth in AI computing requires careful planning. However, data centres are only part of the equation. The devices that use AI, such as sensors in smart homes, gas and electricity meters, routers, wifi hubs, streaming devices and social media platforms, could add significant energy demand that is difficult to estimate.
These additional components of AI’s total energy consumption are often overlooked.
However, our projections, reported in the journal Energy Policy, indicate that global renewable electricity supply will not meet surging demand from global digital data growth.
Our research considered different scenarios for AI’s energy use. The UK’s target of a twentyfold increase in AI computing power by 2030 is certainly a high-consumption scenario, in which energy demand from digital infrastructure alone could outpace the growth of renewable energy capacity.
At the same time, the UK’s decarbonisation hinges on electrifying transport and heating, sectors traditionally reliant on fossil fuels: replacing natural gas boilers with electric heat pumps and combustion engine cars with electric vehicles. These will require substantial increases in electricity supply.
Britain’s electric vehicle charging network will need to expand to decarbonise transport. Shutterstock
However, solving this problem will not just require expanding renewable energy production. The energy efficiency of AI systems and related technologies must improve too. Ensuring that the energy needed for AI and other digital advancements is sustainably sourced, without compromising broader net zero goals, will require a combination of government policy, technological innovation and public awareness.
AI’s growing electricity needs could exacerbate competition for limited renewable energy resources. This competition risks increasing reliance on fossil fuels, especially during periods of peak energy demand. If additional renewable capacity cannot be deployed quickly enough, the UK might face a scenario where AI-driven electricity demand increases overall emissions rather than reducing them.
The UK’s commitment to a twentyfold increase in public AI computing power by 2030 presents an immense challenge for the country’s electricity system. Meeting this goal sustainably will require balancing AI’s energy needs with broader electrification goals and renewable energy limitations.
Without immediate and concerted efforts to expand renewable energy and improve efficiency, AI’s electricity demands could hinder the transition to a net zero future.
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall speaking in parliament. Image: House of Commons/ Flickr
The Labour government has indicated that it will stick with Tory plans to cut disability benefits after a High Court judge ruled the previous government’s consultation into the plans was unlawful.
The proposals would cut around £400 a month from the disability benefits of hundreds of thousands of new applicants by 2029, compared to what they would receive under the current system.
Earlier today (16 January) Mr Justice Calver ruled in favour of disability activist Ellen Clifford, who had brought a judicial review of the public consultation that was held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in autumn 2023.
The proposals would change the way the work capability assessment (WCA) functions, by reducing the weight attached to difficulties with mobility and getting around in considering applicants’ level of disability.
Responding to today’s verdict, a government spokesperson said: “The judge has found the previous government failed to adequately explain their proposals. As part of wider reforms that help people into work and ensure fiscal sustainability, the government will re-consult on the WCA descriptor changes, addressing the shortcomings in the previous consultation, in light of the judgment.
“The government intends to deliver the full level of savings in the public finances forecasts.”
It is not clear if Labour will consult on all the proposals in the original consultation, some of which were subsequently dropped, or whether it will only consult on the proposals that the last government chose to take forward.
The High Court ruling doesn’t force the government to ditch the proposals, although it would make it very difficult to proceed with them without holding a new consultation first.
A meeting of the child poverty taskforce. From left to right: Mayor of the North East Kim McGuinness, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall and education secretary Bridget Phillippson. Image: Department for Education/ Flickr
Tory ministers presented reforms to disability benefits as a way to support disabled people into work – and they would have seen many worse off by at least £416.19 per month
The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) consultation into plans to slash billions of pounds from disability benefits has been ruled unlawful in a damning High Court judgement.
In a judgment published this morning (16 January), Mr Justice Calver said that the judicial review, brought by disability activist Ellen Clifford, had “surmounted the substantial hurdle of establishing that the consultation was so unfair as to be unlawful”.
Repeatedly describing the DWP consultation in autumn 2023 as “misleading”, “rushed” and “unfair”, he said:
• The consultation documents failed to highlight the “substantial” loss of benefits facing those affected by the proposals.
• The consultation gave the “misleading impression” that changes were required to ensure deaf and disabled people could access employment support, when they could already choose to access this voluntarily.
• Despite the consultation presenting the changes as being solely about helping disabled people into work, in reality “costs savings was at least one of the two bases, if not the central basis, on which decisions would be taken on which policies would be taken forward by the government”.
• The eight-week consultation was unlawfully short in the circumstances.
Just Stop Oil protesters at Heathrow airport. New powers granted to police have undermined free speech and peaceful assembly, the NGO says. Photograph: Guy Smallman/Getty Images
British director of Human Rights Watch attacks ‘dangerous hypocrisy’ of government
Britain’s crackdown on climate protest is setting “a dangerous precedent” around the world and undermining democratic rights, the UK director of Human Rights Watch has said.
Yasmine Ahmed accused the Labour government of hypocrisy over its claims to be committed to human rights and international law.
Ahmed said: “We’re at a stage where we’re talking about the … dangerous hypocrisy of what the UK government is saying and doing, and also the fact that the international community and the UN have [raised] and continue to raise the alarm about how this UK government responds to protest, and in particular climate protest.”
In the UK “laws criminalising protests undermine democratic rights”, the NGO says in its latest annual world report, published on Thursday, adding that in the past year “the UK continued to crack down on and criminalise climate protests”.
New powers granted to police by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 have had the effect of undermining “free speech, peaceful assembly, and democratic rights in the UK”, the report says.
