What happened on 1st July 2023 - with your comments in the Web

On Saturday, Mohamed Amersi, a multi-millionaire Tory donor who backed Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign was accused of ‘attempted blackmail, bribery, corruption and dirty money’ in a Commons debate.

The allegations were made against telecoms tycoon Mohamed Amersi, who made a fortune in Russia, by former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis using parliamentary privilege.He also launched an astonishing attack on top British law firms, calling for them to be “punished” for “a litany of tactics designed to cover up corruption”.

He claimed solicitors such as Carter Ruck, who represent Mr Amersi, were “aiding legal intimidation by dishonest and dishonourable” oligarchs and others.

Mr Amersi reacted furiously, accusing Mr Davis of being a ‘liar, coward and a bully’ – and demanded he retract his allegations.

Mr Davis demanded fresh action to curb the legal ploy of “lawfare” involving Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPS), whereby “individuals with deep pockets and questionable motives” use British libel laws to silence whistleblowers.

No one was surprised.

"If you lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas -- maybe the lesson here is also to stop accepting donations from such obviously dodgy characters?"

"I may not agree with any David Davis’s politics but the guy has a ton of integrity compared to many in politics and especially the Tory party"

Another Tory political person was involved into a scandal On Saturday. Conservative Party deputy chairman Lee Anderson faced a telling off for using a Parliament rooftop to film a promotional video for his GB News show. 

The Serjeant at Arms, who is responsible for upholding order in the Commons, will be contacting the MP for Ashfield to remind him of the rules.

In a Twitter clip Mr Anderson asked viewers to get in touch with their problems for his weekly show. He is being paid £100,000 a year to host the programme.

A House of Commons spokesman said: "Unauthorised photography or filming is not permitted on the parliamentary estate.

"Where it is seen or reported to be happening, the individual in question will be asked to stop and reminded of the rules.

"Where breaches are observed or reported, the Serjeant at Arms will discuss with (or write to) the member involved to confirm the rules."

"Deputy Chairman? Seriously WTF! The tories think a MP who fed another MP cold baked beans on TV to make a point about the cost of living crisis could 'chair' anything? I had no idea they had given him any sort of official role."

"He's there to turn a blind eye to corruption and remind you that if you bend the knee to creeping fascism you too can be in a position of power even if you're otherwise indistinguishable from that bloke who used to run the chippy but now sits in the bar every afternoon with his mates talking about "them coming round ere""

"Can you imagine the daily heil headlines if Angela Rayner, the Labour equivalent of this utter bellend, were to host a show on itv?"

Also this day Brits hopefully read the news about expert opinion that potential for AI in NHS is ‘limitless’.

Dr Adam Dubis, associate professor and programme lead in digital health and entrepreneurship at University College London’s (UCL’s) Global Business School for Health, told the PA news agency AI could help in several areas, such as how long it takes until patients are seen.

He said: “The potential impact on the NHS is limitless. We are well aware of the long wait times to get into the GP and routine follow-up care.

“Having AI-enabled assistants will help triage these and provide necessary support for those waiting.

“A system optimised by AI which sees the sickest first, for whom intervention is still possible, is more time and cost efficient.”

In some parts of the NHS, AI is currently being used to analyse images, such as mammograms, and support radiologists in making decisions.

Yet, some readers reacted with negativity.

"Maybe I won’t have to wait a month for an appointment with ChatGP" - ""Hi,  as an AI I am not able to diagnose your condition. Please call your local GP and make an appointment at a time most suitable for you both."

"Hi, as an AI I only have limited data up to September 2021 so cannot advise you on the current wait times for your call to the GP to be answered"

"I am so wary of how "AI" is being presented right now.

There was a segment on Sky recently about the use of AI in clinical pathology diagnostics.

We use a lot of AI tools to aid with our cell tracking in my lab. From experience, generally you have to go through pretty much anything these tools do to double check that false-negatives haven't been missed. Its good at recognizing a very stereotypical standardized thing that ticks all the boxes, but biology in particular really does not work like that in reality, even worse in vivo than in vitro like most of my work.

My concern is we'll go full-swing into these tools rather than just investing in the existing human-led services properly and plaster over any issues that do crop up, basically blaming patients for presenting slightly abnormally rather than reflecting on why exactly we wound up giving huge sums of money to these private companies to provide these tools rather than just investing in our own human resources.

Usual time to plug as well - Clinical lab sciences in the UK is dire. There is not a clinical lab in the country that isn't crying out for workers. We are expecting people with STEM PhDs to work to super strict schedules and incredibly high standards in operation and data handling, for a fucking pittance. Its embarrassing at this point. Yet like all other support staff in the NHS, it barely ever gets a mention."

 "It's just buzzwording I wouldn't worry about it. They were talking about implementing 'blockchain' in the NHS a handful of years ago. This 'expert' will just tell you the latest tech hype product is going to change the world and going to be used in every industry and they'll tell you that right up until the new thing is here.

Part of the way money is embezzled out of the government is large pointless grants like the ones the NHS is giving to 'AI' it's a real shame, but it's just what corruption looks like in the UK."

On Saturday, the BBC reported that a change to the energy price cap has come into force, reducing domestic gas and electricity bills - with a further, smaller fall expected this winter.

A household in England, Wales and Scotland using a typical amount of energy will now pay £2,074 a year, a drop of £426 a year.

Analysts at the consultancy Cornwall Insight suggest the typical bill could fall to £2,000 a year this winter.

However, that remains much higher than the pre-pandemic norm.

Charities and suppliers have warned that even though prices are falling, there is a still a risk that many people with stretched finances will struggle to pay.

The actual amount paid by households will vary depending on the amount of gas and electricity they use.

Redditors had some advice about this issue.

"I switched to a 'dynamic' tariff last month and it's been a revelation. You have to pay attention to the rates and make sure to adjust your usage accordingly, but at the time of posting (8:30 - 9:00) my electricity costs 11.51p / kWh. At 10:30am it'll go negative, meaning I'll be paid for the electricity I use between 10:30 - 11:00, and again for 11:30 - 12:00, and again from 13:30 - 14:00

The flip side is that the price cap on this particular tariff is 95.23p kwh so if there's a situation that causes a huge spike you can be significantly impacted. But so far it's definitely paid off for me - it's reduced my bill by approx. 40%"

"For the people at the poorer end of the scale who have already cut their usage back to as little as possible, this will save them maybe £5/10 a month, which yes, is a saving but it’s not going to make life any more comfortable in reality."

"My summer bill used to be £45 for both elec and gas. Now it's been £120 the past two months. Haven't put my heating on once. Woopdy doo, I'm gonna pay £95 now instead of £120. It's still 200% compared to this time last year and I used more energy last year." - "

If you are paying £120 it won’t be £95 now. It’ll be about £110ish.

We were the same as you. £45 used to be a full month. Now the standing charges are £25.

As usual. People at the bottom who are low users because they can’t afford not to be get screwed. The richer you are, the more you spend, and now, the more you save. Broken system from top to bottom."

"I live in Northern Ireland and my energy price just went up."