‘AI clog’: UK public bodies battle onslaught of chatbot-generated complaints
Posted on Sunday November 08, 2026

MPs, local authorities, lawyers, schools and more are receiving floods of grievances, requests and legal challenges, often complex to read and respond to

‘It started as a trickle in 2024 and now it’s an onslaught.” Hollie Wickens, a senior caseworker in a Labour MP’s office, is explaining the daily reality of dealing with surging volumes of artificial intelligence-generated correspondence.

“Half the emails we receive are some form of AI,” she says, adding that this has made requests and complaints much more complex and time-consuming to read and deal with, despite her decade of experience in the role. “It is definitely more taxing.”

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1-0 to humankind? US midterms vote puts AI, datacentres and the broligarchy back in their box | Heather Stewart
Posted on Sunday November 08, 2026

Election results appear to have turbo-charged an already growing social, political and financial market rethink about AI

• ‘AI clog’: UK battles onslaught of chatbot-generated complaints

• Editorial: the AI backlash – Silicon Valley’s political power is cracking

Last week’s midterms may not have cowed Donald Trump, but they should be a wake-up call for the grinning tech broligarchs who lined up at his inauguration two chaotic years ago.

Clearly, the cost of living squeeze unleashed by Trump’s war in Iran was a big driver of the Democrat wave. But AI was also on the ballot – in many places, literally.

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UK spent £100m on zombie Brexit border inspection posts
Posted on Sunday November 08, 2026

Five of seven facilities in England and Wales never reached operational stage as Tories vacillated over plans to check goods

The UK wasted at least £100m in taxpayers’ money to set up zombie Brexit border inspection posts that were never used, it has been revealed.

The overall cost of Brexit was put at an estimated £4.7bn by the National Audit Office last year but this included years-long transformation of the software used for customs declarations and other systems built to cope with the UK leaving the single market.

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Hot fridges, a fake nuclear alert and a $6bn heist: are we in the foothills of a hacking epidemic?
Posted on Sunday November 08, 2026

As AI exposes flaws in IT systems and geopolitics plays out on the cyber frontline, some experts say the events of recent weeks could soon be a common occurrence

Alex Pearce was doing the morning rounds at his fruit and vegetable wholesale business in London on Monday last week when he noticed something odd.

The defrost light on refrigeration unit 2 was on, and the panel reading was 150C. Unit 4 was the same.

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Hot fridges, a fake nuclear alert and a $6bn heist: are we in the foothills of a hacking epidemic?
Posted on Sunday November 08, 2026

As AI exposes flaws in IT systems and geopolitics plays out on the cyber frontline, some experts say the events of recent weeks could soon be a common occurrence

Alex Pearce was doing the morning rounds at his fruit and vegetable wholesale business in London on Monday last week when he noticed something odd.

The defrost light on refrigeration unit 2 was on, and the panel reading was 150C. Unit 4 was the same.

Read more...

‘AI clog’: UK public bodies battle onslaught of chatbot-generated complaints
Posted on Sunday November 08, 2026

MPs, local authorities, lawyers, schools and more are receiving floods of grievances, requests and legal challenges, often complex to read and respond to

‘It started as a trickle in 2024 and now it’s an onslaught.” Hollie Wickens, a senior caseworker in a Labour MP’s office, is explaining the daily reality of dealing with surging volumes of artificial intelligence-generated correspondence.

“Half the emails we receive are some form of AI,” she says, adding that this has made requests and complaints much more complex and time-consuming to read and deal with, despite her decade of experience in the role. “It is definitely more taxing.”

Read more...

‘I expect to move forward’: Carrick denies risk of Manchester United sack
Posted on Sunday November 08, 2026

• ‘Is there?’ manager retorts when told of talk over position

• Bizarre 4-4 draw with Villa leaves United in bottom three

A tetchy Michael Carrick dismissed a suggestion he could resign as head coach for the good of the team after Sunday’s chaotic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa left Manchester United in the relegation zone heading into the international window.

Carrick’s side sit in 18th place with eight points from 10 games and have won only once, in August at home to Ipswich, in the league this season. It is now a club record eight Premier League games without a win.His job remains in the balance due to the dismal run of form.

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‘Lucky to have him’: Maro Itoje backs Borthwick after England triumph
Posted on Sunday November 08, 2026

• ‘I’m delighted we got the win. He’s a world-class coach’

• England beat Australia 45-22 in Nations Championship

Maro Itoje, the England captain, has reiterated his squad’s full support for the head coach, Steve Borthwick, after the home side’s resounding 45-22 victory against Australia at Allianz Stadium on Sunday. Itoje described Borthwick as “a world‑class coach” and said England were “lucky to have him” despite fresh media reports of unhappiness in the camp this summer.

Borthwick also revealed he had received several pre-game messages from former England coaches urging him to ignore external criticism and to concentrate on the rugby. His team certainly succeeded in that regard, scoring seven tries to rack up a record number of points against the Wallabies and register only their third win in their past eight games.

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