Baroness Keeley of Worsley (also on BlueSky)

The government has declared that “harmful” AI imitations of performers’ voices and faces are a growing concern, in a response to a landmark House of Lords report earlier this year. Read more 👇 #Echobox=1778857819" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">thestage.co.uk/news/ai-face-a…

An unbelievably strong start to the @bbcproms season: over 67,000 tickets have already been sold by the @RoyalAlbertHall since we went on sale at 9am. The hunger for classical music is there for all to see: so encouraging! Plenty of tickets still available royalalberthall.com/tickets/proms/…

All I hear from political parties is how they’re going to have a “star” candidate to compete against Andy Burnham. Makerfield doesn’t want “stars”, we want a proper MP who knows our needs. Burnham is from this area, he knows it and the people who’ve been born and raised here.

Am in the queue for @bbcproms tickets

Former Shadow Culture Minister Baroness Barbara Keeley has welcomed confirmation the government has parked its opt-out approach to AI and intellectual property. artsprofessional.co.uk/news/governmen…

In this interview, you again say Sov AI will only invest in companies that comply with UK copyright law. But will Sov AI invest in companies that train on copyrighted work without a licence? This is a different question (because, for instance, they might train models abroad). I know I (and others) have asked several times before, but you haven't answered yet.

I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election. I grew up in this area and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics. Ten years ago, I decided to leave Westminster. Why? Because, after 16 years, I came to the conclusion that our national political system does not work for areas like ours. I learnt this fighting its failure to invest in the Wigan borough, for justice for the Hillsborough families and against its treatment of Greater Manchester during the pandemic. Over the last decade, I have been challenging this failure from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics. We have built Greater Manchester into the fastest-growing city-region in the UK and put buses back under public control, introducing a £2 fare cap to help people with cost-of-living pressures. However, there is only so much that can be done from Greater Manchester. Much bigger change is needed at a national level if everyday life is to be made more affordable again. This is why I now seek people’s support to return to Parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people. Millions are struggling and they need the Labour Government to succeed. It has already made changes to make life better for them in its first two years. After this week, we owe it to people to come back together as a Labour movement, giving the Prime Minister and the Government the space and stability they need as the by-election takes place. I want to recognise the difficult decision taken by Josh Simons and the sacrifice he and his family are making. I have worked closely with him as Mayor on issues like flooding and illegal waste dumping and have seen first-hand how effective he has been. He has put the communities of Makerfield first, made a real difference for them and should take great pride in that. Finally, I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times. We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again. ENDS

Tremendous work by so many to deliver on our pledge on waiting times for patients. And today delighted to introduce the Health Bill legislation to deliver our 10 Year Health Plan

Today we publish our Report Card 2026 providing a crucial snapshot of the arts education landscape, enabling us to see the consequences of previous governments prioritising non-arts subjects through school performance measures. Our key findings:

The UK Sovereign AI Fund’s recent investments in two billion-dollar AI companies are a waste of taxpayer funds. The companies don’t need the money, and there is no clear benefit to British citizens. My full post: open.substack.com/pub/dontstealt…

And a huge shout out to @SharonHodgsonMP for her tireless work on this over many years. A real champion for fans.

The Creative Industries PEC's new skills audit shows broad skills gaps in the music sector. We welcome this research, which shows the importance of vocational training in music, and getting the new V and T levels right Read more ⬇️ pec.ac.uk/research_repor…

ElevenLabs was just sued by voice actors for allegedly training on recordings of their voices without permission 👀 pacermonitor.com/public/case/64…

Only 7% of heads feel able to increase the amount of classroom time spent on arts subjects. Let’s tell the government what needs to change. Sign our open letter ➡️ tinyurl.com/OpenLetterAM

@drcrouchback Night Paul x

Night all Sleep well Pax

Lovely news Steve. Congratulations to all ❤️

@Gina4Labour You have made an amazing contribution to the wards and the city of Salford you served. Thank you for that service.

I have now retired as an Elected Member. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the people of the former Langworthy and Swinton and Wardley wards, in the great city of Salford. Many thanks to everyone who put their trust in me and supported me over the past 21 years.

Farage could face byelection over crypto king’s £5m donation bit.ly/4nkDZLG

Hahahahah! Just seen this on FB: ---- Have you found yourself in the hideous position of having a Reform councillor? Here’s how you can help your brand new councillor settle into local government properly: email them this week with an actual council problem to solve. Got rubbish piling up? Email them. Bus vanished from existence? Email them. Streetlights dead? Email them. Care package delayed? Email them. Pavement like the Somme? Email them. Send them in by the hundred. Make sure they’re made very clear on what their job is. Being a councillor is not standing in front of the Union flag shouting about dinghies on GB News. It’s reading committee papers at midnight, attending meetings nobody enjoys, holding surgeries in church halls, and dealing with the endlessly glamorous world of drains, social care budgets and recycling disputes. Welcome to local government. The boats are in Kent. The bins are in your ward. The email address for your ward councillor can be found on your local council website as soon as it’s updated. Feel free to copy and paste to share wider.