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No one is ever likely to accuse MI5 director general Ken McCallum of scaremongering.
In his occasional public appearances over the past six years, he has delivered a sober analysis of the security concerns facing Britain. This is all the more reason why the spectre he has now raised - which involves some extremely alarming scenarios - should be of deep concern to us all.
In his annual speech, Sir Ken detailed the growing threat from hostile powers such as Russia, China and Iran.
But his most worrying remarks were reserved for the increasing dangers from artificial intelligence. Security Service officers are, he disclosed, already identifying terrorist plots to use AI-enabled drones to carry out attacks on Britain from afar.
Yet even more disturbingly, Sir Ken said he would ‘attach greatest weight’ to the technology’s potential in developing deadly pathogens for use in biological warfare. It might sound like the plot of a blockbuster disaster movie, but the prospect of AI-manufactured death and disease being unleashed at some future point appears to be edging closer.
In his annual speech, Sir Ken McCallum detailed the growing threat from hostile powers such as Russia, China and Iran. But his most worrying remarks were reserved for the increasing dangers from artificial intelligence
The likelihood of Britain being even half-prepared for such an attack is remote. Labour’s pig-headed refusal to invest in defence spending leaves us vulnerable on more than just the traditional military front. Nor have sufficient resources been earmarked for addressing the perils posed by AI (even where there is no malicious intent involved).
Yes, everyone accepts that protecting Britain and its citizens from hostile forces involves rather more sweeping challenges nowadays. But the defence of the realm is still Andy Burnham’s principal responsibility. Perhaps he will now finally get around to reading the memo.
Soft justice shame
Given that Labour’s soft justice scheme involves the wholesale early release of prisoners, the least we ought to be able to expect are some basic statistics.
Not only is it unclear precisely how many convicts will be freed under the programme, there is no indication on the numbers fitted with electronic tags before they walked through the prison gates.
The one thing we do know, as shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy observed yesterday, is that reoffending is already ‘off the charts’. This is likely to become a bigger problem as inmates serving longer sentences - including sex offenders - are set free in the weeks and months ahead.
The Prime Minister had every opportunity to ditch this dangerous and ill-conceived scheme. His refusal to do so speak volumes about his political judgment, but it also says much about his contempt for ordinary law-abiding Britons.
Kemi's masterclass
There is little doubt that Kemi Badenoch’s commanding performance at the Conservative conference has helped increase her poll ratings.
But the bulk of the boost in support is almost certainly down to the policies and ideas she has spelt out in detail over recent weeks. Not only has she delivered a reminder that the Tories are the party of home ownership, she has signalled sensible strategies for ending the benefits culture, building more prison places and addressing our defence shortfalls.
Mrs Badenoch has demonstrated to voters that she has the imagination, initiative and drive to kickstart the nation. In the process, she has also given the PM a masterclass in how he should be doing his job.