THE BIG STORIES
North Sea oil and gas claim | Outrage as US war plan, and chat on Europe, is accidentally sent to journalist

📣 The North Sea could produce half the oil and gas the UK needs over the next 25 years, an (oil and gas) industry body says today - far more than its currently producing, and worth £150 billion to the UK economy.

But to achieve the higher figure the government will have to say yes to new projects - which will create a problem for Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which has maintained a firm line that it won’t issue licenses for new North Sea fields as it looks to achieve net zero by 2050. (The Scotsman)

• Miliband is said to be mulling an idea which could see the UK split into energy pricing zones, where people who live near wind farms pay less than those in other parts of the UK. (Daily Mail)

📣 We’ve all popped a message in the wrong WhatsApp group by mistake… but accidentally copying a journalist into your war plans is perhaps a degree worse than fat-thumbing your takeaway order to your colleagues.

That is the embarrassment facing Mike Waltz, Donald Trump’s national security advisor, who added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief to a Signal chat about a US bombing raid on Houthi targets across Yeman.

As well as raising basic questions about the competence of Waltz, the security breach also makes clear the Trump administration is using consumer technology to discuss highly sensitive matters. Russian security services, among others, will take interest: it’s a big vulnerability. (The Atlantic £) (AP)

• The conversation contained disparaging references to “bailing out” Europe, “European free-loading”, and the need to extract “some further economic gain” for the country’s military action. (Daily Mail)

• While Trump appeared to joke about the breach last night, Waltz and defence secretary Pete Hegseth may worry about their futures. (The Times £)

IDEAS
Artificial intelligence: how the coming battle is around exploiting tech, rather than being exploited by it

🗣️Is Artificial Intelligence the technology to power a new era of prosperity and discovery? Or a sinister high-tech leech that will steal creative work and destroy jobs? It’s a question that’ll dominate tech debate for some time to come - but is already reaching a head in the UK as the country searches for options for economic growth.

In a speech at the University of Leicester yesterday, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said AI could jolt the UK - and the world - out of slow growth, just as electricity did in the early 20th century.

“It is not just a short-lived boost to productivity growth but rather a significant change which keeps improving and lowering costs and makes innovation across the economy easier,” Bailey said, according to City AM.

The UK Government agrees, it appears. Speaking to the FT UK technology secretary Peter Kyle urged opponents of a new copyright regime, intended to make it easier for AI developers to “train” their systems on copyright work, not to “resist change”.

“Just as in every other time there is change in society, there will be some people who will either resist change or try to make change too difficult to deliver,” he told the newspaper. In other words, get with the programme, kids.

That’s going to create tensions. On Bloomberg, Allegra Stratton’s newsletter was worth reading last night (gift link 🎁) as she wondered aloud: “Can Starmer say no to the tech bros?” Her concerns were more around the potential easing of tax burdens on the social media giants, as part of a wider attempt to avoid Trump tariffs. Just as the brilliant Netflix drama Adolescence illuminates the dangers of social media to our young people, easing taxation on social media companies could spark a backlash among Labour MPs and the wider public.

Similarly, a headlong rush to appease the new Gods of AI, without considering the interests of content creators and others impacted by its rise, will raise questions about who the government is serving.

If Trump’s tech bros are to be given free rein, it may not be enough to tell creators, anxious parents and newly redundant workers that they’re in the way of Progress… Starmer will need to demonstrate big benefits are coming the other way, too. Otherwise he’ll face accusations that overseas tech companies are, once again, running rings round government, just as they did around e-commerce taxation, social media regulation and renewable energy IP.

🗣️ …and finally: Donald Trump was upset at his portrait in Colorado’s state capitol, decrying it as “truly the worst”. On Reddit, locals on r/Scotland saw the likeness, though… with the much-loved Winston from Still Game.

EVENT

💷 An exhibition chronicling 900 years of Edinburgh as a city of commerce is open this week. Part of the city’s Edinburgh 900 celebrations, the exhibition at The Merchants’ Hall in Hanover Street uses previously unseen artefacts and documents to describe the development of commerce in the city from the 11th century to today. The exhibition is all week, while there are lectures each day too. Entry’s free, but you’ll want to book ahead. (Edinburgh 900)

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 The family of Sheku Bayoh, the man who died after Police Scotland officers restrained him, have settled their damages action against the force. The Scottish Police Federation expressed its “surprise” at the move, saying the “only person who can be said indisputably to have broken the law is Sheku Bayoh”. (Mail)

📣 A gang war has erupted in Edinburgh: The Sun says it can explain why, in a complex tale involving fake cash and a £500,000 drugs deal that went wrong. (The Sun)

• John Swinney has said the gang violence is “utterly unacceptable” (The Herald)

📣 A new airline is to fly from Scotland. Global Airlines will fly a giant A380 from Glasgow Airport to JFK in New York in May. (The Herald)

AROUND THE UK & WORLD

📣 A UK-EU defence pact really will depend on fish, a European minister has warned. EU countries, including France, want access to British waters again, and the demand could hold up military coordination over the threat posed by Russia. (Politico)

📣 The extent of Britain’s booming welfare bill is spelt out by The Independent today: their analysis shows 23% of the working-age population is now on some form of benefit. (The Independent)

📣 Turkey is now a full-blown autocracy, says Foreign Affairs, after the country’s main opposition leader was arrested and jailed, effectively removing him from the race. (Foreign Affairs)

• Autocratic leaders around the world are using the ascent of Donald Trump, and his upending of political norms, to crack down on human rights and democracy in their own countries. (Semafor)

📣 Men aren’t just getting grumpy when they are more disgusted by things as they get older… it could be a defensive mechanism designed to protect men from dangerous pathogens as they get older, and more vulnerable, according to research. (The Times £)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

💰 Britain risks falling behind other countries in developing small nuclear reactors, the head of Rolls-Royce has said, warning that it could repeat mistakes made during the offshore wind energy boom of the last decade. (FT £)

💰 Chinese car maker BYD has overtaken Tesla as its revenues topped $100 billion for the first time last year. The company, backed by Warren Buffet, sold more than four million cars on its way to profits of $4.3 billion last year. (This is Money)

💰 Morrisons is closing a number of convenience stores and 52 of its in-store cafes, as well as some of its well-regarded meat and fish counters and all its market kitchens. (BBC)

SPORT

⚽️ Scotland’s relegation to League B of the Nations League, wallowing in the 40s of the FIFA national rankings, begs the question: are Scotland going anywhere under Steve Clarke? And could someone new do better?

The Scotland manager is “getting it in the neck” after Sunday’s 3-0 home loss to Greece, who looked “several notches above the Scots,” writes Alan Pattullo in The Scotsman. In the Guardian, Ewan Murray says Clarke ended Scotland’s years “in the international wilderness,” but there’s “a slightly ominous feel around the Scotland setup once more”. (The Scotsman) (The Guardian)

⚽️ “Dull and targid” England didn’t exactly thrill against Latvia last night, but got the job done with a 3-0 notable for a beautiful goal from Reece James from a free kick, and Eberechi Eze’s trickery earning him his first England goal. (Mail)