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Are the Lib Dems in with a chance in Surrey? BBC London reports

https://flip.it/y8q6Dh

The Liberal Democrats have a strong chance of making gains in Surrey at the next UK general election, according to analysis and reporting from BBC London and other sources.

Key Points

• The Liberal Democrats made significant gains in the 2023 local elections, winning over 400 new councillors, including taking control of Windsor & Maidenhead councils from the Conservatives.[2]

• They are targeting the "Surrey Shufflers" - young professionals and families moving out of London to Surrey, who may be open to an alternative to Labour and the Conservatives.[2]

• BBC London reports that the Conservative grip on Parliamentary seats in Surrey is under threat from the Liberal Democrat surge.[4][5][6]

• The Liberal Democrats see Surrey as a key battleground, hoping to capitalize on disillusionment with the Conservatives and their status as the main opposition in many Surrey constituencies.[2][3]

• While unlikely to win an outright majority, the Liberal Democrats could potentially influence the next government through a coalition or supply agreement, especially if Labour's lead narrows before the election.[2][3]

Their main demand in any such deal would likely be electoral reform and a move towards proportional representation.[2][3] However, extracting this from Labour may prove difficult.[2]

In summary, the Liberal Democrats are well-positioned to make inroads in Surrey and could play a kingmaker role in the next Parliament, though their national prospects remain limited.[2][3][4][5][6]

Zitate: [1] https://flip.it/y8q6Dh [2] Is there any chance of the Liberal Democrats influencing the next UK ... https://atticuscomms.com/Is-there-any-chance-of-the-Liberal-Democrats-influencing-the-next-UK [3] General election 2024: what are the Liberal Democrats' policies and ... https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/general-election-2024-liberal-democrats-policies-ed-davey-b1159748.html [4] Are the Lib Dems in with a chance in Surrey? BBC London reports https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_uR3jj5CQY [5] Are the Lib Dems in with a chance in Surrey? BBC London reports https://www.markpack.org.uk/172890/are-the-lib-dems-in-with-a-chance-in-surrey-bbc-london-reports/ [6] Mark Pack on X: "Are the Lib Dems in with a chance in Surrey? BBC ... https://twitter.com/markpack/status/1793714696593531257

There appear to be some tensions between Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer over Labour's approach to workers' rights, but they remain focused on presenting a united front to win the next election[1][2].

https://www.msn.com/de-DE/news/others/tensions-between-angela-rayner-and-keir-starmer-on-workers-rights/ar-BB1m5sLS?ocid=sapphireappshare

Rayner has warned that Labour needs "diversity of thought" and can't just be "a load of Keir Starmers"[2]. She believes the party must have a range of voices and not just align with the leader's positions. Rayner sees herself as representing the party's traditional industrial base and trade union supporters[1].

However, Starmer and Rayner continue to campaign together and most in Labour believe they complement each other well[1]. Rayner has been given an expanded role covering housing, levelling up and workers' rights, suggesting her position in the party is secure for now[2].

While Rayner and Starmer don't agree on everything, they recognize the need to present a united front to win power[2]. Rayner has described their relationship as an "arranged marriage" that has evolved over time[2]. She sees it as her job to challenge Starmer, but ultimately they have to settle on a common position to govern effectively[2].

Zitate: [1] Is Angela Rayner being frozen out by Keir Starmer? - New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/labour/2023/06/angela-rayner-influence-labour-party-keir-starmer [2] Angela Rayner warns Labour must be more than 'a load of Keir ... https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/angela-rayner-keir-starmer-labour-election-b2452977.html [3] The long-running tensions with Keir Starmer behind Angela ... https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/09/how-labour-fault-lines-led-to-a-seismic-event-with-angela-rayners-sacking [4] Angela Rayner's housing scandal: storm in a teacup or nightmare ... https://theconversation.com/angela-rayners-housing-scandal-storm-in-a-teacup-or-nightmare-scenario-for-keir-starmer-228112 [5] Are Angela Rayner's troubles a sign of what's to come for Labour? https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68805211

https://www.bing.com/search?q=angela%20rayner%20in%20the%20news&PC=SAADAND&form=LWS001&ssp=1&cc=DE&setlang=de&safesearch=moderate

Microsoft is working on a new large-scale AI language model called MAI-1, which could potentially rival state-of-the-art models from Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI, according to a report by The Information.

This marks the first time Microsoft has developed an in-house AI model of this magnitude since investing over $10 billion in OpenAI for the rights to reuse the startup's AI models. OpenAI's GPT-4 powers not only ChatGPT but also Microsoft Copilot.

The development of MAI-1 is being led by Mustafa Suleyman, the former Google AI leader who recently served as CEO of the AI startup Inflection before Microsoft acquired the majority of the startup's staff and intellectual property for $650 million in March. Although MAI-1 may build on techniques brought over by former Inflection staff, it is reportedly an entirely new large language model (LLM), as confirmed by two Microsoft employees familiar with the project.

With approximately 500 billion parameters, MAI-1 will be significantly larger than Microsoft's previous open source models (such as Phi-3, which we covered last month), requiring more computing power and training data. This reportedly places MAI-1 in a similar league as OpenAI's GPT-4, which is rumored to have over 1 trillion parameters (in a mixture-of-experts configuration) and well above smaller models like Meta and Mistral's 70 billion parameter models.

The development of MAI-1 suggests a dual approach to AI within Microsoft, focusing on both small locally run language models for mobile devices and larger state-of-the-art models that are powered by the cloud. Apple is reportedly exploring a similar approach. It also highlights the company's willingness to explore AI development independently from OpenAI, whose technology currently powers Microsoft's most ambitious generative AI features, including a chatbot baked into Windows.

Reportedly, the exact purpose of MAI-1 has not been determined (even within Microsoft), and its most ideal use will depend on its performance, according to one of The Information's sources. To train the model, Microsoft has been allocating a large cluster of servers with Nvidia GPUs and compiling training data from various sources, including text generated by OpenAI's GPT-4 and public Internet data.

Depending on the progress made in the coming weeks, The Information reports that Microsoft may preview MAI-1 as early as its Build developer conference later this month, as reported by one of the sources cited by the publication.

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