Hello from The National and welcome to the View from London – your weekly guide to the big stories from our London bureau
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I'm pleased to say that on a hot June day, the crypt at the medieval Guildhall was pleasantly cool. In the main hall, the UN Secretary General was acknowledging the heat outside: “London is cooking,” Antonio Guterres said.
What he'd really like to turn the heat on is the free ride he believes technology companies have been given as they rapidly build data centres around the globe.
While humans are benefitting from tech breakthroughs, the planet's climate fight is being pushed on to a knife edge, Mr Guterres said. “AI is also hungry for land, water and power,” he told London Climate Action Week. “The data centres behind it already consume more electricity than most nations.”
He urged the major AI companies to measure and disclose their systems' environmental impact.
“No more hidden costs. No more shifting the burden on to those least able to bear it. It is time to come clean. If AI is to help build a better future, it must be honest about what it costs us now.”
For all the elements of a gold rush around data centres, there are already some pulling back.
Conor Barry, senior economist at the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, told me about the interest in building data centres but also the constraints imposed by the energy shortages caused by the Iran war.
“Before the energy crisis – and before the situation this year – countries were starting to look at how they could invest in data centres, but less so in the last six months as they are very much focused on getting through the current crisis, addressing fertiliser and fuel shortages and food-security impacts,” he said.
“I would foresee policymakers' mindsets will shift back towards data and digital transformations with the stabilising of the energy market.”
The head of the UN’s International Renewable Energy Agency, Francisco La Camera, said the rate of innovation in renewables was being spurred on by the Strait of Hormuz crisis. Mr La Camera said he was astounded by what is going on.
“We have seen in the last three months that product solution technology linked to renewables has been exploding everywhere,” he said. “We are moving quite well in installing new capacity, almost 700 gigawatts last year, but the fact that the demand has been rising more than expected means that the progress in energy efficiency has been lower than expected.”
As he suggests, there are bottlenecks emerging for the digitalisation of energy to confront. “We have not been equally successful in building the infrastructure that may assure the electrons and the molecules that we generate will reach the consumers, industries, citizens and families,” Mr La Camera said.
Go abroad
British independent schools have suffered a drop in the number of international pupils and boarders since the introduction of VAT on fees, an annual census has found.
The schools are leaning on international operations ever more heavily. Recent years have seen the expansion of overseas campuses, with UK offshoots now at 138. China, the UAE and Thailand account for almost half of the campuses and 57.2 per cent of pupils.
Overall enrolled numbers fell 3.5 per cent to 526,611, compared with last year, at 1,455 UK schools belonging to the Independent Schools Council.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government introduced VAT of 20 per cent on private school fees from January 1 last year.
Average fees increased by 4.4 per cent over the last year even before VAT was added.
“The global outlook of our schools remains a defining characteristic,” said ISC chairman Mark Taylor.
Hit the ground
With 200 Labour MPs crowding in behind him for a selfie, we have already witnessed Andy Burnham's acclamation at Westminster. The image was all the more potent for including members of the current cabinet, among them Chancellor Rachel Reeves and other non-allies.
The set-up for Prime Minister Keir Starmer's resignation points to Mr Burnham taking over next month.
Mr Starmer may have even upset his signalling for a longer interregnum. The new Makerfield MP was said to not be ready and to want more space, seeking three months rather than weeks.
We have heard calls for the former mayor of Manchester to be tested over a longer period. This puts Labour's needs first, but there is a nation to run and someone must get on and do it.
As the selfie has already demonstrated, politicians could establish in 24 hours whether there is a serious rival. If not, Mr Burnham should take charge. An extended interim is looking like a liability for the country and the rest of the world.
Sudan switch
Nearly half of the British public want the government to change course on its relationship with the military-led regime in Sudan.
Polling company JL Partners asked respondents about UK ties with the Sudanese Armed Forces. The company said analysts and governments had raised concerns about Islamist influence within SAF ranks, including that of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The poll also found there is scepticism about the UK’s asylum screening process with 52 per cent of respondents saying they have no confidence in its ability to identify applicants involved with armed groups or illegal activities. Only 5 per cent are very confident.
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