So very sorry to learn of the death of Ann Widdecombe. Ann’s forthright views - whether you agreed with her or not - were always trenchantly, intelligently, and honestly expressed - and never with malice. Even when Ann and I were on opposite sides of political arguments, we simply agreed to disagree but never fell out. Her formidable debating skills, developed as a student in the Oxford Union, were deployed to great effect in @UKParliament for her causes - notably in defence of the unborn child and against animal cruelty. We first came to know one another when she diligently served on my Private Members’ Bill Committee in @HouseofCommons as I challenged the law permitting late abortions. Known as a conviction politician, her beliefs were founded on two pillars: her Faith and her intensely patriotic love of country. Beyond the well-known public figure, there was also a less well-known private person, capable of great kindness in responding to people facing personal challenges and tragedy. As they will attest , she was never a fair weather friend. At a time when the national debate needs respectful disagreement and intelligent debate, Ann’s voice will be missed. I will not be alone in mourning her passing. May she now rest in peace bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ced4… @CommonsSpeaker

George Weigel in The Washington Post analyses Pope Leo’s first encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas”(Magnificent Humanity). Read Weigel in full at washingtonpost.com/opinions/… Extract from his analysis : “Babel or Jerusalem? Pope Leo weighs AI and the human condition.” Weigel concludes that Leo’s first encyclical offers “a great and energizing hope”… Leo concedes that ‘it is not possible to provide a single, comprehensive definition of AI,’ given the rapidity of its development. He nevertheless lays down a marker in favor of the `grandeur of humanity’ that strikes me as the encyclical’s sharpest, most compelling assertion, however many eyebrows it may raise in Silicon Valley: `We must avoid the misconception of equating this type of ‘intelligence’ with that of human beings. These systems merely imitate certain functions of human intelligence. In doing so, they often surpass human intelligence in speed and computational capacity, offering tangible benefits across many fields. Yet this power remains entirely tied to data processing.’  Leo continues: `So-called artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean. Nor do they have a moral conscience, since they do not judge good and evil, grasp the ultimate meaning of situations, or bear responsibility for consequences. They may imitate language, behavior, and analytical skills, or even simulate empathy and understanding, but they do not understand what they produce, for they lack the affective, relational, and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom.’ In short: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and all the rest do not replicate `the experience of those who allow themselves to be shaped by life and grow over time through choices, mistakes, forgiveness and fidelity…’ Several critical points that form the intellectual and spiritual scaffolding on which Magnifica Humanitas is built shouldn’t get lost in the policy debate, however. Like the point that human dignity is inalienable and inherent, not a benefice bestowed by the state or ascribed by socioeconomic status. And the point that, however confused our human condition, `creation bears the imprint of an original goodness’ that we are to `bring to fulfillment.’ And the point that `true progress always stems from a heart open to others, an intelligence willing to listen, and a will that seeks what unites rather than what separates.’ In contrast to today’s cacophonous public `discourse,’ Leo XIV speaks in Magnifica humanitas with an adult voice: a voice appealing to our highest aspirations rather than pandering to our worst prejudices or most virulent fears.” Full Text of Magnificent Humanity: vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/e…