Tony Blair and the Reform party both want AI in government, though they can't agree on what for

Former UK Labour prime minister Tony Blair and Reform MP Danny Kruger have both published essays arguing that AI will transform government, though they reach strikingly different conclusions about what that means Blair's essay, published Tuesday on his Institute for Global Change website, calls AI one of two epochal" changes reshaping the world, the first being the rise of China and India. The second is the technology revolution led by developments in artificial intelligence, which will change everything," writes Blair. I mean everything. There is no point in debating whether this technological revolution is a good or bad thing. Just know it is a thing'. In fact, it is the thing'." He argues AI will displace and create new jobs, "revolutionize the private sector, and should eventually overhaul public services," warning that "people in most countries, including Britain, have no idea what is about to hit them." The missive, widely covered for its attacks on the current UK administration, recommends scrapping some environmental policies to prioritize cheaper energy and electrification over net zero, using "what is left of our North Sea oil and gas resources." This, he writes, is "essential for our competitiveness and for taking advantage of AI." More significantly, government should be reorganized. All governments for the foreseeable future will govern in the age of AI," he adds. Those which understand it will see their countries prosper; those which don't, won't." Blair's institute - a not-for-profit consultancy and think tank known for presenting technology as the solution to government problems - has notable backers, including the Gates Foundation and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's foundation. Ellison donated $70 million in 2024 and approved a further $148 million, ostensibly for governance work in Africa. He and Blair have been aligned since 2020, when they partnered on a digital vaccination records database; in 2025, Ellison publicly called on governments to consolidate all citizen data in one place and apply AI to it. At the same time, Reform - the right-wing party that is leading UK opinion polls - sees AI as a tool for shrinking government rather than modernizing it. In a paper published May 24, Reform MP Danny Kruger, elected to Parliament as a Conservative MP before defecting to Reform last September, proposes abolishing the Cabinet Office - which leads technology work including digital ID, cyber security and government data - and replacing it with a Department of the Civil Service, run by a newly-recruited chief exec. He/she will be responsible for managing the (currently) 550,000-strong Civil Service, and for transforming it into a much smaller and more productive organisation, not least through the adoption of AI," writes Kruger. Reform, he adds, would look at offering more generous salaries for new civil servants and more performance-related pay, while cutting pension entitlements. However, there would be fewer staff overall: We expect significant reductions at all levels of government, not least through the enormous transformation that AI is bringing to clerical and analytic work." Kruger claims Reform is actively looking" for a boss to run that department. What is necessary is extensive experience turning around large organisations, delivering major headcount reductions and improvements in the quality and productivity of the team. If this is you, please get in touch." (R)