Out for an early morning run and then to the office in pouring rain. After running through the papers and correspondence, I headed to the Wilson Room for another session of our Defence Committee. It was a fascinating private session with a company called Helsing, a defence AI company. In September 2023, Members of the Committee took part in an AI ‘masterclass’ hosting by the company. Following the launch of the Sub-Committee’s inquiry into Developing AI capacity and expertise in UK Defence, Helsing offered to run a similar session for new Members of the Committee and for those who had not been able to attend previously. The aim of the masterclass was to explain the evolution of defence AI up to the present day and discuss operational use cases, including practical examples applied to the war in Ukraine. The off-the-record discussion was most interesting and all I can is that AI is a true game-changer. Our witnesses were Amelia Gould, UK Managing Director and Director Programmes Maritime, Helsing AI, Dr Joe Faith, Principal Product Manager, Helsing AI, and Gethin Lewis, Director Programmes Air & Space, Helsing AI. Afterwards, I grabbed my speech and headed to the Chamber for the final day of the Budget debate. I was called and my speech is on the website. In the end, I was given seven minutes to speak. There were two votes at 1900 and at 1930 I raced across to meet Nigel Farage at the GB News' studio in the Queen Elizabeth Centre. He'd invited me to expand on my comments regarding the work-shy, who I said should be encouraged to work in a respected institution, like our Armed Forces, for two years if they refused to find or take a job. I know Nigel from old and he was on good form. I was the last guest in his hour and at the end we were joined by my friend Jacob Rees-Mogg, whose show follows Nigel's. In other news, the PM's spokesperson said that the comments allegedly made about Diane Abbott by a Conservative donor were "racist and wrong". As I understand it, the comments were made a private function in 2019, but they were appalling and totally incomprehensible. I was delighted to hear NHS England confirm that children would no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics. This whole issue is utter madness. What on earth is happening to our country! In another shocking story, the bodies of 35 people and a "quantity" of suspected ashes were recovered by police investigating a funeral directors over “concern for care of the deceased”. Abroad, a request to extradite social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan to the UK was granted by a court in Romania. And Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced early today that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created, bowing to international pressure to save the country overwhelmed by violent gangs.