Virtual private networks are often associated with dodging censorship in far-flung authoritarian states. But now, VPN downloads are surging in Britain — a response to new age-verification rules designed to make the internet safer.

Are the measures simply too blunt to be effective? And could the public backlash undermine Labour’s ambition to position the UK as a global tech leader? Tom Ough, author of The Anti-Catastrophe League, is joined by technology lawyer Preston Byrne and CapX editor Marc Sidwell to explore the implications.

Plus: Lord Kinnock’s call to extend VAT to private healthcare. A revenue-raising move for the NHS — or a policy that risks deepening the pressure on a system already struggling to cope?

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