The former Head of the Diplomatic service's warning comes as the UK slowly but inevitably heads towards an election that in all likelihood will take place next year.

Play is a very misused adult word. To a child it is a way of life. To an adult it often means unimportant recreational things we do when we are not working”Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 1990. Conventions of the Rights of the Child. Three draws were held to determine which semi-final pair within each play-off path is given the right to host the play-off final. It is important not to be intrusive in a child’s play, but to try to understand what they might be communicating and why. Do also try and stay aware of their needs throughout.

He said: "Generative AI could lead to a pollution of the public information ecosystem with hyper-realistic bots and synthetic media (‘deepfakes’) influencing societal debate and reflecting pre-existing social biases… Generative AI tools have already been shown capable of persuading humans on political issues and can be used to increase the scale, persuasiveness and frequency of disinformation and misinformation.” From three to five years of life, play becomes more complex: children coordinate many physical actions, imagination, and rules in coordinated social play with others. It is not unusual to see a child feeding a baby doll and practicing other types of caregiving. Even younger babies might be seen chatting on a toy phone or gently holding a doll. Caregivers and parents can support this sort of play by providing props like dolls, dishes, and phones. Just looking at your face and hearing your voice is play for your baby, especially if you’re smiling. The first year of life typically involves sensory play. At this stage, children also develop an understanding of cause and effect and begin to grow their social skills through imitation.

Elkind, David. 2007. The power of play: How spontaneous, imaginative activities lead to happier, healthier children. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. Play is different for everyone. For example, to some, a room full of infants and toddlers is a really playful place, whereas for others, it can be pretty scary!

Play comes in all shapes and sizes – imaginary, rule-bound, verbal or non-verbal, pretend, on your own or social, rough and tumble or quieter play – and all of these are beneficial for a child’s development. Just two days before people went to the ballot box, an audio recording of two voices was posted to Facebook in which Mr Šimečka and Monika Tódová from the daily newspaper Denník N allegedly discussed how to rig the election, partly by buying votes from the country’s marginalized Roma minority. As babies grow into toddlers, they will start to feel more independent and wish to separate from the adults caring from them more. But even so, they will still want to know that the person caring for them is available if needed. So do support their need for independence by letting them wander off to another part of the room to play - but remain interested and available for when they need you. You can also play games with the child that are linked to this theme of separation, such as ‘peekaboo’. However, as they get older, they can understand the concept of taking turns. When toddlers are taking turns it can help for an adult to point out how patient they are while they wait for their toy. In the mean time, adults might offer the toddlers another play opportunity while waiting for their turn.Whenever they attempt a task, do make them feel that you are interested in what they are doing, and give them your full attention. This will help the child to focus on the task and will also help them increase their attention span. In October, a fierce battle in Slovakia's election saw former president and right-winger Robert Fico go right to the wire with his left-wing counterpart Michal Šimečka. When Jevon Holland intercepted Tim Boyle’s Hail Mary pass on the 1-yard line, a touchdown seemed outside the realms of possibility, a play so outlandish it was barely worth considering as the second quarter drew to a close. Mike McDaniel started as an intern with the Denver Broncos – now he is the mastermind behind the NFL’s most exciting offense