Category: Technology

  • Peter Kyle – 2025 Mansion House Speech

    Peter Kyle – 2025 Mansion House Speech

    The speech made by Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology at the Mansion House in London on 3 September 2025.

    I want to talk about a society and economy where AI benefits every person and community in the country.

    Where there is opportunity for anyone, no matter their background. Where our huge potential for wealth creation isn’t centred in the capital but is distributed where talent lies – which is everywhere people are.

    And where we finally become a country that celebrates entrepreneurial zeal, and those can who move from innovation to commercialisation, and thrive in a modern Britain.

    To get there, the question I’m seeking to answer in government isn’t ‘do we want to be a country that adopts AI or not’…because AI is going to happen. We know it is.

    That’s true for every country from Britain to North Korea.

    The better question is: do we want to use all the power and agency we have, as a government to shape how it unfolds?

    This will be my focus tonight.

    And what better setting than here, in Mansion House.

    The place where the future of this country has so often been debated, and yes, defined.

    Almost 70 years ago, in April 1956, this room was the setting of a major Cold War summit.

    Where Nikita Khrushchev came, after Stalin’s death, with a delegation from the USSR.

    On the way here he stopped by Claridge’s. Clearly nothing is too good for the workers.

    Before coming for dinner here, with Clement Attlee and Anthony Eden.

    Mansion House was done up, looking its finest.

    The Lord Mayor gave a speech.

    And the team put on a delicious spread, as always.

    It was a huge effort.

    But we know now, looking back at history…the charm offensive didn’t really work.

    Khrushchev returned to the USSR as resolved as he ever had been to lead, through technology.

    Racing to be first to the space rocket, the microchip, the bomb.

    Thankfully, those Cold War days are behind us.

    But on the world stage, the tech competition remains as fierce as ever.

    Only this time, the defining competitive advantage of this century – I believe…is going to be AI.

    Artificial intelligence will shape our economies, our security, and our place in the world.

    Those who wield it in their national interest – who invest in the right skills and hardware, while they have the chance…will be the economic superpowers of the future.

    Look at the US, and China.

    Or the Gulf states, vying to compete.

    Time and again, we see that a nation’s sovereign interest rests on its technological edge.

    It’s the lesson Khrushchev almost learned – but not quite.

    You see, in the years after his Mansion House visit, Khrushchev set about increasing the USSR’s tech capacity.

    As part of the plan, he wanted to have his own Soviet Silicon Valley.

    He ordered the creation of a new city, on the outskirts of Moscow: Zelenograd.

    The city had its own cinema, billboards, homes and offices. And a massive statue of Lenin.

    And the whole place was designed for engineers, racing to design microchips.

    The idea was simple: copy what worked in America, but do it faster.

    The Soviets got their hands on a prototype for a US microchip, the SN-51.

    Alexander Shokin, the official in charge, summoned the engineers of Zelenograd into his office, and he ordered them:

    “Copy it, one-for-one” – without a single deviation.

    This, ultimately, was their big mistake.

    The Soviets chose to imitate rather than innovate.

    At a time when the pace of change in chips was impossible to keep up with, without their own domestic research capacity.

    American speed proved too difficult for the Soviets to match.

    Individual US entrepreneurialism outpaced Soviet central control.

    And Silicon Valley won the chip race.

    Today, history is repeating itself in the development of AI and the new technological revolution.

    And the UK must think like the US, not act like the USSR.

    The computing power needed to train leading AI systems has doubled roughly every 6 months for the last decade.

    If we don’t keep up – with a domestic AI ecosystem of our own, on British shores, we’ll always be beholden to others, following where they point us.

    Buying off-the-shelf, from overseas.

    That’s a precedent I am not willing to set when it comes to our military tech, the integrity of our NHS, and data protection.

    Or when the prize is a huge competitive edge for our economy.

    Fortunately, we’re starting from a good place.

    We currently rank third for AI, after the US and China. We have 4 of the world’s top ten universities. The lowest corporation tax in the G7. And more venture capital investment than anywhere else in Europe.

    Only this year, the chief executive of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, said the UK is in a ‘Goldilocks’ moment for AI.

    Because we are country not burdened by over-regulation, or a lack of ambition.

    Britain is striking the right balance.

    I remember, before this government came to office, I spent ages asking businesses what they needed from us.

    You certainly weren’t shy in telling us.

    Take AI seriously. Regulatory reform. Make sure we don’t fall short on talent.

    And ever since, we’ve been getting on with it.

    It started in January, with the AI Opportunities Action Plan.

    It outlined the 50 steps we are taking to grow the economy, and create scores of new jobs as part of the government’s modern industrial strategy.

    An early priority for me was skills.

    In June, we launched our TechFirst programme – backed by £187 million in funding which will bring digital and AI learning directly into the classroom and reach every secondary school pupil in the country.

    Next, we looked at the workforce. Forming a skills partnership with firms like Barclays, Amazon, BT, and Google.

    Together, committing to train 7.5 million people in AI – a fifth of the country’s workers.

    It’s fantastic to see how so many of you have risen to that challenge.

    After that, we looked at hardware.

    If we wanted to compete, we knew we had to improve our physical machinery.

    The raw processing power we have on offer, here in the UK, to churn through the mountains of data that will be required.

    The Compute Roadmap I set out in July charts that course.

    And I recently launched Isambard – our new supercomputer, the most powerful in the country.

    A machine that will be able to process an unthinkable amount of information, in seconds.

    We have another one, Dawn, in a lab in Cambridge.

    And I’ve announced the creation of a national supercomputer that will be based in Edinburgh.

    All told we’re on track to increase our compute capacity 20-fold between now and the end of the decade.

    We have our plan for the National Data Library.

    AI is pretty straightforward in its basic form. It is chips. It is data. It is software.

    We talk about chips a lot. We talk about software a lot. But we need to talk much, much more about the data that fuels it.

    AI is only as good as the data it uses, and Britain has the best data in the world.

    We will be safely harnessing it to power scientific and medical discovery, to drive our understanding of the human condition, and as potentially the biggest engine for the commercialisation of innovation in our country’s history.

    And we’re not slowing down any time soon.

    Our next big priority is our AI Growth Zones.

    These will be dedicated hubs of AI development.

    The first will be just 60 miles away, in Culham.

    And we’re getting spades in the ground for sites in Wales and in Scotland.

    Each has the potential for a full campus – bringing together companies, researchers, and investors.

    These efforts have been met by a wave of commitment from the private sector.

    With £14 billion in investment announced by firms like Vantage Data Centres, NScale, and Kyndryl.

    A brilliant British company, Synthesia, has announced they are expanding their London office just a few weeks ago.

    And global firms like Cohere, Open AI, and Anthropic have followed suit – choosing our capital as their home from home.

    That is a vote of confidence not just in our tech sector, but in the UK’s future.

    So this evening, I’m proud to publish the next 2 parts of our plan.

    The first is a roadmap for a new British AI assurance industry.

    Backed by a fund worth £11 million.

    In the next few years, AI assurance will bloom into a unique profession, worth up to £18.8 billion to our economy, based on a growing pool of independent experts with the skills to verify that new AI innovations are secure, and trustworthy.

    We hope it will give firms the tools they need to build trust with both customers and markets, especially smaller teams, who lack the in-house expertise to do this work themselves.

    Applications for that fund will be opening in the Spring – please do keep an eye out.

    Lastly, we’re looking very closely at regulation.

    I know this is a crucial issue for many of you. So I want to make it plain:

    British companies shouldn’t have to wait months for approvals, whilst competitors overseas race ahead. If AI can speed things up, even a little, then we will do everything we can to make that a reality.

    As part of this effort, today we announced our new AI regulator capability fund.

    Designed to support 5 UK regulators – from Ofgem, to the Civil Aviation Authority with up to £2.7 million in funding, to help them both use and regulate AI better.

    Whether it’s a new AI assistant. Analysing huge datasets. Or streamlining approvals.

    This is our challenge to regulators:

    Use every tool at your disposal to get new products to market quickly, without sacrificing safety.

    In aviation, for example, this might mean getting faster at clearing the skies for new drone technologies.

    Or, for the Office for Nuclear Regulation, we’re investing more than a quarter of a million pounds in a project that will enable the nuclear industry to test new AI tools in nuclear plants.

    Including things like making us more efficient at handling high risk nuclear waste.

    I want to personally thank the team at our Regulatory Innovation Office, set up last year, for being so forward-looking on this. I’m immensely proud of the work that it’s already doing.

    So that’s where we are today.

    A little over a year after I first set foot in the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, I don’t think a single person in this room could say, hand on heart, that we haven’t got stuck in.

    And it’s starting to pay off.

    In our first 12 months of in government we’ve attracted more than £44 billion worth of investment into the British AI sector. The average deal last year was worth £5.9 million.

    And we have doubled the number of AI firms in Yorkshire, Wales, the Midlands, and the North West compared to just 3 years ago.

    We have learned the lesson of history: countries can only prosper if they get the big calls right; if they decide to go beyond the expected and embrace the future; to innovate not imitate; refusing to be constrained by the problems of today by taking on the challenges of tomorrow.

    In these uncertain times, I am certain that’s what it takes to get a global competitive edge.

    So, if there is anyone here who still doubts our commitment.

    My message to you is simple:

    Britain is preparing for the challenge of the new technological revolution.

    We want you to keep investing here, keep building here. List here. Scale here.

    And if you invest in Britain, you will share in that competitive edge.

    I look forward to working with you all as, together, we create the security and opportunity society people are counting on us to deliver.

    Thank you.

  • Peter Kyle – 2025 Speech at the Google Cloud Summit London

    Peter Kyle – 2025 Speech at the Google Cloud Summit London

    The speech made by Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, at the Tobacco Docks in London on 9 July 2025.

    Thank you for having me, and thanks also for acknowledging the GOV.UK App, which I’m sure you’ve all downloaded.

    If you haven’t already, then you should be doing so now. And I don’t if you’re looking down at your phones while I’m speaking, if what you’re doing is downloading the GOV.UK App – which is already outselling the Bible on the app store, I’m reliably told.

    When I came into office a year ago, I was told to deliver an App, with a digital wallet, with a chatbot, and with a digital driving licence attached to it, I was told it couldn’t be done in one parliament, that it couldn’t be done in one 5 year period.

    My response was I’m sure Google and others don’t take that long to design and deploy their technology. Let me see a timeline.

    The timeline came back to me a week later, and it was now 3 years.

    We did all of this, the start of the deployment of GOV.UK App, within one year of government.

    Within 15 months, all of those services I’ve just outlined will be deployed and put to the benefit of citizens right around the country.

    And that for me is a source of huge pride, because we’ve used technology to wrap services around individual citizens needs.

    Right now, as all of you know, too often citizens are being wrapped around the needs of services themselves.

    And this is a profound change as we go forward.

    Now, sometimes I’m accused of being “too close to big tech”.

    And I could have no better place to have this argument out on the table with you now.

    In May, The Guardian criticised me for meeting with the sector 70% more than my predecessor. Now, to this crime, I plead guilty.

    In truth that was just 28 times over the course of a 6-month period, that equates to around twice a week over that time.

    As Technology Secretary I simply will not apologise for meeting with technology companies – that is the job.

    Just as meeting with the families of victims of social media, regulators, founders, overseas governments and the creative sector, it’s all part and parcel of what I’m paid to do on behalf of the people’s government.

    But I don’t do these meetings just because I’m paid to do it.

    I do them because they matter:

    keeping children safe or from social media – it matters;

    making sure Britain is the best prepared for developments at the frontier of AI – that matters;

    and securing better deals for the taxpayer for the billions of pounds spent every year on software, cloud services, devices and information technology – that matters.

    So today, I’m here to acknowledge our agreement for an entirely new way of working with Google – and how that will impact our public services.

    It’s an agreement that recognises our value as the UK government as a huge client to their organisation.

    And how important their technology is to help us deliver the changes to public services to make them more in-touch and more in-tune with citizens. And better value for money for taxpayers.

    The agreement signals and signifies our determination to exploit the full potential of a partnership between government and Google, with much more collaboration between their UK AI lab, DeepMind, and my own AI developers in my department, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology with a new digital centre of government.

    We’ve already used Gemini to build “Extract”, a specialist AI tool to help councils convert decades-old, handwritten planning documents and maps into data in minutes.

    It could be pivotal in our plans to stop bureaucracy from holding up the construction and ultimately help us build 1.5 million homes that we’ve pledged over this parliament.

    We know that tools using the same technology are capable of transforming Whitehall itself, the NHS, and other essential services that millions of people across our country rely on.

    So, with more hands-on support, I can’t wait to see what our 2 teams deliver together.

    Google are also aiming to train up 100,000 public sector professionals with the skills that they need to use this technology by 2030.

    That’s going to help us hit the target the Prime Minister set earlier this year, where we’ve committed to double the number of digital experts across government…

    …essential to shaking up decades old processes and making public services work in the way people expect services to work in the 2020s – whether that’s in the NHS, policing, benefits or tax.

    And, perhaps most importantly, we are looking to the sector to help shake off the legacy technology that costs the taxpayer an absolute fortune and leaves us vulnerable to outages and to cyberattacks.

    More than one in 4 public sector systems run on this “ball and chain” tech – rising to 70% in some police forces and NHS trusts.

    With contracts signed decades ago, and a high costs of exit, we’ve seen a few tech companies really taking liberties with the public sector.

    In the worst cases, contracts have made it impossible for public sector organisations to move on. They’ve locked up their data up in vulnerable, archaic servers…

    …only to have the price of maintaining the tech hiked up, year-on- year, with no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

    Now, as Technology Secretary, I am determined to break free from these costly chains once and for all.

    Through agreements like this we can transition public sector organisations trapped by the ball and chain of legacy products and services, and to migrate to the cloud.

    That move alone will liberate public service organisations and use the latest technology, and more freely explore the wider market moving forward. That is what I am determined to do.

    All in all, this partnership could see Google invest hundreds of millions of pounds in Britain’s public sector technology.

    Helping to deliver my ambition to bring the public services people use every day, drag it into the 21st century.

    Without deals like this in place, we had hundreds of public sector organisations…

    …police forces, NHS trusts, local councils, government departments and many, many more…

    They were simply just going it alone in negotiations with big tech companies.

    And they just don’t have the experience and market clout they need to drive the best deal for taxpayers.

    They end up paying the full shop-front rate or even being entirely mis-sold tech that doesn’t work for them in the first place.

    But they’re all buying on behalf of the same client: you, the British taxpayer.

    And that taxpayer is footing the bill for an annual £21 billion for buying the same technology time and time again.

    That’s why I’m determined to secure a new deal for buying tech for the British taxpayer.

    For too long, too many governments haven’t done enough to build the positive business relationships that Britain needs to prevent the taxpayer being short changed when it comes to procuring tech – from healthcare services, policing systems right through to benefits processes, and bin collections, right down to street sweeping.

    Just as with Google on this strategy, when I negotiate with Tech companies, I am negotiating on behalf of the British taxpayer.

    Britain will be using technology in more areas and more than ever before.

    So, my message to big technology companies is clear: bring us your best ideas, bring us your best tech, and bring it at the best price.

    In return, you’ll get access to the biggest client in the country, one that will be increasingly intelligent and increasingly digital.

    And as we start to operate as a more intelligent buyer of technology, new opportunities are going to emerge.

    The first one that I’m pushing for, is to make sure that, whenever possible, UK technology companies- large and small – get a fair shot at winning a contract.

    Our upcoming marketplace – the national digital exchange – will make sure more and more UK tech companies can get their slice of the £21 billion pie.

    That means more money for companies operating here in the UK, workers and founders.

    It will help us to achieve the economic growth upon which Britain’s future prosperity lies. And it will improve the public services on which British citizens depend.

    Now I want to acknowledge the foresight of Google in signing this key agreement, and I want more to follow. I want it to stimulate many similar co-operation agreements with the full range of international and domestic technology companies.

    That is in the interests of higher economic growth, more jobs, better public services and greater value for taxpayers.

    Thank you very much for having me along today.

  • Peter Kyle – 2025 Speech at CityWeek 2025

    Peter Kyle – 2025 Speech at CityWeek 2025

    The speech made by Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, on 1 July 2025.

    Last week, I represented the British government on a trip to Singapore.

    I was there to celebrate 60 years of partnership between our 2 countries.

    And drum up investment into British technology.

    It was my first time in Singapore.

    And it struck me that it’s a place that has mastered the art of reinvention.

    From traditional fishing village to global financial centre.

    Small trading post to one of the most competitive economies in the world.

    An economy that, like ours, knows that the key to staying competitive is being squarely focussed on the future.

    It’s a similar idea that brings us together today.

    Because this is a sector that’s also defined by an ability to reinvent itself.

    Where centuries-old banks have had to rip up the playbook.

    To compete with nimble, digital-first firms.

    And where new technologies have made the way you work unrecognisable from how it once was.

    One of my first proper jobs was in a finance team.

    It was 1989, and I worked in the purchase ledger at The Body Shop – a hero of the British high street at the time.

    I matched goods that came in with invoices.

    And inputted all of that into an arcane mainframe computer.

    I’m sure quite a few of you will remember those days.

    And the change after change you’ve seen your institutions through since.

    Because before PIN codes, there was paper.

    Before blockchain, there were books of accounts that landed with a thud on the desk.

    Before cashless, there was ‘Cashier number 3 please’.

    These are changes that financial services firms have not just weathered, but pioneered.

    To keep this sector as the engine of economic growth it truly is.

    And to keep creating products that improve the lives of working people.

    Over the past few years, another change has rippled through the sector:

    AI has reshaped what’s possible.

    And there’s not a sector of our economy it will leave untouched.

    There’s a simple difference between this change and those that came before:

    Sheer speed.

    In past waves of transformation, industry and the state alike could afford to dip a toe in.

    To spend a few years seeing how the water feels.

    This time, we need to jump.

    Since joining government, I’ve been clear that the UK will not be swept along as others lead the AI revolution.

    We’ll shape that revolution here.

    6 months ago, we launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan.

    Setting out how the UK will seize the massive potential for economic growth that AI offers us.

    Growth that’s at the heart of our Plan for Change.

    Since that launch, we’ve opened up applications for areas in the UK to become AI Growth Zones – hotspots of AI infrastructure and investment.

    And had over 200 responses.

    The full weight of government is behind the plan.

    With the Chancellor announcing £2 billion to deliver it, as part of the Spending Review.

    And a Modern Industrial Strategy that doubles down on our commitment to AI…

    …as one of the 6 frontier technologies our digital and tech sector plan focusses on.

    Crucial to that plan is adoption.

    Because talking about the power of AI to grow the economy is all well and good.

    But unless companies use it, that growth only exists in theory.

    Not in practice.

    Financial services is at the front of the pack here.

    Around 3 quarters of firms surveyed by the Bank of England the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) already use AI.

    That’s the 3rd highest rate of adoption across the economy.

    That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.

    The UK led the world in open banking.

    We led the world in near-instant digital payments.

    And our reputation in fintech is second-to-none.

    The most valuable private tech company in Europe is Revolut, a British fintech.

    Our fintech crown is one I’m infinitely proud of.

    If we’re to hold on to it, you need a government that continues to back you.

    That doesn’t just call for you to keep exploring new technologies.

    But actively enables you to do it.

    When I talk to firms about adoption, they tell me about 2 barriers more than any other.

    A lack of skills.

    And finding their way through a web of complex regulation.

    On skills, we’re partnering with 11 major tech companies to train 7.5 million workers in the UK with essential AI skills by the end of this decade.

    So that a lack of expertise will never put a ceiling on what you can do.

    Regulation shouldn’t be that ceiling, either.

    In her Mansion House speech last year, the Chancellor set out a vision:

    For a regulatory environment that cares about managing the burden we put on businesses.

    Since then, she’s launched a radical action plan on regulation to kickstart growth.

    My part in that is making sure we ease the burden on businesses when it comes to adopting emerging tech.

    About 9 months ago, I launched the Regulatory Innovation Office.

    A dedicated unit to curb red tape.

    And get game-changing tech into the public’s hands quickly and safely.

    It’s already delivered results.

    Apian, a British start-up founded by NHS doctors, is now freed up to use drones to take blood samples from Guy’s Hospital in London Bridge, over to a lab in St. Thomas’ for testing.

    Before the NHS had the okay to work with them, those samples were carted over in vans.

    The journey took around half an hour.

    More if they were snarled up in traffic.

    After support from Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), each delivery now takes just 2 minutes.

    Beds are freed up faster.

    NHS waiting lists go down.

    And a crucial difference is made for patients where every second counts.

    Thanks to RIO’s close work with regulators, companies have made advances like these in fields like space or engineering biology, too.

    But I want more sectors to benefit from the breath of fresh air it offers.

    Instead of being stifled by a blanket of bureaucracy.

    So, today, I can announce that RIO is joining forces with digital regulators.

    To consolidate a labyrinth of regulation, and make it easier for innovators to bring AI products to market quickly and easily.

    This marks a significant boost for fintechs.

    Right now, your efforts to use emerging tech can get mired in a lack of clarity.

    Because there’s no single port of call on what you can do with AI.

    You’re left going from regulator to regulator, picking your way through different sets of rules.

    For start-ups and scale-ups without big legal teams, that’s nigh-on impossible to navigate.

    And for bigger banks and firms, it’s days of productivity sunk.

    Now, RIO is teaming up to the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF).

    To bring all of that guidance together into a one-stop shop.

    A digital library that lets you quickly search for answers.

    These are changes that firms of all shapes and sizes can take advantage of.

    Up-and-coming fintechs to household-name banks will go from idea to impact faster:

    Using AI to spot credit card fraud hours before humans can alone.

    To get instant answers to your customers.

    To analyse stocks, so people can get more out of their investments.

    We’re clearing the path for you to harness AI to stay ahead of the game.

    And to make people’s lives fundamentally better.

    Because I know this is a sector that will keep reinventing itself.

    Just as I know that AI will continue to bring profound, positive change to the UK.

    With the right backing on adoption…

    Access to skills…

    And clarity on regulation…

    We’ll make sure that this isn’t just a change that fintechs and banks are part of.

    But a change that you lead.

  • Dawn Butler – 2025 Speech on Mobile Phone Theft

    Dawn Butler – 2025 Speech on Mobile Phone Theft

    The speech made by Dawn Butler, the Labour MP for Brent East, in the House of Commons on 3 July 2025.

    I beg to move,

    That this House has considered the matter of mobile phone theft.

    I thank the Backbench Business Committee for ensuring that we could have this important debate today. I know that there are many MPs who would have loved to be here today and who have suffered mobile phone thefts.

    Ten years ago my bag was stolen when I was at a conference in a Westminster hotel. I used geo tracking and saw it moving slowly over the bridge. I called the police, but they were not interested—as I say, it was 10 years ago. Somebody at the conference had a car, and in true “Starsky and Hutch” style we used it to chase down the thieves. We noticed as we were travelling alongside them that we were probably going to make them very suspicious, so we went ahead of them and stopped. This is probably a lot of detail, but we then pretended to kiss as the thieves walked towards us. I called the police again to tell them that we were about to apprehend the thieves and retrieve my phone. The police then arrived, and when they jumped out of the van we jumped out of the car. The thieves had about 20 mobile phones on them. I recovered my bag and, although they had dumped my stuff along the way, I got all my stuff back. But the thing is, that was 10 years ago, and things have moved on—people understand that there is “Find my phone”, as do the police, so we know that we can recover stolen phones—so now is the time to prioritise this type of theft, which is making our streets less safe. Tourists are being targeted.

    I know that the Home Secretary has had a roundtable with mobile phone companies and with the Mayor of London, but if the companies will not take this problem as seriously as they should, we need to force them to do that by law. I went to a good briefing on the Metropolitan police’s Operation Reckoning, which shows its determination. This is a vital way of achieving the Government’s safer streets mission. In Westminster, a mobile phone is stolen every six minutes.

    Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)

    I commend the hon. Lady on bringing forward the debate. She is absolutely right, but it is about even more than mobile phones. I am not technically minded—I own up to that; I am of a different generation—but today’s young person carries on their mobile phone bank details, family things and personal things that allow access to accounts and whatever else. Sometimes, in the back of their phones they have their debit cards and their driving licence, so when someone gets their phone, they get almost their whole life. As the Minister acknowledged in a previous debate, perhaps today’s young person needs to understand that if they lose that, they lose almost everything financially.

    Dawn Butler

    I thank the hon. Member for that important intervention; he is absolutely right. A mobile phone is not just for making a phone call anymore; it is an integral part of most people’s lives. It holds data on it, as well as pictures that its owner will never be able to take again. It holds voicemails from loved ones. My friend who had her phone snatched in Egypt had a voicemail from her late mother on her phone. Mobile phones hold so much information that when someone snatches one, they are snatching a part of that person’s life.

    Mary Glindon (Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend) (Lab)

    Further to the intervention from the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), does my hon. Friend agree that public awareness is not where it should be? It worries me to see people with their phones sticking out of their back pockets or people standing and taking photographs around Westminster, knowing how high the incidence of theft is. Somehow the public need to be more aware and more careful with these precious things that hold so much of their lives on them.

    Dawn Butler

    I thank my hon. Friend for that important intervention. That is the thing: until we ensure that our streets are safe, we must ensure that people are acutely aware of what is happening. I find myself sometimes tapping people on the shoulder and saying, “Excuse me, can you move your phone from your back pocket? You might get pickpocketed.”

    I feel that the manufacturers use this as part of their business model. They know that once a phone gets stolen, its owner will go and buy another phone, and phones currently operate on a monopoly. I do not know if anybody has ever tried to switch from an iPhone to a Samsung as I did—oh my goodness; it is like they do not want you to switch over. Even from Android to Android, it is difficult to move over the data. Mobile phone companies know exactly what they are doing. Thank God for USB-Cs, because iPhone chargers used to change with every upgrade, so people ended up forking out more and more money.

    We need to hold the manufacturers to account because they make enough money and enough profit. We have to get to a stage where we are putting people and the safety of our citizens first.

    London is one of the greatest cities on earth and we want Tories to come—not Tories, but tourists. [Laughter.] Tories are obviously welcome too, even though they are not here today. We want tourists to come to London to sample the art, the culture and the inclusion. We do not want to go around warning them about their mobile phones. Over 700 phones were also stolen from Departments, so the Government should have a vested interest in this because it will cost taxpayers money to replace those phones.

    We can redesign mobile phones so that nobody wants to steal them. I do not know if people are old enough to remember—although there are a few in the Chamber today—when car radios used to be stolen out of cars. We combated and stopped that crime by building the radios into the cars so they could not easily be snatched out.

    John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Ind)

    I just want to throw something else at the debate around the insurance issue. Many say, “You should be covered by insurance.” My phone was stolen last November. It was classic: I got bumped into in a big crowd and did not realise. I then recognised the theft and did “find my phone”. It was in north London, so I contacted the police, but they do not investigate after an hour because they say it is gone. I said, “I have the personal numbers of the whole of the Cabinet there, so that might cause a bit of a problem.” I then claimed on the household insurance and was covered, but then the insurance company would not renew my cover. That just adds to the problems all the way through. Everyone seems to be making a profit out of it, apart from us.

    Dawn Butler

    I am impressed that my right hon. Friend has the all the Cabinet’s phone numbers. He is absolutely right; the knock-on effect of this crime is huge. Whether it is the house insurance, the personal stuff or the global crime syndicate, it is huge. I watched a documentary by Dave Fishwick, known through “Bank of Dave”. He spoke to one of the gang leaders and they talked about shoulder surfing, where they liked to watch people and get the details of their phones. They like to get phones when they are already open so that they can then scrape all the data and bank details. Within that hour, as my right hon. Friend said, they could empty out someone’s bank account. Around 30,000 people are also victims of identity theft in this country every single day. This crime, therefore, is not simply about nicking somebody’s phone; it goes a lot deeper than that.

    One hundred million second-hand phones go to China and some go to Algeria too. Apple and Google say that they will reconnect phones that have been reported stolen. We should say to them that that admission, in itself, is unacceptable. China has become an illegal electronic recycling hub where, if they cannot get into a phone, they dismantle it and build a new phone using various parts from stolen ones. Those who do not disconnect their ID straightaway are sent threatening messages that talk about killing and raping family members, with some even sent videos of guns that say they are coming to kill them. That is terribly frightening and also why we need to stop this global crime now.

    There is a link between neighbourhood crimes and organised criminality. Criminals think that the police do not care about mobile phone thefts because it is just a mobile phone and people can claim it back. I am glad that the Met police is taking this seriously, unlike 10 years ago. I doubt that many heads of criminal organisations will be watching this debate, but I note that 235 people were arrested in January 2024 through Operation Reckoning. On average, people are getting sentences of four to five years, which I think is right, because this is not a crime without consequences.

    The Government have a huge role to play in making sure that we say to these criminals that we are serious about holding them to account. However, we must also say to the manufacturing companies that if they will not provide a kill switch for stolen mobile phones, we will force them to do it by law.

  • Peter Kyle – 2025 Speech at Giant Ideas

    Peter Kyle – 2025 Speech at Giant Ideas

    The speech made by Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, on 16 June 2025.

    I speak to you having just wrapped up what was, in my department, one of the biggest weeks of the year.

    It was the outcome of the Spending Review.

    The Data Bill, after months, passed into law. And it was also London Tech Week.

    If you haven’t been before, think of it like Coachella. But swap Lady Gaga for tech founders in leather jackets, blue jeans and Britney mics.

    This was my 2nd Tech Week, but this year felt different.

    Not just because it was my first as Tech Secretary.

    But because the atmosphere had changed.

    The optimism was more tangible. The energy more urgent.

    The atmosphere in Olympia more excited and exciting.

    Nowhere was that excitement more obvious than when it came to securing the UK’s stake in a future shaped by AI.

    You had the Prime Minister announcing a £1 billion investment, to make our computing power 20x greater by 2030.

    You had buzz from international investors. Who have poured £45 billion into AI here since July.

    And you had Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, declaring that the UK had reached a ‘Goldilocks’ moment: When our combination of world-class universities, AI start-ups and sheer ambition makes Britain ‘Just right’ as an investment destination.

    It won’t surprise you to know that I agree.

    We will turn our country into an AI superpower. But our ambition alone won’t define us.

    What will define us is how we achieve that ambition. Last week, I was reminded of the question in my mind the day I came into office:

    How do we shape the future of AI in a way that is progressive? In a way that leaves no one behind?

    Because we tend to talk about AI as an unstoppable force.

    But progress is never inevitable. It can be halted in its tracks.

    Fourteen years of slow or no growth, declining family incomes and a decaying public realm prove that. How change happens – and who benefits – is up to us.

    We have agency over what the age of AI looks like.

    It could be a Wild West Story, where the strongest and boldest make most – and the rest make do.

    Or it could be a story about opportunity and security. Where we all benefit from the scope and scale, health and wealth of the progressive change it brings.

    The way I see it, we can use our agency to shape 3 things:

    • Where we build.
    • Who does the building.
    • And what products come out the other side.

    Let me take each in turn.

    First, where we build.

    Where we build

    Technology has always promised to be the great equaliser.

    But that promise has proved elusive. For decades, the way we have invested in technology has been a Tale of Two Britains:

    Growth concentrated in the wealthiest parts of our country.

    With communities elsewhere left dependent on traditional industries.

    This time, we can do things differently.

    The unique geography of AI turns our country’s economic map on its head.

    The places that languished in the wake of 1980s de-industrialisation make prime locations for AI infrastructure. Because they’re often the only places that can supply enough power. And enough space to exploit it.

    These are the areas we’ll be looking to prioritise as we create AI Growth Zones: Hotspots of infrastructure that will crowd in private investment.

    When we asked communities to put themselves forward, over 200 places enthusiastically responded. The hunger for AI is not just coming from government and big businesses. But from across Britain.

    For the places that qualify, the results will be transformative. Because I’m not talking about a data centre as an anonymous black box by the side of the motorway. An economic island cut off from the surrounding area, with very few jobs and opportunities for working people.

    But as a hub that attracts AI start-ups and scale-ups.

    Creates new campuses for training and knowledge-transfer.

    And starts a ripple effect of good, future-proofed jobs, with all the economic security that brings.

    Where the excess heat from that data centre is not wasted. But used to power local homes, boost agricultural production, warm community swimming pools.

    For that vision to work, local people must be at the core.

    That takes me to who does the building.

    Who does the building

    A progressive approach to AI is impossible without a population with the skills to be part of it.

    We have to equip people with what they need to seize the extraordinary opportunities this technology brings.

    A few days ago, the Prime Minister kick-started a national AI skills drive. It will upskill people at every age, every stage of education, across the country.

    From new funding for TechFirst, giving students in every secondary school in Britain the chance to start a career in tech. To a partnership with industry, equipping 7.5 million UK workers with essential AI skills by 2030.

    These are exciting, decent jobs in the industries of tomorrow, for Britain’s prosperous communities of the future. If we can show people that, we will persuade them that it pays to be shapers of AI.

    I want to show them that it pays to be consumers of it, too.

    That takes us to what we build.

    What we build

    We sometimes talk about AI in a way that’s removed from real life.

    Abstract headlines about ‘growth’ or ‘revolution’ don’t give people much to hold on to.

    I want to show people that AI isn’t just an idea for the newsroom or the boardroom. But a reality in the classroom, the doctor’s office, the operating theatre. Because across the UK, there are researchers and companies using AI for the public good.

    Last week, I announced a project called OpenBind.

    At the Harwell Science Campus in Oxford, our best scientists will come together. To build the world’s biggest set of data on how drugs interact with the proteins in our bodies. Better data means better AI models. Models that can predict which compounds will turn into cures. As Demis Hassabis said himself, this is a brilliant initiative for UK science.

    Breakthroughs we make here could cut the cost of developing treatments by up to £100 billion. And see us not just treating disease. But beating it for good.

    I began by arguing that the state has agency over how we build AI.

    Perhaps the ultimate way to use it is by not only by backing others who build it. But by building it ourselves. With a smarter, smaller state that works better for the people we’re here to serve. Take the AI-powered chatbot we’ve built for GOV.UK.

    Soon, you won’t have to trawl through 500,000 pages to apply for Universal Credit or work out your tax code. The answer will come to you. Giving people more time to do the things they like with the people they love.

    It isn’t always easy to explain to people what AI means for them.

    With tools like this, we don’t need to tell them.

    We can let them discover the power of AI for themselves.

    As we find ourselves in the ‘Goldilocks’ moment, there is no time to waste.

    We have a small window to decide how this revolution will differ from those which came before.

    To make sure this isn’t the same Tale of Two Britains.

    By building in the places that have been left behind for too long. By giving everyone in the country the opportunity to do well, for themselves and their families, in the digital age.

    And by building things that make their lives easier, healthier, happier.

    The agency to do all of those things sits with us. We’ve just got to have the courage and the conviction to use it, positively and progressively.

    To create opportunity and security for all.

    For me, that really is the Giant Idea.

  • Peter Kyle – 2025 Speech at London Tech Week

    Peter Kyle – 2025 Speech at London Tech Week

    The speech made by Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, in Olympia in London on 10 June 2025.

    Last Thursday, I was in Salford for a CyberFirst event.

    Hundreds of girls from across Greater Manchester were there.

    Some of them were busy playing e-sports, hidden behind VR goggles.

    Others were programming robots – or learning how to pitch a tech business.

    But all of them said the same thing.

    They were excited for the future they were starting to see. And what it meant for them

    What really struck me was their ambition, hope and sheer enthusiasm.

    It was as humbling as it was inspirational: but it made me think.

    In government, we spend so much time talking about risk.

    What happens if reform goes wrong?

    Who is responsible – and who do we hold to account?

    We often talk about making the state feel more like a start-up.

    Less slow and static.

    More agile and active.

    But we have unique obligations to our citizens that we simply cannot ignore.

    Duties to defend our national security and protect public health.

    To make our streets safer and borders stronger.

    It is understandable that these obligations might make us more cautious about change.

    But, when countries or institutions become preoccupied with avoiding risk, they risk resisting innovation.

    They might delay reform.

    They might grasp too tightly to the here and now…

    …and lose sight of the possibilities tomorrow could bring.

    When this happens, caution slides into complacency.

    Incrementalism gives way to inertia.

    Worrying about getting every aspect of change right becomes fear of change itself.

    And fearing the challenge of change is the fastest route for a great nation to become mired in stagnation.

    When I spoke at London Tech Week last year, that’s what I saw.

    Our citizens, they wanted change.

    The sector wanted change.

    But a refusal to face up to the risks change brings – or face down resistance to it…

    …meant that government after government were stuck with a model we all knew was failing.

    Suddenly, the real risk wasn’t trying something new.

    It was doing nothing at all.

    People waited months for hospital appointments.

    Young people couldn’t find a good job in the town they called home.

    Businesses unable to innovate, unable to invest, or unable to grow.

    Stifled by a regulatory regime that was stuck in the past.

    Unsure about whether to waste time applying for government contracts – because they always seemed to favour the same old suspects.

    Undecided about whether to stay here in the UK – because they just couldn’t access the capital they needed to grow.

    Too often in the last decade, Britain felt like a country short on ambition, long on apathy.

    Where optimism shrank in the face of opposition.

    On this stage last year, I said it was time for a change.

    Time to seize the power of technology.

    And wield it to deliver us towards a better future.

    That is exactly what we’ve done.

    I said we’d tear up planning rules.

    And we have, making it easier to build the infrastructure that powers our digital economy.

    I said we’d radically reform regulation.

    And we have, cutting the time it takes to get new products and services onto the market and into people’s hands.

    I said we’d design new digital tools with a streamlined state and make engaging with government easier than it’s ever been before.

    And we have, from a digital driving licence and an app that will put public services into people’s hands.

    To a new tool that will digitise decades-old planning records in minutes, slashing the time it takes to make decisions and get millions of new homes built right across our country.

    And a platform that lets people in the public sector rate and review tech products, saving over a billion by helping councils and schools get better deals faster.

    Now none of that has been without risk.

    In early trials, the government chatbot we built started speaking French.

    I’m relieved to tell you that, after a brief flirtation with life across the Channel, it’s firmly back on British soil.

    But – even if its identity crisis had lasted a little longer – how many people would rather we’d stopped at the first sign of trouble?

    What’s a bonjour here, an au revoir there….

    … compared to hours spent on hold, waiting to work out whether your benefit payment has been made and made on time?

    Trawling through webpage after webpage to work out what you need to do to start a business?

    Because our choice actually was a simple one.

    Towards a future that is bright, bold, but risky.

    Or back to more of the same: stagnation and a slow but certain slide into decline.

    Today, we find ourselves at another critical moment.

    The risks we take – and the investments we make – will determine the path our country follows in the decades to come.

    And we must once again seize the opportunities in front of us with courage and conviction.

    With a record £86 billion in funding for R&D, that is exactly what this government is doing.

    For the first time, our modern industrial strategy will include a dedicated digital and technologies sector plan.

    Building on our strengths in 6 technologies with the greatest potential for growth:

    From AI, advanced connectivity and cyber security…

    … right through to engineering biology, quantum, and semiconductors.

    Behind that plan is a very clear mission.

    To build a faster, fairer economy. A society that offers opportunities for all.

    One where we don’t settle for buying these technologies off the shelf.

    We make them here.

    And we use them to shape a better future for every citizen.

    Yesterday, the Prime Minister unveiled £1 billion in backing for our bid to increase our country’s compute power twentyfold by the end of the decade.

    Today, I can go further.

    A new partnership between my department, Imperial College and the World Economic Forum will see London host the new Centre for AI-Driven Innovation.

    This is the first World Economic Forum Global Centre to be based right here in Britain.

    Focused on accelerating the adoption of AI, it will ensure that we can embed AI across our economy and put it to work for working people.

    And this is just the start.

    Boston might be the birthplace of biotech.

    But – with Google DeepMind on one side and the Crick on the other – King’s Cross is emerging as a global powerhouse for AI-driven drug discovery.

    Today, we’re launching a new project, OpenBind, to create the world’s largest database explaining how drugs interact with the proteins they target.

    20 times bigger than all the data collected worldwide over the last half a century, OpenBind will provide an exceptionally detailed picture of how diseases work.

    And it could cut the cost of developing new treatments by up to £100 billion.

    The results for the health of our people, our nation and our economy could be revolutionary.

    As Demis Hassabis said himself, this is a brilliant initiative for UK science.

    But initiatives like this will only succeed if we can attract top global talent.

    Our tech success story wouldn’t have been possible without brilliant people choosing time and time again to call Britain home.

    In an ever more competitive world, we simply cannot afford to lose that status.

    So, we’ll be introducing a new scheme to attract the brightest and best brains to Britain.

    Today, I can announce that we’re working with Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) and Pillar to double Encode AI for Science Fellowships and get top AI talent from around the world working in UK labs.

    We’re also launching Turing AI Global Fellowships, which will bring AI experts from across the world to the UK and support them to carry out cutting-edge research.

    At the same time, we’re starting a national skills drive at home, giving over a million students the chance to start careers in AI.

    And creating a new generation of British leaders as our country enters the digital economic age.

    Leaders just like the young people I met in Salford.

    Talking to them about their hopes for the future, I couldn’t help but think about my own journey through education

    Struggling with dyslexia, my teachers didn’t see any potential in me.

    I was held back in remedial classes, I left at 16 with no qualifications to my name.

    No sense of what the future would hold.

    It wasn’t until I got a job at the Body Shop.

    Until I met Anita Roddick.

    And she saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.

    Sending me out to give speeches for her.

    That I got over my fear of public speaking.

    I then went to university.

    And my life began to change.

    I choose to tell that story.

    Not because I think it’s unique.

    I tell it because I think it’s all too common in this country.

    And I think it says something about what is at stake right here today.

    This government don’t take risks lightly.

    Nor do we pursue change for change’s sake.

    We choose the path of progressive change. To build a modern economy and opportunistic society.

    We do so because any alternative leaves Britain poorer, weaker, more vulnerable in a complex world.

    Less able to promote and protect our prosperity and security for all our citizens.

    In the last year, the work of progressive change has begun.

    But we will only succeed if you take risks, too.

    If you choose to join us in transforming Britain for the better.

    As the place you pick to build new data centres.

    Or train new AI models.

    The country you choose when you’re developing life-saving drugs.

    Or designing the next generation of chips.

    A bolder, brighter future for Britain is in our hands.

    We’ve spent the last year getting the foundations right.

    Now, it’s our opportunity to build.

  • Keir Starmer – 2025 Comments at London Tech Week 2025

    Keir Starmer – 2025 Comments at London Tech Week 2025

    The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, at London Tech Week at Olympia on 9 June 2025.

    Thank you so much. It’s really fantastic to stand here and look out and see so many people in this room—to get a real sense of the energy, the commitment, and the professionalism, the entrepreneurial spirit that we have here.

    Let me start by thanking you all for being here. We’re going to have a really good Tech Week. We already kicked off yesterday. We’ve got some major announcements to make, some real partnerships to build together, and I’m just so pleased to have this opportunity—this privilege—of opening this morning. It’s a real pleasure for me.

    My constituency, the area I represent, is London. I’m a London MP, and that means I understand first hand just how important our sector is as we go forward—whether it’s entrepreneurs or the spirit in London, this is hugely, hugely important.

    We have to recognise that for many people, they see AI and tech as transformative—something that’s going to do so much. And every time we say “over five years or ten years,” everybody says to me “it’s going to be more like five years or three years.” We’re going to bring about great change in so many aspects of our lives. Whether that’s in health—where I’ve seen for myself the incredible contribution that tech and AI can make. I was in a hospital up in the Midlands, talking to consultants who deal with strokes. They showed me the equipment and techniques that they are using – using AI to isolate where the clot is in the brain in a micro-second of the time it would have taken otherwise. Brilliantly saving people’s lives. Shortly after that, I had an incident where I was being shown AI and stethoscopes working together to predict any problems someone might have. So whether it’s health or other sectors, it’s hugely transformative what can be done here.

    Last Monday, I was in Scotland launching the Strategic Defence Review of the government. This was a review I commissioned soon after we came into power to tell me what are the risks we face as a country in this new era? What are the challenges? What are our capabilities? And how do we make sure that, as we go forward, our capabilities match the risks and challenges we face as a country.

    In that, tech and AI were absolutely central. Over the last three years or more, during this awful conflict in Ukraine—I’ve been back to Ukraine on a number of occasions in that period to have in-depth conversations with President Zelensky to make sure our support is in the right place. But I was really struck, on the trip before last—probably about six or seven weeks ago—by the extent to which technology and AI are now having a direct impact in that conflict. In three years of conflict, the way that war is being fought has changed profoundly.

    So I wanted that hardwired into our Defence Review—a sense of how AI could be driving change. There are so many examples across government. I’ve set the challenge to all of my teams: show me how they can use AI—not just in the output of government, not just in partnership with yourselves and others in the delivery of services—but also in the very way we do government. How can we transform what we do?

    There are certainly examples of that. I spoke to a social worker in Downing Street at one of our receptions. She explained to me, with a smile on her face, just how AI is slashing her paperwork and her caseload. She talked me through how she’s now doing her work. What she said was that this was helping her transform her work—because she could concentrate on the human element of it. She could use AI and tech to help with the parts that could be done more quickly. And from that, I’ve always said: AI and tech make us more human. It may sound like an odd thing to say, but it’s true—and we need to say it. Because, some people out there are sceptical. They worry about AI taking their jobs. But I know from audiences like this, this debate has been had many times. We need to push past it. But people worry: will it make their lives more comfortable? Even for businesses, the pace of change can feel relentless. I know you all get that. But when it comes to harnessing the power of this technology, I believe the way we work through this together is critical. And that means partnership and partnership is at the heart of everything we do in government—working with you. You are the entrepreneurs who will drive this country forward. Our job as partners is to create the best possible conditions for you to succeed. That’s why events like this—and the conversations we have in the margins—are so important. Because we can only create the right conditions if we’re having that conversation. You’re able to put your fingerprints on what we’re doing.

    Just look at the raw facts. This industry supports over 2 million jobs. That’s incredible. Or take this statistic: in 2023, our AI sector grew 30 times faster than the rest of the economy. That is incredible. So this is about what we’ve achieved. It’s about who we are as a nation. What signal do we want to send to the rest of the world? The signal I want to send is this: a Britain that, after years of chaos, is a stable partner for investment. A Britain that believes the future should be shaped by our values. And that in this volatile world, is proud, unashamed, open for business.

    I think—and hope—you can see that in our approach to trade, in the new deals we’ve done just in the last few months. We’re determined to create new markets—whether that’s in India, the US, or Europe. You can see it in our openness to investment as well. On that front, I’m really pleased to welcome what I see as yet another vote of confidence in Britain today: the announcement that Liquidity will base their European headquarters right here in London. That’s a £1.5 billion investment into our economy. It means better access to finance for entrepreneurs right across the country. It’s a vote of confidence in our AI Opportunities Action Plan as well. We put that plan out at the beginning of the year. We’re really proud of it—50 recommendations, all of them accepted by the government. At the heart of it is partnership in action. It shows our ambition to be the best state partner for tech entrepreneurs anywhere in the world. That’s the bar. That’s the ambition I’ve set.

    So I can also announce today that we’re committing an extra £1 billion of funding to scale up our compute power by a factor of 20. You know how important that is— a huge increase in the size of Britain’s AI engine. It means we can be an AI maker, not just an AI taker. More importantly, it means we have the digital infrastructure we need to make sure AI improves our public services. Because we do have a defining mission in that plan—a responsibility, if you like—to harness this unprecedented opportunity and use it to improve the lives of working people. This is a shared mission. We’re a mission-driven government. But this is a shared mission. Because social fear I was talking about a moment ago—trust me, I think that is the challenge for adoption. It’s a far greater challenge than the regulatory barrier, although that can be a challenge too. But it’s an area where government can help—where we can do our bit in this partnership.

    Take planning, for example, which is a huge priority for this government. We are going to build more labs, more data centres—and we’re going to do it much, much more quickly. Our Planning and Infrastructure Bill going through Parliament right now is a real game-changer. Each of you in this room knows how important it is to change our rules on planning, infrastructure, and the regulatory environment—and how that can drive growth in building homes – what a difference that could make. Again, the human that sits there with the tech and the AI—because the security of having an affordable home is hugely important. I come from a working-class background, and at times we struggled as a family to make ends meet. But we owned our home, and that gave me a sense of security—a base camp, if you like—on which I could build my life, my opportunities, and my aspirations. I want that to be there for everyone in the country—that base camp. And AI can help on this.

    This is how we explain and lead people down this transformative path. And in that way, in pushing forward, we’ve developed a powerful new tool. We’ve done this in-house, and I’m really proud of that—that as a government, we’ve taken on the challenge and developed something in-house, just to prove that governments can innovate. We use that word all the time, and some people don’t associate it with government—but we have. We’ve developed what we call Extract. It’s being trialled in councils in Exeter, Westminster, Nuneaton and Bedworth. It takes old, handwritten planning documents and put them into digital form in seconds. Jobs that would otherwise have taken hours and hours—done in seconds. A hundred planning records per day, and the usual average up till now is five. So, you can see—it’s a huge productivity boost and we want to roll that out. It doesn’t just show that the government can innovate, it also means faster planning decisions, which I think comes as a relief to many people in this room and beyond—both in AI and in British business more broadly. And of course, it’s money-saved for councils, so they can spend their money on other things. It turns into more growth and more opportunity.

    But most of all, it speeds up the future that we need. AI innovation making a difference for working people. The same, of course, is true across the public realm. We’re looking at how AI can speed up discharges from hospitals—hugely important. I’ve looked into this in our hospitals. Getting people out the back door more quickly—AI can help with that. Same with the asylum backlog, how can AI and tech help us deal with that? Or teachers—helping them personalise lessons for their pupils. Again, using their time better, making them more human. Giving them that interaction so that every child gets the best possible chance in life. What a difference personalising what they do can make to so many children.

    In every case, you can show AI innovation making a difference for working people. But to truly succeed in this mission then one of the biggest parts, and you’ll all have heard this many, many times in the conversation about AI, tech, growth and investment and business. It always comes back to this point: skills. It is one of the key concerns in any business in technology—actually, in any business pretty much across the board—one of the great worries for working people, and the same for any parent, is always: What does this mean for my children? What does it mean for their future? So today, I am really delighted to announce what is a step change in how we train homegrown talent in AI. A partnership with 11 major companies to train 7.5 million workers in AI by 2030.

    I would also like to thank NVIDIA for partnering on a new pipeline. Jensen is here with us for the “in conversation” we’re so grateful for that partnership. That allows us to expand their lab in Bristol, and that will make a huge difference to opportunity and jobs in the South West. We’re also going to bring the full powers of government with a new tech-first training programme. That’s up to 1 million young people trained in tech skills—that will be so crucial for their future. That’s a £185 million investment, embedding AI right through our education system, starting in our secondary schools with subjects like computer science. At universities, a new scholarship programme for high-flying students—supporting the best and brightest personally, so they can focus on their research on the next frontier.

    So from school all the way through—and on top of that, extra support for small businesses, along with their student leavers, so they can recruit the technology skills they need. And this—trust me—is a package that should make a massive difference to the aspirations of working people.

    At the end of the day, that is what this must be about. I want young people in the poorer parts of my constituency—and I’m thinking in particular of a place like Somers Town, between Euston and King’s Cross, where there’s so much of that tech and entrepreneurial AI belief—I want the children in Somers Town to look out of their classroom windows and feel “yes, I can be part of that success. This could belong to me.”

    That’s why the work we’re doing in schools, universities and colleges is so important—to make them feel they’ve got a role, they’ve got aspiration, they’ve got a future. They can’t aspire to do something unless they can see it, feel it, and understand what it is. In this country, the technology needs to be built in our brain. Just to give a short example of that—praising tech companies for investing in Somers Town. I’ve thrown this challenge out many, many times: how do we make the children in the poorest part of my constituency aspire to work in your centre? And Google AI opened a campus in Somers Town. They’ve taken up that challenge. It is tremendous. I went there for the opening—it’s right next to the school where I envisage those students who wouldn’t necessarily have seen their future in tech. And now that campus is right next to their school they can see it every day and they can feel it.

    That’s a really good example. Thank you to the tech sector for stepping up to that challenge. But now we need to go further. By the end of this Parliament, we should be able to look every parent the eye, in every region in Britain and say – look what technology can deliver for you. We can put money in your pocket; we can create wealth in your community; we can create good jobs and vastly improve our public services and build a better future for your children. That is the opportunity we must seize, that is what my Plan for Change will deliver. And today, I think we’re taking another big step towards it.

    So thank you very much for being here and thank you for letting me have the privilege of opening today. Thank you.

  • Ursula von der Leyen – 2025 Speech at the Choose Europe for Science Event

    Ursula von der Leyen – 2025 Speech at the Choose Europe for Science Event

    The speech made by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, on 5 May 2025.

    It is an honour to be here in the Sorbonne – surrounded by some of the brightest minds in the world. Dear Emmanuel, you once said that before being a university, the Sorbonne was an idea. An idea of scientific excellence, collaboration and – if I may add – of opportunity. And no story encapsulates this better than that of Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie, also known a Marie Curie. In her homeland of Poland, then under Russian occupation, women were barred from universities. So, she and her sister joined underground night schools, dreaming of freedom through knowledge. That was at the end of the 19th century. Her journey would eventually bring her to La Sorbonne. Here she was allowed to study and do her research. She ultimately revolutionised medicine and physics. Maria Skłodowska-Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different fields. And her discoveries and her work on radiation saved millions of lives. I start with this story not just because we are here in the Sorbonne – or even because it shows how scientific excellence can change the course of destiny. But because this is also a story about freedom. Freedom to learn and invent. It is a story about openness. Openness to turn ideas into groundbreaking discoveries. And it is a story about collaboration beyond borders. And this is exactly what Europe and the world need more today. Because I am convinced that science remains the fuel of progress and growth for our societies. Without the ideas and breakthroughs that come from scientific research, progress sooner or later stagnates.

    Unfortunately, as your discussions have shown today, the role of science in today’s world is questioned. The investment in fundamental, free and open research is questioned. What a gigantic miscalculation. I believe that science holds the key to our future here in Europe. Without it, we simply cannot address today’s global challenges – from health to new tech, from climate to oceans. And as I look around the room – and at all the young people here – I know we are far from having run out of new ideas or bright minds. In fact, the truth is we have barely scratched the surface of the knowledge that science can offer us. So more than ever we need to stand up for science. Science that is universal – shared by all humanity – and that is unifying. Because the pursuit of knowledge and the yearning to understand how things work are values that bring us together as people, as it has done today. We can all agree that science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity or political party. And as such it does play a crucial role in connecting people and creating a shared future in today’s fractured world. We believe that diversity is an asset of humanity and the lifeblood of science. It is one of the most valuable global goods and it must be protected.

    That is why I am here today, to say that Europe will always choose science. And Europe will always make the case for the world’s scientists to Choose Europe. Scientific endeavour runs deep through European history – from Pythagoras and Aristotle in Ancient Greece to Galileo and Copernicus in the Renaissance period or to Koch or Pasteur in latter centuries. The oldest university in Europe was founded in Bologna, where teaching started as far back as 1088. And Europe was the home of the Scientific Revolution which saw one of the most consequential transformations in human history – thanks to breakthroughs in mathematics, astronomy, biology and much more. That tradition lives on today. Europe already has the second highest scientific output in the world. It is home to over 2 million researchers – one quarter of the world’s total. We lead in green tech, health, economics, business and social sciences. We excel in areas of scientific research and technologies that are pivotal to our future – from aerospace to robotics, from automotive to engineering, from biotechnologies to pharmaceuticals, just to name a few.

    And we have a huge number of natural advantages that help set us apart. The first is sustained and stable investment from Europe and its Member States. Europe runs the world’s largest international research programme, Horizon Europe. It has a firepower of over EUR 93 billion. Over the last 40 years, the European Union has funded 33 Nobel Prize laureates. European support has made possible breakthroughs in genome sequencing and mRNA vaccines. It spurred the development of cutting-edge microchips, and even led to the first image of a black hole. These examples show what we all know – the return on investment in science is unparalleled. We have worldclass research infrastructure. From particle physics to molecular biology, and from space exploration to nuclear fusion. This helps make Europe a leader in fundamental research.

    We have a world-leading supercomputing infrastructure, EuroHPC, and we are investing massively in AI, quantum and digital research. Finally, we also have a proud tradition of open and collaborative science. We uphold the principles of open science, open education and data sharing. Our European Research Council is run not by politicians, but by scientists, for scientists. Our Horizon Europe programme is a magnet for global cooperation. From the UK to Switzerland, from Canada to South Korea, more and more countries want to join it. We see scientists from across the world collaborating here in Europe. Take CERN as a case in point. Founded 70 years ago to carry out cutting-edge research that no individual nation could do alone, it is today the world-leading laboratory for high-energy particle physics and related technologies. Researchers from over 100 nationalities working together for the good of humanity. This is how science should work, and it is why scientific freedom and collaboration must always be at the heart of our institutions and our infrastructure.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Europe has everything that is needed for science to thrive: we have the stable and sustained investment; we have the infrastructure; we have the commitment to open and collaborative science, we have a social market economy that delivers access to good schools, education and healthcare for all. But at the same time, we have to be alert and work on our deficiencies. We know that researchers still face too much – or too complex – bureaucracy here in Europe compared to some other parts of the world. We know that the path from fundamental research to business and to market is not straightforward or fast enough here in Europe. We know that we need to offer the very best a longer-term perspective. We are ready to tackle this head on.

    We want Europe to continue to be at the forefront of fundamental research. We want Europe to be a leader in priority technologies from AI to quantum, from space, semiconductors and microelectronics to digital health, genomics and biotechnology. We want scientists, researchers, academics and highly skilled workers to choose Europe. And this is why today I am presenting the first elements of our Choose Europe Initiative.

    The first priority is to ensure that science in Europe remains open and free. This is our calling card. We must do everything we can to uphold it – now more than ever before. We want to strengthen the free movement of knowledge and data across Europe – just as we do for goods, talents and capital across our Single Market. And we want to enshrine freedom of scientific research into law in a new European Research Area Act. Because as threats rise across the world, Europe will not compromise on its principles. Europe must remain the home of academic and scientific freedom.

    The second element of Choose Europe is financing. Science is an investment – and we need to offer the right incentives. This is why I can announce that we will put forward a new EUR 500 million package for 2025-2027 to make Europe a magnet for researchers. This will help support the best and the brightest researchers and scientists from Europe and around the world. We aim to create a new seven-year ‘super grant’ under the ERC to help offer a longer-term perspective to the very best. Through the ERC, we are already supporting researchers who relocate to Europe with a top-up beyond their grant. We are now doubling the amount they can receive this year. And I want to extend this support for 2026 and 2027.

    At the same time, we must also focus on the next generation. This is why we are also increasing support to early career scientists through our Choose Europe pilot under Maria Skłodowska-Curie. Those that choose Europe will benefit from higher allowances and longer contracts. We will expand this support over the next two years, with targeted incentives in frontier fields, like AI. For the mid- and long-term: together with our Member States, we want to reach the 3% of GDP target for investment in research and development by 2030. And we will put forward ambitious proposals on research and innovation funding in the next long-term budget. Because we know that an investment in science is an investment into our future.

    The third part of Choose Europe is the need to fast-track the pathway – from breakthrough science to transformative innovation and business opportunities. This is why we will put forward a first ever European Innovation Act and a Startup and Scaleup Strategy, to remove regulatory and other barriers, and to facilitate access to venture capital for innovative European startups and scaleups.

    Last but not least: We have to make it easier and more attractive to come to Europe for research. We will better link up researchers with research institutions. We will speed up the process around entering and staying in Europe. We already have an excellent platform that links researchers worldwide with thousands of jobs in Europe, as well as providing visa support and career guidance. We now want to support public and private institutions to better link up to highly skilled workers and researchers, and to speed up and simplify the entry for top researchers. Because bringing the best from across the world is about bringing out the best of Europe.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Europe has made its choice. We are choosing to start a new age of invention and ingenuity. We are choosing to put research and innovation, science and technology, at the heart of our economy. We are choosing to be the continent where universities are pillars of our societies and our way of life. We are choosing to be the continent where innovation serves humanity, where global talent is welcomed. Because as the history of the Sorbonne and our excellent universities show, progress thrives on freedom, openness and collaboration. So, to every researcher, at home or abroad, to every young girl and boy who dreams of a life in science, as Maria Skłodowska-Curie once did, our message is clear: Choose Science. Choose Europe.

  • Pat McFadden – 2025 Speech on “Cyber is a Poster Child for Growth”

    Pat McFadden – 2025 Speech on “Cyber is a Poster Child for Growth”

    The speech made by Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office Minister, on 7 May 2025.

    Introduction:

    Good morning everyone,

    It’s really great to be here with you in Manchester.

    This is one of Britain’s great cities.

    From music to sport to industry, Manchester has made its mark on the world in so many ways…

    And today I want to talk to you about an area where I believe Manchester, the North West, the whole country can grow in strength in the future.

    There might have been times when a government minister making a speech about cyber security was thought to be something routine.

    Ritual calls for preparedness, and it might not seem to have much connection to the real world.

    But not today. Not this time. Not this week. Not with what we have been seeing happening over the past few weeks.

    Great British businesses. Household names like M&S, the Co-op, Harrods, all the subject of serious cyber incidents.

    These cyber attacks are not a game. They’re not a clever exercise. They are serious organised crime.

    The purpose is to damage and extort good businesses. It’s the digital version of an old-fashioned shake down. Either straight theft or a protection racket where your business will be safe as long as you pay the gangsters.

    And what we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks should serve as a wake-up call for everyone – for government and the public sector, for businesses and organisations up and down the country, as if we needed one, that cybersecurity is not a luxury – it’s an absolute necessity.

    Whether it is a system failure or a deliberate attack, no organisation can afford to treat cyber security as an afterthought.

    So it’s not routine. It’s a good time to be gathering today, to discuss what we can do to make our defences as strong as possible.

    Now it’s one of the paradoxes of modern life: technology brings huge benefits, and there’s no going back – but it also brings risks.

    The internet is one of the greatest engines for creativity and innovation in modern history. It has transformed the way we live, work and learn.

    Just think of the applications. Busy parents who can save so much time by ordering goods online, students with an unfathomable range of knowledge at their fingertips, families all around the world able to share pictures of those precious moments – birthdays, christenings, weddings – just at the press of a screen. All of us benefit from this astounding level of connectedness.

    Yet the technology that underpins it can be weaponised by those who want to destabilise our infrastructure, our information systems, or our industrial base.

    The UK’s critical infrastructure is now more interconnected than ever. That is empowering…

    But it also carries risks, because there are vulnerabilities –  and more than we had years ago. Right down to the household level.

    As the cost of the tech has plummeted, and broadband speeds have risen, more and more devices are connected online. In 2020, it was thought to be about 50 billion. By 2030 – which isn’t that far away now – it will be 500 billion, according to projections.

    More connections, more interconnectedness.

    Technological leaps are rarely born in comfort; more often, they are forged during conflict, or competition or by sheer necessity. And history shows us that innovation always accelerates when the stakes are highest, from nuclear energy to the space race.

    The stakes are high right now. And we are in the middle of another huge technological leap – a “technology shock” if you like – with AI and other emerging technologies developing at breakneck speeds.

    It’s a duty for Government and all of us to keep up.

    Because in the modern world, where everything is connected, and so much of it’s online, it doesn’t take much if that is attacked to cause serious disruption.

    Just ask anyone in Spain or Portugal who went through the power outage last week. Passengers stuck in underground trains. Payment systems disabled and suddenly, for a day, cash is king again. And a host of other effects.

    I experienced last July, just a couple of weeks after the general election, the CrowdStrike incident. We worked closely with one of the sponsors of this conference, CrowdStrike, to manage the fallout of that.

    That wasn’t a cyber attack but it did cause ripples right across the country and the world.

    Flights grounded. Hospital appointments disrupted. Holidays cancelled. GP services cut off.

    We worked closely with the company to resolve it. But what did we learn?

    Lessons:

    First, you’ve got to bring people together and coordinate. We had the National Cyber Security Centre, the Cabinet Office – the department I lead – Microsoft and CrowdStrike, all the different parts of government to understand what the incident was.

    Secondly, Government cannot do it alone. You have to have good partnerships between the public and private sector.

    And thirdly, even though it exposed a responsibility, there is also a prize to be grasped here.

    Because if interconnectedness that I’ve spoken about requires greater protection and powers of recovery, then those countries that think about this, that invest in the cybersecurity services, will be able to offer those services to those that need them.

    Just think about previous waves of interconnectedness and how the UK led the way in protecting them. Think about how Lloyds of London, for example, insured shipping right across the globe, well so too can the UK play a major role in cyber security. A new kind of technological insurance.

    We are already the third largest exporter of these products and services in the world.

    And as the technology continues to develop, I believe that our cyber companies and start-ups can use that current competitive advantage as a launchpad for greater success – for the benefit of the entire UK economy.

    So my message this morning to you is that it’s not just about vulnerability and risk – it’s about economic growth too.

    Later this year, we’ll publish a new National Cyber Strategy that will set out how we want to approach these challenges and opportunities in the years to come.

    Today I want to touch on three aspects of that today: threats, security and growth.

    Threat landscape

    Scale of activity:

    The threat is growing.

    Last year the NCSC received almost 2,000 reports of cyber attacks – of which 90 were deemed significant, and 12 at the top end of severity.

    That is three times the number of severe attacks compared to the year before (2023).

    They’re targeted both Government and private systems.

    Combatting it is a constant challenge. I can’t stand here this morning and tell you that Government systems are bombproof. That is not the case.

    These are new systems, built on top of legacy systems, and we’re doing everything in our power to modernise the state, and to upgrade those core systems . But the Government, and the country as a whole, has to take this seriously if we’re going to do it securely in the future.

    Artificial Intelligence:

    It’s our strong conviction that Artificial Intelligence will bring huge opportunities to the UK. We want this country to be a good home both for investment and adoption in this field. But like all general purpose technologies, it can be used for good or ill.

    And just as people and businesses across the country are using AI in all sorts of applications, so too are our adversaries.

    Today, we are declassifying an intelligence assessment that shows AI is going to increase not only the frequency, but the intensity, of cyber attacks in the coming years.

    Our security systems will only remain secure if they keep pace with what our adversaries are doing.

    And that’s why it’s imperative to understand what they’re doing and why.

    State-actors:

    And today state-backed cyber hacking has become the new normal.

    Hostile states constantly working to degrade our military advantage. With cyber criminals who will routinely sell their services to other states. These cyber mercenaries can cause huge harm.

    Sometimes to steal money. For example, it is thought that North Korea stole $1.34bn through cryptocurrency theft last year, causing US officials to describe their hackers as the “world’s leading bank robbers”.

    The cyber activity we are seeing in countries like North Korea reflects that grey area that exists between some states and cyber criminals.

    My colleagues at the Home Office, under the leadership of the Home Secretary and the Security Minister, are working hard to strengthen our overall response to cyber crime. They have been consulting on a number of ransomware proposals designed to thwart our enemies.

    Other state-backed hacking is done as part of a wider war – and we’ve seen that with Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

    How Ukraine is putting up an incredibly brave fight against cyberwarfare unleashed by the Russians, and we have vowed to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine for as long as it takes to defend their sovereignty.

    And so we’re going to invest £8 million in the Ukraine Cyber Programme over the next year to counter the Kremlin’s cyber aggression.

    What Russia is doing doesn’t stop in Ukraine. There have been a number of other attacks and disinformation campaigns in other countries.

    For example, in Moldova’s presidential election last year. And we know that they will keep trying. So we will be investing £1 million in cyber capabilities in Moldova, to help give that country the tools to combat Russian cyber attacks and ensure their upcoming parliamentary election can be as democratic, fair and open as possible.

    Our country has always defended freedom.

    This is part of the defence of freedom and democracy that has been part of our country’s history.

    But defence today is not just about troops and missiles.

    It’s also about this cyber realm, too – and this Government is absolutely committed to making sure we and our allies are strong in this domain.

    China:

    And let me say a word about China.

    When we think about international activity in cyberspace, we need to be clear-eyed about the challenge posed by China.

    It is well on its way to becoming a cyber superpower. It has the sophistication. The scale. And the seriousness.

    It’s one of the world leaders in AI, as the world’s second largest economy it’s deeply embedded in global supply chains and markets.

    We need to view China’s approach to cyberspace with open eyes. Disengagement economically from China is not an option. Neither’s naivety.

    The job of a responsible Government is to protect our people and constructively engage with the world as it is.

    “Stop the world I want to get off” is not in the United Kingdom’s interests.

    Rather, our approach should be to engage constructively and consistently with China where it is in the UK’s economic interests, but also to be clear that we will robustly defend our own cyberspace.

    Bolstering our defences

    And I want to thank the organisations that do that. GCHQ, NCSC, the National Cyber Force – they keep watch, working tirelessly with our allies, with the Five Eyes alliance, to stay ahead of our competitors.

    Our intelligence agencies also play a key role in growing our overall cyber ecosystem – acting as a training bed for all kinds of experts who go on to be successful cyber entrepreneurs.

    LASR:

    And we’re investing in new capabilities in this regard.

    Last year, I launched a new public-private partnership to keep the UK on top of some of the risks emerging on how we harness AI.

    The idea behind the Laboratory for AI Security Research – or LASR, as we’ve come to call it – is simple: accelerate innovation and research into how AI can protect our national security.

    Since November, its funded 10 PhDs at Oxford University; funded an in-house team of 9 researchers at The Turing Institute; and its funded research at 8 other leading UK universities including Queen’s University Belfast and Lancaster University.

    And we are committing an extra £7million to LASR’s research over the next financial year.

    And I’m pleased to announce it has agreed a new partnership with one of the biggest tech companies in the world, Cisco.

    They are going to be collaborating with GCHQ and the NCSC, and other partners to expand the research and innovation capacity of the Lab.

    They will be running challenges across the UK, and build a demonstrator here in the North West to showcase how our scientists and entrepreneurs can work together to manage the risks, build the skills and grasp the opportunities of AI security.

    This is the first collaboration of its kind with LASR, and will be a trailblazer and it will help LASR drive cutting-edge research into the impact of AI on national security.

    Cyber Security and Resilience Bill:

    We’re also modernising the way the state approaches this, through the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.

    That legislation will bolster our national defences. It will grant new powers to the Technology Secretary to direct regulated organisations to reinforce their defences.

    And as we begin scrutiny of that Bill in Parliament, we will be launching a new Software Security Code of Practice – to help all organisations take the measures they need to embed security and resilience.

    And the prize of all this is growth. Safe economic growth.

    Growth

    When we’re talking about cyber, it’s easy to focus on the risks and threats.

    But we also need to think about the reward. There is enormous potential for cyber security to be a driving force in our economy.

    We already have over 2,000 businesses across the UK. An estimated 67,000 jobs – with an increase of 6,000 in the last 12 months.

    Revenue of more than £13billion.

    And as I said, we’re exporting this across the world.
    But there is still potential on the table.
    So we’re supporting an independent report from Imperial College and Bristol University, who are going to apply their knowledge and expertise to help us establish which levers we need to pull, and how we do that.

    And ahead of the report, we are already making some big investments like the £1billion going into a new state-of-the-art Golden Valley campus near GCHQ’s Cheltenham office.

    That site alone is expected to create 12,000 jobs and be home to hospitality, retail businesses, as well as 3,700 new homes. It is all growth.

    Industrial Strategy:

    And that is why cyber is part of our Industrial Strategy too. It is a significant part of our economic future.

    Conclusion:

    So as I said at the start of my remarks, we are in a new world.

    In fact, it’s incredible to think it’s been only 36 years since Tim Berners Lee invented the World Wide Web.

    I have teenage children and sometimes I try to explain to them the world before the internet. It’s not something they find easy to understand. The pace of change that we have seen during that time is unlikely to slow down.

    So we have got to take the long view: not just think about the technologies of today, but what it might look like in 10 or 20 years.

    Cyber attacks and cyber hacking are likely to be permanent features of this new global order – there is no point in pretending otherwise.

    But the opportunities are also huge, and I believe that this country, in its position of creativity and innovation, will be at the vanguard of cyberspace and cybersecurity for decades to come.

    Seizing the opportunities to grow the sector, protecting and defending other parts of the economy.

    Standing by our allies in an ever changing world, and defending democracy right across the world.

    It is at once one of the challenges and opportunities of our time, and we have to work together to meet it.

  • Keir Starmer – 2025 Remarks at Jaguar Land Rover

    Keir Starmer – 2025 Remarks at Jaguar Land Rover

    The remarks made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, at Jaguar Land Rover in the West Midlands on 7 April 2025.

    Thank you Rachel and thank you Adrian.

    And can I just say a big thank you to the entire workforce here. Some of you are here with us this afternoon. I just want to say thank you for showing us what you do. We have been able to see some of the skill and experience that you put into this incredible product, years and years in the making and the technology.

    But thank you also for making us proud to be British, because as each car rolls off here, that is rolling off your production line. That is your commitment, your toil, your work, your professionalism. But it is then a product which you should be rightly proud of, and we are really proud of as a country.

    I know how much you put into that, and I want you to know just how much we appreciate what you do.

    Thank you for everyone for joining us this afternoon.

    Jaguar Land Rover, our leading exporter of goods, employing thousands of people across the West Midlands and beyond.

    That proud symbol of British engineering brilliance. And brilliance is the right word. It is our industrial heritage, but also in my strongly held view, it is our industrial future, not just our heritage.

    My message to you is simple: these are challenging times, but we have chosen to come here because we are going to back you to the hilt.

    I think it’s really significant that after the announcement on Wednesday, we had Adrian with us in Downing Street at 7 o’clock the next morning, and here we are on Monday, so read into that a statement of intent because it is a statement of intent about how important this is for you, for us and for the country.

    As Rachel has said, there is no doubt about the challenge, but this is a moment for cool heads.

    No one wins from a trade war.

    But it is also a moment for urgency.

    Because we have to rise, together as nation to the great challenge of our age, and it is the great challenge to renew Britain so that we are secure in this era of global instability.

    Nobody is pretending that tariffs are good news. You know that better than anyone.

    25% tariffs on automative exports. 10% on other goods.

    That is a huge challenge to our future. The global economic consequences could be profound. But this moment has also made something very clear.

    That this is not a passing phase. And just as we’ve seen with our national security and defence, particularly in relation to the war in Ukraine, now with our commerce and trade,

    This is a changing and completely new world.

    An era where old assumptions, long taken for granted, simply no longer apply.

    Before the election – I called it an age of insecurity. And that is the right phrase. Insecurity. Because that’s how this is felt in the lives of working people. Insecurity and worry for builders, for carers, for nursers, for factory workers like people here in Coventry, working harder and harder for the pound in their pocket, yet watching this rising tide of insecurity threaten to sweep away the things we cherish in our communities.

    Trust me – I know people will be feeling that right now.

    But to those people, I say, we have your back.

    This government will not just sit back and hope.

    That is how politics has failed you in recent years.

    Attempting to manage crises without fundamental change just leads to managed decline.

    So no – we’re going to seize the possibilities.

    Fight for the future. On defence spending, on AI, on clean British energy and on manufacturing, including car building.

    Make those forces work for Britain. Rewire our economy and our state so that once again they serve the interests of working people.

    This is why we are rewiring the state completely.

    Ripping up the regulation that stops it being a force for good.

    Building new homes, new towns, new infrastructure.

    Accelerating the investment that will finally unlock the potential of every community.

    And let me be really clear as well. Our future is in our hands.

    And so of course – we will keep calm and fight for the best deal with the US and we have been discussing that intensely in the last few days.

    But we’re also going to work with our key partners to reduce barriers to trade across the globe.

    Accelerate trade deals with the rest of the world and champion the cause of free and open trade – right across the globe. And just like car building, that has always been our heritage – and we won’t turn our backs on it now.

    And look, when it comes to the US, I will only strike a deal if it is in the national interest. If it is the right thing to do for our security. If it protects the pound in the pocket that working people, across our country, work so hard to earn for their family.

    That is my priority. That is always my priority. Strength abroad – security and renewal at home.

    And on that journey of renewal we take another step today with our car industry.

    You know, there are people in this country who love to talk down our manufacturing. They say – we don’t make anything important anymore. ‘That’s not Britain’. Well – I would invite anyone who thinks like that to come here and see what you do in this factory.

    Anyone who is talking down manufacturing. Come here to Jaguar Land Rover and see what you are doing and they wouldn’t say that again.

    Because just as I’ve said, when we were going around earlier, what I saw made me proud.

    And I hope that if I feel proud of what you are doing, you are entitled to feel proud of what you are doing.

    This is British brilliance in the flesh.

    You’re making cars here – but you’re also representing our country with each car as it departs. That’s the pride that always goes with making things.

    And I’ve said it many times before, but I will say it again: my dad worked in a factory. He was an engineer. He made things with his hands. And he taught me as I was growing up, you should value the things that we make.

    And that’s what brilliant about manufacturing. And manufacturing shapes the identity of a place. This place, and of a community and a country. And that’s how it gets in your blood.

    Which is why electric vehicles are so important. Yes – of course it’s about the climate and you won’t hear me undermining the urgency of that cause.

    But it’s also about taking the pride, the heritage, the identity of places like this and securing it for the future.

    That’s what the previous government never understood. The link between manufacturing and who we are as a country.

    But those days are over. They are finished. This is a government of industrial renewal.

    Because my choice, in this volatile world is to back British brilliance.

    I believe that British car companies should be at the forefront of the electric revolution. This is a race we belong in.

    And so I think EV targets are a good thing.

    They are good for the climate. Good for business certainty and investment. Good for British manufacturing.

    But I accept – those targets have to work for British manufacturers.

    And I don’t want British firms, like this one put in a position where you have to pay a hefty fine or buy credits from foreign EV companies.

    So today – we’re going to introduce much more flexibility into EV mandates.

    We’re going to help car companies based in Britain reach the targets in a way that supports growth.

    We’re going to cut any fines – which I do not want or expect to see – by 20% and any money that is raised – would be invested directly back into support for the British car industry.

    We’re also going to take action on hybrids because these cars make a massive difference to reducing emissions.

    I mean, if you drive a Toyota Prius around town. Or, perhaps if you work here, a Range Rover you probably spend a lot of the time in electric mode. So I think for these vehicles a 2030 ban is too soon. So we’ll push that back to 2035 – for all hybrids. That’s a new step we are taking and a new announcement today.

    And because we’re not ideological about how we cut carbon emissions, we’ll also make sure that cleaner, efficient, petrol cars sold before 2030 count towards your EV mandate. That will be good for British car manufacturers like this one.

    As Rachel has said, we are also putting £2.3 billion pounds into the British car industry, giving people tax breaks worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year to help them switch to electric.

    Improving charging infrastructure. That is a massive factor when people are thinking about switching and our approach means we are seeing a new public charging point popping up every half an hour.

    Because this is the moment when we back British business and charge up the electric revolution.

    British electric cars running off clean British power, made by British workers.

    British cars for British workers!

    And as you know by the way switching to electric can also save you up to £1100 a year so if we get this right it can help the cost of living as well.

    But look – it’s not just our car industry we need to back.

    In the coming days and weeks, we are going to use industrial policy to shelter British business from the storm.

    Take our life sciences sector, another shining example of British brilliance. An absolutely pivotal part of our export economy. We’re going to back them, as well.

    We’re going to rip up the red tape. Cut the stifling bureaucracy that slows down clinical trials. Now Britain used to be better at this but we’ve taken our foot off the pedal.

    The latest data says it takes over 250 days to set up a clinical trial. I’m going to slash that to 150.

    And on top of that, I can also announce – a new investment up to £600 million in a new Health Data Research Service. A welcome partnership with the Wellcome Trust strengthening the genome cluster in Cambridge.

    Making sure that patient data in our NHS is unlocked for the public good. An opportunity for growth – but more importantly to save lives with cutting edge medicine and Britain is so good at this.

    We saw that in the pandemic. And we now need to pick up the pace again. This country has never waited around for history to shape us. We have shaped history – and we will do so again now.

    Take our future into our hands. Do everything necessary to defend our national interest.

    Strengthen our alliances, increase our defence power, support our businesses, jobs and workers.

    Rebuild, in defiance of a volatile world, our industrial strength.

    That is the purpose of this Government. Security and renewal. The world may be changing but we are driving forward securing our future with a clear Plan for Change.

    Thank you.