Q5

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Martin Wrigley (Newton Abbot) (LD):

Yesterday, the Chancellor announced £2 billion of funding for UK sovereign artificial intelligence and quantum capabilities. The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee was told that Government procurement will adapt to encourage UK companies to develop sovereign AI systems for Government use. In the light of those positive events, will the Prime Minister ensure that key digital systems in health, defence and policing are made sovereign and retendered to UK companies, not to politically motivated US companies such as Palantir?

Q5

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Martin Wrigley (Newton Abbot) (LD):

Yesterday, the Chancellor announced £2 billion of funding for UK sovereign artificial intelligence and quantum capabilities. The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee was told that Government procurement will adapt to encourage UK companies to develop sovereign AI systems for Government use. In the light of those positive events, will the Prime Minister ensure that key digital systems in health, defence and policing are made sovereign and retendered to UK companies, not to politically motivated US companies such as Palantir?

As the hon. Gentleman says, the Chancellor set out yesterday the huge economic opportunities of innovation and AI. We have put £5 billion behind British start-ups, and we will launch our sovereign AI unit with £500 million to help AI businesses start and grow. We are investing the £2 billion that he refers to in our quantum capabilities so that we can be the first country in the world to roll-out quantum computers at scale. Procurement must be the launchpad for start-ups, and we are determined to deliver that.

As the hon. Gentleman says, the Chancellor set out yesterday the huge economic opportunities of innovation and AI. We have put £5 billion behind British start-ups, and we will launch our sovereign AI unit with £500 million to help AI businesses start and grow. We are investing the £2 billion that he refers to in our quantum capabilities so that we can be the first country in the world to roll-out quantum computers at scale. Procurement must be the launchpad for start-ups, and we are determined to deliver that.

Motion that this House has considered technology sovereignty. Motion lapsed and sitting adjourned without Question put (Standing Order No. 10(14)).

Motion that this House has considered technology sovereignty. Motion lapsed and sitting adjourned without Question put (Standing Order No. 10(14)).

I beg to move,

That this House has considered technology sovereignty.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. We are four years into the Ukraine war and 10 days into the latest Iran-Israel-US conflict. At the start of this year, the US seized the President of Venezuela. A...

I beg to move,

That this House has considered technology sovereignty.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. We are four years into the Ukraine war and 10 days into the latest Iran-Israel-US conflict. At the start of this year, the US seized the President of Venezuela. A...

My hon. Friend has advanced a very powerful vision of the global events affecting the country right now. When I talk to defence tech companies, I see that they reach the point of scaling up, but they are unable to access finance. Does my hon. Friend agree that this Government...

My hon. Friend has advanced a very powerful vision of the global events affecting the country right now. When I talk to defence tech companies, I see that they reach the point of scaling up, but they are unable to access finance. Does my hon. Friend agree that this Government...

I very much agree with my hon. Friend. He is absolutely right, and that support should take the form of access to investment, but also procurement and procurement decisions, which I will discuss in more detail.

The Digital Minister also told the Committee:

“There is no single internationally recognised definition of digital...

I very much agree with my hon. Friend. He is absolutely right, and that support should take the form of access to investment, but also procurement and procurement decisions, which I will discuss in more detail.

The Digital Minister also told the Committee:

“There is no single internationally recognised definition of digital...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I cannot help but give way to the hon. Member.

I cannot help but give way to the hon. Member.

The hon. Lady is terribly kind and it is always a pleasure to come to a debate that she has secured. Recent studies indicate that AI-powered tools have already been used in phishing, ransomware, and social engineering attacks, making breaches faster, more targeted and harder to detect. The National Cyber...

The hon. Lady is terribly kind and it is always a pleasure to come to a debate that she has secured. Recent studies indicate that AI-powered tools have already been used in phishing, ransomware, and social engineering attacks, making breaches faster, more targeted and harder to detect. The National Cyber...

I certainly agree that we need to be able to defend ourselves against AI attacks.

I certainly agree that we need to be able to defend ourselves against AI attacks.

I thank the hon. Lady and Chair of my Select Committee for giving way. Does she agree that a definition of sovereign tech is something that a foreign power could not switch off, so that the systems on which we rely could not be pulled out from under our feet,...

I thank the hon. Lady and Chair of my Select Committee for giving way. Does she agree that a definition of sovereign tech is something that a foreign power could not switch off, so that the systems on which we rely could not be pulled out from under our feet,...

My fellow member of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee makes a very important point about the definition of sovereignty. I do not want to get too bogged down in the actual definition, but I agree that control matters, and I will say a little more about that.

I will raise...

My fellow member of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee makes a very important point about the definition of sovereignty. I do not want to get too bogged down in the actual definition, but I agree that control matters, and I will say a little more about that.

I will raise...

The hon. Lady mentions Britain’s extraordinary human capital. In my role as my party’s Europe spokesperson, of late I have been speaking to very large international defence firms, which thrive in the UK intellectual environment. They have great links with universities, but they say to me that they are increasingly...

The hon. Lady mentions Britain’s extraordinary human capital. In my role as my party’s Europe spokesperson, of late I have been speaking to very large international defence firms, which thrive in the UK intellectual environment. They have great links with universities, but they say to me that they are increasingly...

The level of interest shows just what an important issue this is. I will come on to discuss some aspects of collaboration as it relates to sovereignty, but I observe that the last time our sovereignty as a mid-sized power was seriously debated was during Brexit, and the slogan “Take...

The level of interest shows just what an important issue this is. I will come on to discuss some aspects of collaboration as it relates to sovereignty, but I observe that the last time our sovereignty as a mid-sized power was seriously debated was during Brexit, and the slogan “Take...

My hon. Friend is making an important point. When it comes to AI, an enormous amount of investment is needed. There are many discussions at the moment about the impact of that huge investment in AI. It is very difficult for a smaller country such as the UK to compete...

My hon. Friend is making an important point. When it comes to AI, an enormous amount of investment is needed. There are many discussions at the moment about the impact of that huge investment in AI. It is very difficult for a smaller country such as the UK to compete...

I agree with my right hon. Friend that we certainly need to work with like-minded countries.

The third area is cyber-security and data governance. Some argue that we are already at war in the cyber-sphere. Last year’s strategic defence review emphasised cyber and electromagnetic domains, and established a new UK cyber...

I agree with my right hon. Friend that we certainly need to work with like-minded countries.

The third area is cyber-security and data governance. Some argue that we are already at war in the cyber-sphere. Last year’s strategic defence review emphasised cyber and electromagnetic domains, and established a new UK cyber...

My hon. Friend is making an important speech on an important topic. She is right to talk about how the US and China dominate on technological sovereignty, and part of the reason it is very difficult for the UK to compete with them is, of course, the scale of those...

My hon. Friend is making an important speech on an important topic. She is right to talk about how the US and China dominate on technological sovereignty, and part of the reason it is very difficult for the UK to compete with them is, of course, the scale of those...

It is an important question. I am not in a position to choose our allies, but I agree in principle that we should be working with the European Union. I do not think it should be a choice between the European Union and the US, though they may make that...

It is an important question. I am not in a position to choose our allies, but I agree in principle that we should be working with the European Union. I do not think it should be a choice between the European Union and the US, though they may make that...

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I congratulate the Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah).

I have three quick anecdotal points and then a question for the Minister. Data sovereignty...

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I congratulate the Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah).

I have three quick anecdotal points and then a question for the Minister. Data sovereignty...

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) on securing the debate.

Ensuring that we have a strong and secure technological landscape in the UK is vital not only to our...

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) on securing the debate.

Ensuring that we have a strong and secure technological landscape in the UK is vital not only to our...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) for securing this timely and vital debate.

In a world that is increasingly reliant on secure and stable access to digital technology, whether...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) for securing this timely and vital debate.

In a world that is increasingly reliant on secure and stable access to digital technology, whether...

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I am grateful to be able to contribute to this important debate on tech sovereignty in the UK. There is something rather poignant about having this debate on the very day the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister has...

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I am grateful to be able to contribute to this important debate on tech sovereignty in the UK. There is something rather poignant about having this debate on the very day the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister has...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I want to speak about technological sovereignty from an east midlands perspective. Too often, Westminster debates are focused on venture capital or high-level digital strategy and so forth while the real foundations of our tech capability lie in specific...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I want to speak about technological sovereignty from an east midlands perspective. Too often, Westminster debates are focused on venture capital or high-level digital strategy and so forth while the real foundations of our tech capability lie in specific...

I thank my kind colleagues. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. This is such a big debate. It is because we are all passionate about UK AI and the growth of the sector in the UK that it is so important, because the growing monopolies...

I thank my kind colleagues. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. This is such a big debate. It is because we are all passionate about UK AI and the growth of the sector in the UK that it is so important, because the growing monopolies...

It is a pleasure to take part in a debate with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) for securing this debate. In my best Geordie, I will say that she’s done a geet...

It is a pleasure to take part in a debate with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) for securing this debate. In my best Geordie, I will say that she’s done a geet...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I massively thank the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah), the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, not only for securing this debate on one of the biggest issues of our...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I massively thank the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah), the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, not only for securing this debate on one of the biggest issues of our...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I warmly congratulate the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) on securing such an important debate. It is so well attended, and it is a shame that it is not longer; I commend...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I warmly congratulate the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) on securing such an important debate. It is so well attended, and it is a shame that it is not longer; I commend...

It is such a pleasure to serve under you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah), the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, for securing this debate and bringing to it her deep...

It is such a pleasure to serve under you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah), the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, for securing this debate and bringing to it her deep...

I thank the Minister for setting out his sovereignty stack. Just as an example, is an LLM a critical input or another level in the stack—and does it need to be British?

I thank the Minister for setting out his sovereignty stack. Just as an example, is an LLM a critical input or another level in the stack—and does it need to be British?

I valued my hon. Friend’s earlier point that sovereignty has to be seen in the round. We cannot make everything here; we have to look at the entire bundle that we have to offer. In the context of LLMs, there is some uncertainty as to whether all the capability will...

I valued my hon. Friend’s earlier point that sovereignty has to be seen in the round. We cannot make everything here; we have to look at the entire bundle that we have to offer. In the context of LLMs, there is some uncertainty as to whether all the capability will...

The Minister knows that the Computer Misuse Act 1990 criminalises a lot of legitimate cyber-resilience and vulnerability research. I think that the Government are minded to introduce a statutory defence for such research, but can he share whether that defence will be introduced as part of the cyber Bill?

The Minister knows that the Computer Misuse Act 1990 criminalises a lot of legitimate cyber-resilience and vulnerability research. I think that the Government are minded to introduce a statutory defence for such research, but can he share whether that defence will be introduced as part of the cyber Bill?

The hon. Member is absolutely right to raise that point about a defence for cyber-security purposes. The Computer Misuse Act is being reviewed at the moment—the Home Office is looking at it—but, as I mentioned in Committee on the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill, that is...

The hon. Member is absolutely right to raise that point about a defence for cyber-security purposes. The Computer Misuse Act is being reviewed at the moment—the Home Office is looking at it—but, as I mentioned in Committee on the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill, that is...

In one sentence, will the Minister say something about another geographical issue: collaboration with like-minded countries, especially in the EU?

In one sentence, will the Minister say something about another geographical issue: collaboration with like-minded countries, especially in the EU?

I will simply give a note of total affirmation on the importance of that. Having met a series of Ministers from Europe, I know that we have a huge amount in common and a huge amount to do in the future.

I am being tested pretty intensively on time, so I...

I will simply give a note of total affirmation on the importance of that. Having met a series of Ministers from Europe, I know that we have a huge amount in common and a huge amount to do in the future.

I am being tested pretty intensively on time, so I...

Letter dated 29/01/2026 from Baroness Levitt to Lord Gove regarding addressing delays in rape and serious sexual offence cases: responding to questions raised following a statement on restriction of jury trials: work between police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service to bring cases to court more quickly, and publication of timelines for case processing. 2p.

Letter dated 29/01/2026 from Baroness Levitt to Lord Gove regarding addressing delays in rape and serious sexual offence cases: responding to questions raised following a statement on restriction of jury trials: work between police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service to bring cases to court more quickly, and publication of...

Letter dated 11/12/2025 from Lord Katz to Baroness Doocey regarding the Crime and Policing Bill committee stage debate (fourth day): update on the Government's progress in responding to the recommendations set by the Independent Office for Police Conduct regarding the strip searching of children by police. 2p.

Letter dated 11/12/2025 from Lord Katz to Baroness Doocey regarding the Crime and Policing Bill committee stage debate (fourth day): update on the Government's progress in responding to the recommendations set by the Independent Office for Police Conduct regarding the strip searching of children by police. 2p.

Letter dated 10/12/2025 from Baroness Lloyd of Effra to Lord Howell of Guidlford regarding a question on errors, delays and de-accreditation of official statistics, raised during a question on data adequacy status: EU data protection standards. 1p.

Letter dated 10/12/2025 from Baroness Lloyd of Effra to Lord Howell of Guidlford regarding a question on errors, delays and de-accreditation of official statistics, raised during a question on data adequacy status: EU data protection standards. 1p.

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 19 September 2024 (HL968), why the Privacy Enhancing Technology data protection impact assessment has not been published, and when they plan to publish it.

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 19 September 2024 (HL968), why the Privacy Enhancing Technology data protection impact assessment has not been published, and when they plan to publish it.

I. Government response to the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments. Incl. Annex. 37p. II. Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments. 146p

I. Government response to the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments. Incl. Annex. 37p. II. Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments. 146p

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that companies implementing (a) age-verification and (b) safety requirements use (i) secure and (ii) adequately regulated third-party vendors for data processing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that companies implementing (a) age-verification and (b) safety requirements use (i) secure and (ii) adequately regulated third-party vendors for data processing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what subset of border movements are affected by the Data Futures Project.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what subset of border movements are affected by the Data Futures Project.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which legacy systems will be (a) decommissioned and (b) replaced following the completion of the Data Futures Project.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which legacy systems will be (a) decommissioned and (b) replaced following the completion of the Data Futures Project.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has taken recent steps to expand the Data Futures Project.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has taken recent steps to expand the Data Futures Project.

I. Infected Blood Compensation Authority independent review. Incl. Annex. 21p. II. Letter dated 30/10/2025 from Nick Thomas-Symonds MP to the Deposited Papers Clerk regarding the above document for deposit in the House libraries. 1p.

I. Infected Blood Compensation Authority independent review. Incl. Annex. 21p. II. Letter dated 30/10/2025 from Nick Thomas-Symonds MP to the Deposited Papers Clerk regarding the above document for deposit in the House libraries. 1p.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to improve data processing at the Marine Management Organisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to improve data processing at the Marine Management Organisation.

Lords motion to consider. Agreed to on question.

Lords motion to consider. Agreed to on question.

My Lords, this instrument was laid before the House on 7 July. The then Home Secretary and the current Home Secretary have exercised powers under Section 82(2A) of the Data Protection Act 2018 to specify in this instrument the qualifying competent authorities that will be able to apply for a...

My Lords, this instrument was laid before the House on 7 July. The then Home Secretary and the current Home Secretary have exercised powers under Section 82(2A) of the Data Protection Act 2018 to specify in this instrument the qualifying competent authorities that will be able to apply for a...

My Lords, this instrument is a welcome step in increasing the efficacy of our data sharing and protecting our national security interests. Until the enactment of this instrument, authorities processing information under the Data Protection Act 2018 have been subject to two separate legislative data-processing regimes for law enforcement and...

My Lords, this instrument is a welcome step in increasing the efficacy of our data sharing and protecting our national security interests. Until the enactment of this instrument, authorities processing information under the Data Protection Act 2018 have been subject to two separate legislative data-processing regimes for law enforcement and...