Lord Clement-Jones — Hansard — Westminster Brief

Lords Proceedings 13 July 2026

My Lords, the Milburn interim report, Young People and Work, found that a growing share of entry-level roles are now filtered by algorithmic screening before a human has even seen an application. Given that NEET numbers are shockingly high, what specific assessment have the Government made of the ex…

Lords Proceedings 9 July 2026

Artificial Intelligence: Vaccine Technology

My Lords, we should all recognise the immense potential of AI in this field. But, on regulation, will the Minister explicitly confirm and ensure that a human-in-command approach will apply to any use of AI in vaccine approvals and pharmacovigilance, so that decisions on approvals and safety monitori…

Lords Committee Stage 7 July 2026

Trade (Mobile Roaming) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

It is a pleasure to follow the noble Viscount, particularly in welcoming the noble Baroness, Lady Ramsey of Wall Heath, to the Government Front Bench. We again raise no particular objection to these regulations. Reducing the wholesale caps for calls, texts and data between the UK, Norway and Icelan…

Lords Committee Stage 7 July 2026

Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 (Directions to OFCOM) (Revocation) Order 2026

My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing this order. I am somewhat intrigued as to why we are privileged to have two Ministers for these orders, which are both under the heading of electronic communications. No doubt the mystery will be resolved. Of course we do not oppose this instrument and …

Lords Proceedings 23 June 2026

Artificial Intelligence: Global Governance

My Lords, I declare an interest as a consultant to DLA Piper on AI policy and regulation. The UK signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence nearly two years ago. Can the Minister tell the House when the UK intends to ratify the convention, and what steps the Governm…

Lords Proceedings 17 June 2026

Social Media: Substances Unfit for Human Consumption

My Lords, the BBC investigation found that these illegal substances are readily available from online sellers based both in the UK and overseas, yet there is no systematic requirement for platforms to know who is placing these advertisements, particularly of the kind that the noble Lord, Lord Winsto…

Lords Proceedings 16 June 2026

Artificial Intelligence: National Security Implications

My Lords, the Minister has mentioned the AI Security Institute. It identified ways to circumvent the safety guardrails of Fable 5 and Mythos before their public launch, including vulnerabilities that could allow the extraction of instructions for producing dangerous substances, yet the model was rel…

Lords Proceedings 16 June 2026

Social Media Ban for Under-16s

My Lords, I, too, thank the Minister for taking the Statement today and for her alert. On these Benches we welcome the fact that the Government have finally responded to the overwhelming public demand to protect our children online, especially from the bereaved parents: like the noble Viscount, Lord…

Lords Proceedings 9 June 2026

Digital Safety: Children

My Lords, I congratulate my honourable friend Munira Wilson on trying to extract some clarity from the Government after the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday before almost any of us arrived at London Tech Week. Sadly, it did not contain all of what was in the weekend media briefings. On these Benche…

Lords Committee Stage 4 June 2026

AI Regulation Bill

My Lords, I declare an interest as an adviser to DLA Piper on AI policy and regulation. We should all thank the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, for his consistent advocacy for regulation, the need for which is clearly shared widely around this Room. Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel laureate and godfather of AI,…

Lords Proceedings 1 June 2026

Sovereign AI Fund

My Lords, the Secretary of State has said that Britain “must be an AI maker, not an AI taker ”,—[Official Report, Commons, 18/3/26; col. 55WS.] and the sovereign AI unit’s own chair has promised British start-ups a guaranteed route to government contracts. But even the AI Minister, Mr Narayan, has…

Lords Proceedings 28 April 2026

UK Biobank Data

My Lords, I thank the Minister for coming forward in relation to this Statement and join in acknowledging unreservedly the profound scientific value of UK Biobank and the extraordinary generosity of the half a million volunteers whose participation has driven life-saving discoveries in heart disease…

Lords Debate 28 April 2026 3 contributions

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

My Lords, I start by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Nash, for his openness, his campaigning and his extraordinary ability to bring different views together. This morning, he and I agreed that, whatever the outcome of this particular conversation, we would work continuously and ferociously for child s…

My Lords, I thought that I was walking into a kind of kumbaya, with peace breaking out, but, having heard the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, and the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, perhaps I got that wrong. I was going to congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Nash, with whom I profoundly disagree, on hav…

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Lords Debate 27 April 2026

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

My Lords, I support the Motion in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Nash. I have listened very carefully to my noble friend the Minister but have the greatest difficulty in understanding why you need a consultation period when dealing with those aged 16 and under. The restraint that the noble Lord, L…

Lords Debate 27 April 2026

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, despite everything that the Minister has said on proscription of the IRGC, we are now in something of an Alice in Wonderland world. The Prime Minister has told the media in recent days that the Government propose to introduce further legislation to address state threats. Such legislation h…

Lords Debate 22 April 2026 3 contributions

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, I will speak to Motion C1. I thank the Minister for Amendments 342C and 342D. I also thank the Minister and his officials for the time that they have spent with me during the passage of the Bill. I am pleased that the Government have taken on board a number of the concerns that I have rai…

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, on pushing Motion A1, which I will be supporting. After the previous ping-pong debate on the issue of on-the-spot fines by private enterprises, I was inundated with complaints about egregious harassment by these very bodies, these enforce…

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Lords Debate 20 April 2026

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

My Lords, on Motions A, A1 and A2, the Government, as I think I made clear in opening this debate, recognise the concerns raised in this House and the strength of feeling among parents about protecting children online. As I and other Ministers have said, we share that commitment. This is a complex i…

Lords Debate 16 April 2026 5 contributions

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, I have involvement with two Motions in this group. The first is Motion E, which relates to Amendment 12, which would transfer the responsibility for dealing with fly-tipping from landowners to the local waste authority. When we considered the amendment on Report, there was strong support f…

My Lords, I support the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones. I do not need to repeat his excellent exposition of why Motion A1 is needed, although I stress that his original amendments were better, but we are where we are. It is important to note that this is not about preventing enforcement at all. We …

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Lords Oral Questions 13 April 2026

Artificial Intelligence: Impact on Employment

The noble Lord is right that AI poses challenges and opportunities to those in the labour market. The AI skills boost programme that the Government have announced is extremely ambitious in its reach. It will see a major expansion to upskill 10 million workers, which is a huge endeavour and will see …

Lords Oral Questions 26 March 2026

Curriculum and Assessment Review

My Lords, there are four key stages that have mandatory elements in the maths curriculum. The fourth stage concerns pupils aged 14 to 16. Here there is an abundant list of topics that the student should be taught and which they might presume to know by the age of 16. The list is both complete and un…

Lords Debate 25 March 2026

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, I thank my noble friends Lady Owen of Alderley Edge and Lady Bertin, and the Minister, for their amendments. As my noble friend Lady Bertin said, her amendments were agreed as a package on Report and should have been moved then. We supported them at that time, and understand that the Gover…

Lords Debate 18 March 2026 3 contributions

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, in moving this amendment I will speak to Amendments 428, 429 and 445, all of which stand in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Doocey. I return to the question of the governance of international law enforcement data-sharing agreements under Clauses 209 to 211. Can I make a radical s…

My Lords, I thank the Minister. I will not take any further time, but I look forward to his letter. In the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

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Lords Proceedings 18 March 2026

Digital ID: Public Consultation

My Lords, I thank the Minister for this opportunity to respond to last week’s Statement and, indeed, for his personal engagement with us at that time. The Chief Secretary told the Commons on Tuesday that he was continuing the proud Labour tradition of building public services for the many. He invok…

Lords Debate 18 March 2026

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, I express from these Benches our very strong support for these comprehensive amendments tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, which she has characteristically introduced so well and to which so many noble Lords have spoken so eloquently in support. I also want to express our concerns …

Lords Oral Questions 17 March 2026

Fujitsu: Post Office Horizon Case

The noble Lord mentions procurement. I am sure that the Cabinet Office is looking into whether any changes need to be made, but a live inquiry is happening at this time. We have to follow it through, and its findings will be published in due course.