Lords
Debate
14 July 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill
My Lords, we are a proudly online nation, embracing interconnectivity in all walks of life. Cloud-based working, the rise of software as a service, the advent of artificial intelligence and more have rocketed the UK forward. They have enabled us to work faster, more efficiently and with more flexibi…
Lords
Proceedings
13 July 2026
10 contributions
Employment: Artificial Intelligence
We published an assessment of AI impacts on the labour market in January, and the new AI Economics Institute will broaden and deepen our analytical capability. We will upskill 10 million people through the AI skills boost and help people to develop digital skills through the £187 million TechFirst p…
My noble friend is right about the potential of AI and that many people are uncertain about how it will develop in the future. The critical point that I think he and I agree on is that the best way of approaching this technological development is equipping people in all regions of the country—young …
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
7 July 2026
2 contributions
Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 (Directions to OFCOM) (Revocation) Order 2026
My Lords, I beg to move this draft order. Wireless connectivity underpins a vast range of everyday services, from mobile phones and wifi to broadcasting and satellite communications. All these rely on access to radio spectrum. Spectrum is a finite and valuable resource, and it must be carefully mana…
I thank noble Lords and the Committee for their support for this housekeeping measure to remove an obsolete direction. The direction was fully implemented and cast for its time. As noble Lords have indicated, technology has moved forward, as indeed has the state of mobile coverage and other investme…
Lords
Proceedings
23 June 2026
9 contributions
Artificial Intelligence: Global Governance
AI is a global technology, so the UK is working with partners to advance secure, responsible and trustworthy AI design, development and adoption. This includes bilateral programmes and multilateral collaboration through the AI summit series, the G7, the United Nations and partnerships with national …
My noble friend is right to draw attention to the strengths of the UK in AI. Given the pace of change, the UK is determined to shape AI and not be shaped by it. These are issues that countries do not face alone, so we are working with international partners to seize the opportunities and address the…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
17 June 2026
9 contributions
Social Media: Substances Unfit for Human Consumption
My Lords, the Government recognise the serious risks posed by substances marketed online that are unsafe for human consumption. Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must take proactive steps to prevent and remove illegal content, including the promotion or sale of unlawful substances, and to tackl…
The Online Safety Act has duties in respect of children. Platforms that provide services to children must ensure that harmful content is not provided. Ofcom’s children’s harms guidance makes it clear that sponsored or influencer-promoted content can be in scope where it actively encourages children …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
16 June 2026
7 contributions
Online Hate Speech
Hateful online content impacts people and communities. Illegal hateful content can be used to incite violence and stoke public disorder. We have seen this across the UK. Even where legal, hate online can be used to divide communities. It can erode trust in public institutions and the media. The Gove…
My noble friend is right to emphasise that there can be no justification for violence and disorder; there is no place for antisemitism, either online or offline. As she also rightly noted, Ofcom launched a compliance programme to assess whether the biggest platforms have robust systems and processes…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
16 June 2026
10 contributions
Artificial Intelligence: National Security Implications
My Lords, no Government take AI sovereignty and security more seriously than this one. The UK is not a bystander when it comes to the security of AI. Our world-leading AI Security Institute was one of only a handful of organisations with access to both Mythos and Fable before they were released; the…
We continue to support the AI Security Institute. It is very well respected by developers. That is why it has early access and is able to test the risks. Those risks are obviously going to develop as the models themselves evolve. It is also looking closely at the question of alignment, and that is s…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
16 June 2026
10 contributions
Social Media Ban for Under-16s
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, and the noble Viscount, Lord Camrose, for their contributions. They have been at the forefront of calls to engage on how to make our online world safe for children growing up for many years, and I join them in paying tribute to the bereaved families who ha…
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Nash, for his comments and, moreover, for his engagement over the last months—in fact, it was longer—with me on this topic. We will be able to continue that engagement—obviously, there will be scrutiny in the House—but also outside the Chamber. We committed to sharing th…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
9 June 2026
6 contributions
Digital Safety: Children
I agree with the noble Lord that there is unanimity on the importance of tackling child sexual abuse online and taking measures to further restrict that and make it harder. As my noble friend Lord Hanson made clear during the passage of the Act, device-level nudity detection can play an important ro…
The consultation to which the noble Lord refers includes looking at features and functionalities; it looks at addictive algorithms, screen time and the impact on children’s health. The consultation has closed. There were many responses, and we are taking time to make sure that we have looked careful…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
4 June 2026
3 contributions
AI Regulation Bill
My Lords, I am pleased to respond to this Question for Short Debate and I am thankful to the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, for initiating this debate, and for the wide variety of contributions made so concisely. It is such an important topic that if I fail to respond, I will of course follow up in writin…
Our view is that AI is a general-purpose technology with a wide range of applications, and also that regulators understand well the sectors they are regulating. They understand the risks that are present and understand, as many noble Lords have raised in the debate, the specific applications that AI…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
9 contributions
Sovereign AI Fund
The sovereign AI fund will support early-stage British start-ups at strategically important parts of the AI value chain, including AI infrastructure and compute. It is not designed to replace foreign cloud providers or achieve total UK self-sufficiency. Instead, the fund seeks to reduce our strategi…
Public procurement through G-Cloud must deliver value for money, security, and effective public services. Suppliers are not selected or excluded purely on the basis of nationality where they meet operational security and value for money obligations. The commercialisation of the sovereign AI fund to …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
8 contributions
Business Hiring
The UK labour market and economy remain resilient despite geopolitical uncertainties. The UK had the fastest growing-economy in the G7 in Q1 2026. On the labour market, ONS data shows that there are 416,000 more people in work than a year ago. Its business insights survey shows that over 80% of busi…
I do not accept the characterisation presented. We recognise there is a crisis of participation, and Alan Milburn’s interim report clearly laid out many of the contributing factors in health and education, which have been there for many years. Under the previous Government between 2021 and 2024, the…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
21 May 2026
6 contributions
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: Ebola Outbreak
My Lords, I want to make it clear that our sanctions regime against Russia is tougher today than it was last week. It is categorically not the case that we are waiving or easing sanctions. On 19 May the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office laid the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Re…
The Minister for Trade and the department are responsible for these licences. The Russian sanctions came into force yesterday. We have made it clear that these licences are temporary and time limited.
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
21 May 2026
6 contributions
Processed Russian Oil Products: Sanctions
My Lords, I want to make it clear that our sanctions regime against Russia is tougher today than it was last week. It is categorically not the case that we are waiving or easing sanctions. On 19 May the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office laid the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Re…
The Minister for Trade and the department are responsible for these licences. The Russian sanctions came into force yesterday. We have made it clear that these licences are temporary and time limited.
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
12 contributions
Self-employed: Paternity Leave
The Government are undertaking a review of parental leave and pay, which presents a much-needed opportunity to consider our approach to the system and whether the support available meets the needs of modern working families, including the self-employed. The review will conclude in early 2027 with a …
I thank the noble Baroness for her advocacy for the importance of paternity leave and parental rights. We have already delivered real change through the Employment Rights Act. On 6 April, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave became day-one rights. Alongside these changes, we are undertaking thi…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
22 April 2026
9 contributions
British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme
I am grateful to the noble Baroness for bringing the topic back to the British industrial competitiveness scheme.
We are making this intervention because the party opposite left us with the highest industrial energy prices in Europe. When it entered office in 2010, electricity prices were 8.42p per…
On support for the transition, we have set out a lot of detail on the energy transition with the C lean E nergy J obs P lan . On the North Sea specifically, the North Sea F uture P lan sets out how we will scale up our North Sea clean energy industries, such as the government-backed Acorn, Viking an…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
21 April 2026
4 contributions
Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I welcome the chance to explain why these regulations are important, why an update to the current framework is necessary and how our approach safeguards holidaymakers while helping the travel industry to prosper.
Travel is central to everyday life for millions across the United Kingdom. F…
My Lords, I declare my interests as president of the Tourism Society of the United Kingdom, and all the other things I am involved in within the hospitality industry—none of which now, sadly, is remunerated. I congratulate the Minister on underlining the importance of the hospitality and tourism ind…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
9 contributions
Britain’s Battery Future Report
Our major market is the EU, where shortly we must show that significant value in manufactured goods must originate here or in the EU. In the case of EVs, as the Minister will know, that is the battery. Does she agree, even having said what she has said, that we do not yet have the EV battery gigafac…
My Lords, the Minister mentioned gigafactories, and we need to speed up the process of getting more gigafactories operational in the UK if we are not to miss out on investment and jobs. She also mentioned electric vehicles. The Labour Party manifesto did not include any road pricing measures, yet fr…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
9 contributions
Artificial Intelligence: Impact on Employment
My Lords, we already know there is a growing challenge in the graduate job market exacerbated by AI, as we have recently discussed in your Lordships’ House. A study by King’s College London has shown that senior leaders across all job markets will be needed who cannot be replaced by AI. What plans d…
My Lords, one of the good things about the Government’s industrial strategy was the establishment of regional professional businesses and services hubs, partly to look into the provision of AI services, supported by Skills England which was to map where AI skills gaps were. Will the Minister please …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
8 contributions
AI Growth Lab
My Lords, the AI growth lab is an excellent intervention. We have a great tradition in this country of sandboxes, and this follows on from there. It will require primary legislation, and it is not alone in that: there is an increasing number of areas where the Government say they want to act in term…
My Lords, any AI growth in this country will depend on trust between tech companies and content rights holders. This will depend on robust transparency requirements being created, and quickly. However, the Government, in their report on AI and copyright last week, said they were going to sit on thei…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
25 March 2026
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I add one point to the powerful speeches that have been made in support of the noble Lord, Lord Nash. It is very important that noble Lords understand that the Minister is inviting the House to support Amendments 38A and 38B, neither of which imposes any obligation whatsoever on the Govern…
My Lords, I pick up on one issue that the Minister mentioned in her opening speech. To paraphrase, she said, “If, after consultation, there is a decision to act”. I hope that she is getting the sense tonight that the House is already very much of the opinion that it is not an if; it is a call to act…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
23 March 2026
12 contributions
UK Steel Strategy
I thank noble Lords for their rich contributions. They have raised many matters that are covered in the steel strategy and are of vital importance to the future of steel-making and its centrality to the UK’s economic success.
This steel strategy is the first one to be set out. It explains the visio…
My noble friend brings his experience and wisdom to the House. Welsh steel is expected to account for half of future UK steelmaking. As he will be aware, we have also invested £500 million in the electric arc furnace in Port Talbot. In addition to that, the Secretary of State for Wales will convene …
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
23 March 2026
9 contributions
Companies: Online AGMs
My Lords, too often directors forget that it is shareholders who own the company. To hold AGMs entirely virtually, barring shareholders’ attendance, is in my view arrogant, unacceptable and sometimes, frankly, cowardly. Institutional shareholders have near-continuous access to boards, but the AGM is…
My Lords, may I suggest that members of the awkward squad are more readily controlled in virtual meetings, and that is thoroughly undesirable? It is much better to have open general meetings, when members of the awkward squad can speak out.
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
6 contributions
EU Digital Services Act and Regulation
I thank the Minister for her response. There would be several economic, regulatory and strategic benefits if the UK were to be part of the EU’s Digital Services Act. Scale matters when it comes to dealing with the powerful global tech companies, and it is quite clear from the US’s AI action plan tha…
My Lords, the EU’s digital governance for online platforms relies on certain basic principles—they should operate transparently, responsibly and in alignment with legal standards. That is a formal basis on which we should operate too. Instead of having new laws that align with the EU, why do we not …
+4 more contributions in this session