King’s Speech

Baroness Alexander of Cleveden Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Alexander of Cleveden (Lab)]

My Lords, decarbonising energy and deploying AI are the defining technology challenges of our times. They are fundamental to growth and are intimately linked. The greatest constraint on technology deployment in the United States is energy availability. In the UK, Ofgem has 140 data centres on its books, so the energy independence Bill will scale up renewables, accelerate the deployment of clean power and build out the grid. As we have heard, the nuclear regulation Bill will speed up new nuclear and deal with the damaging delays.

I turn to technology and AI in particular. The UK is the world’s third-most important hub for AI start-ups. We are an AI maker as well as an AI taker, so the Government’s streamlining of planning, the new UK compute road map and the AI hardware plan are all vital infrastructure fundamentals, but they must be matched by pace in deploying AI. I welcome the AI growth opportunities plan, the funding of start-ups and the growth labs to train new UK AI. Regulating for growth will create new sandboxes, relaxing existing rules for new AI products that can transform lives. The UK is raising its game around innovation, and regulators will be required to support growth, boost investor confidence and speed up the time to market. All these actions signal a new, largely cross-party consensus that Britain should prioritise outcomes over processes.

It is hard to overstate the long-term impact of AI, as we have heard already: two-thirds of jobs exposed to some form of automation and many entry-level jobs will be changed for ever.

Let me conclude on the security challenges that have already been touched on. The cyber security and resilience Bill will strengthen our cyber defences, but post Mythos, we have to ask whether it is enough. Mythos, of course, found severe vulnerabilities in every major operating system: the systems that run our electricity grids, retail networks, military systems, emergency services and hospitals. The US Administration have been compelled to act. Project Glasswing gave leading firms a head start in patching vulnerabilities. However, the American media is now awash with talk of executive orders, bipartisan Bills and co-operation with China—all moves towards greater oversight.

Balancing AI growth and security is complex. As with climate change, we need to balance national and international action. International co-ordination matters: 80% of Europe’s digital services are provided by non-European companies. The European Union’s own attempt at legislation was too broad and created disincentives. In the UK, our AI Security Institute operates without statutory authority or parliamentary oversight; indeed, some have argued that that very ambiguity has been the key to the trust it has built.

So what do we do? Many AI company CEOs talk sincerely about balancing growth and safety, but profit invariably takes precedence in corporate cultures. That is why some risks—the Economist calls them “externalities” —are better overseen by citizens. We can draw lessons from other sectors: more transparency, safety by design cultures and corporate liability as a potential lever. That is what lies ahead of us. The technology has huge potential, and Britain has great potential in that for realising the upsides. As other noble Lords have noted, this Chamber is well equipped to discern the public interest. That is the opportunity before us and the really interesting times that we live in.