Victoria Collins
Main Page: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)Department Debates - View all Victoria Collins's debates with the Cabinet Office
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Victoria Collins (Harpenden and Berkhamsted) (LD)
UK Research and Innovation funding will continue to be undermined if the Government’s own procurement strategy sees billions going to companies outside the UK, such as Palantir in the US, when British tech has the solutions. Although we welcome the announcement of AI investment funding, it pales in comparison with the ongoing procurement investment. Will the Government back Liberal Democrat amendments to the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill for a comprehensive digital sovereign strategy, backing British tech, research and innovation, which is vital for both our economy and our national security?
Liz Kendall
I am proud of this Government’s plan to back UK AI companies and our sovereign capabilities, with £500 million backing our new sovereign AI unit and £1 billion of free compute for British researchers and scientists. We are also overhauling Government procurement to ensure that we back innovative tech companies in the UK, both big and small. That is the way forward to seize the opportunities for growth and secure our sovereign capabilities.