Data (Use and Access) Bill [HL]
Debate between Earl of Erroll and Lord BethellWednesday 18th December 2024
(1 month ago)
Grand CommitteeRead Full debate Data (Use and Access) Bill [HL] 2024-26 View all Data (Use and Access) Bill [HL] 2024-26 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: HL Bill 40-IV Fourth marshalled list for Grand Committee - (17 Dec 2024)
Lord Bethell (Con)
My Lords, I strongly support this amendment. As a former Minister, I was at the front line of genomic data and know how powerful it currently is and can be in the future. Having discussed this with the UK Biobank, I know that the issue of who stores and processes genomic data in the UK is a subject of huge and grave concern. I emphasise that the American Government have moved on this issue already and emphatically. There is the possibility that we will be left behind in global standards and will one day be an outlier if we do not close this important and strategically delicate loophole. For that reason, I strongly support this amendment.
The Earl of Erroll (CB)
My Lords, I was involved in an ethics committee that looked at genomics and cancer research some years ago, and this is very important. If research could be done on different genomic and racial types, it could be used against us adversely at some point. So there is a lot of sense in this.