Debate on the Address

Alan Mak Excerpts

Monday 14th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bradford South (Judith Cummins).

I rise to welcome today’s Queen’s Speech because it lays the foundations for delivering Brexit and ending some of the uncertainty that has affected our country over the past three years. Speaking as a Member who voted to trigger article 50 and against delays, that is what the country needs. The Queen’s Speech also outlines investment in the public services that my residents in Havant rely on—our police, our schools and our health service—which is why I am pleased to support it today.

I congratulate my hon. Friends the Members for North East Derbyshire (Lee Rowley) and for Truro and Falmouth (Sarah Newton) on moving and seconding the Loyal Address eloquently and powerfully.

As this new Session begins with a new Government and a relatively new Prime Minister, it is important to re-emphasise that investment in technology and science is how this country will secure its prosperity and security after we deliver Brexit. Contrary to the right hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry), I think that the Queen’s Speech looks to the future and offers something for communities across the whole country.

Looking at Brexit specifically, the seven pieces of legislation in the Queen’s Speech will create a new regulatory framework for agriculture, fisheries and financial services, and it is right that this Queen’s Speech gets our statute book ready for Brexit.

I welcome the new environment Bill, which, as my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford) rightly said, will enshrine in law important measures to cut air pollution, to reduce plastic usage, and to improve the quality of our water.

I am pleased that the Domestic Abuse Bill was carried over from the previous Session. Charities such as Stop Domestic Abuse in Havant do important work in this field, and the new Bill will help them.

The police covenant is also being put into law, rightly recognising the bravery and commitment of our police. When I went out with a local response unit in Havant, it was humbling to see the commitment and hard work that they put in day in and day out to keep our communities safe.

On an extremely positive note, I was pleased to see the medicines and medical devices Bill, which will give the NHS access to the most innovative medicines. The Bill follows a trend of innovation and the adoption of innovation started by my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt) and continued by the current Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, because ensuring that our health services are on a proper, strong footing when it comes to technology is incredibly important.

All the measures that I have mentioned help to tackle some of the challenges we face today in our public services, in our economy and in delivering Brexit. However, I also support the Queen’s Speech because it is forward looking, helping the UK to stay prosperous and competitive after Brexit, particularly by seizing the opportunities offered by science and technology, artificial intelligence, big data, precision medicine, robotics and machine learning. Those technologies are already transforming our society and our economy, and the Queen’s Speech takes that agenda forward.

Speaking as the founder and chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on the fourth industrial revolution, it is important for the House to know that there is an exciting agenda beyond Brexit, supported by the Government, to ensure that prosperity and the advantages of technology are spread to communities across the country. I therefore welcome the commitment to make the UK a global science and technology powerhouse after Brexit, making us a magnet for talented innovators, inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and businesses from around the world, encouraging them to come to this country to invent, manufacture, design and export.

The Queen’s Speech sets out plans significantly to increase public R&D funding, providing a framework that gives long-term certainty to our science community. The Government have already increased public spending on R&D by £7 billion over five years—the biggest ever increase in public R&D funding—which is welcome, because R&D is vital to creating a productive economy. The productivity of firms that invest in R&D is around 13% higher than those that do not, so R&D investment is key to our future. The plans in this Queen’s Speech will help to accelerate the UK’s position in the world and to reach the target of spending 2.4% of GDP on R&D by 2027. This big boost in funding will allow us to invest strategically in cutting-edge science, while encouraging the world’s most innovative entrepreneurs and businesses to invest in the UK, but this country also needs to go further. The Queen’s Speech sets out a path to 2.4% of GDP, but the world leaders, such as South Korea and Israel, reach 3% of GDP and we must match them in time.

The Government also announced today that the UK will accelerate efforts to realise fusion energy through investment in a new UK fusion reactor design programme, which aims to deliver the world’s first commercially viable fusion power plant by 2040. I have visited First Light Fusion, a company in Oxfordshire that is doing incredibly exciting and important work in this field. Fusion energy has the potential to power most of the country, so it is right that the Government invest in it.

[Bob Stewart]

My hon. Friend says we aim to spend 2.4% of GDP on R&D. If that is correct, it is an enormous amount of money. To put it in context, it is way more than our defence budget.

[Alan Mak]

My hon. and gallant Friend is right that 2.4% is a huge investment, but it is welcome that the Government are investing so much in this area. I hope the defence budget will increase to the same level.

[Bob Stewart]

And to 3%.

[Alan Mak]

And to 3%, which is where we need to be on R&D.

[Vicky Ford]

Of course, the 2.4% will come from both public and private investment, so it is not all Government spending. The key element is to make sure we encourage investment from outside sources, as well as from domestic and public sources.

[Alan Mak]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In fact, every £1 of public expenditure on R&D typically leverages around £1.40 of additional private sector investment, so it is a powerful tool. If the Government can turbocharge and accelerate investment in R&D, the private sector will follow.

To answer my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart), I very much hope the defence budget will also increase in time. There have been significant advances in defence technology, and the Ministry of Defence has led the way in helping small and medium-sized enterprises and incubators to develop products for the defence sector. I hope that increases in the future, as it has been a good model in America and other NATO allies for ensuring their armed forces have access to the latest technology. I hope our armed forces do that, too.

Returning to the Queen’s Speech, not only is there an increase in public investment in R&D but there is a commitment to fusion energy, which holds the possibility of driving forward our energy market and our energy capabilities in the years ahead. As I mentioned, First Light Fusion in Oxfordshire is doing exciting and interesting work, and I hope it succeeds.

The Queen’s Speech also establishes a new space council and launches a comprehensive space strategy. Our space capabilities are increasingly central to our day-to-day lives, whether civilian or military. These important capabilities underpin a range of technologies, from smartphones to navigational devices, so this new national space council and space strategy will help us to lead the way in creating high-value, high-skilled, high-wage jobs across the country. My Havant constituency is already leading the way in this area, with firms such as Lockheed Martin doing excellent work.

This Queen’s Speech will help our world-leading science and technology base to grow even further. Science and technology will be the foundation of our prosperity after Brexit, and it will help us to tackle some of the big challenges facing society, such as ending the UK’s contribution to climate change, managing the adoption and adaptation of fourth industrial revolution technologies, transforming our transport systems and tackling the challenges associated with an ageing population.

The grand challenges and the Government’s industrial strategy, to which I had the privilege of contributing in a small way when I was at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, are already helping the country to secure our position in the world, but this Queen’s Speech takes us even further and faster, which is why I will be pleased to support it in the Lobby next week.