Oral Answers to Questions

Gordon McKee Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this matter on behalf of his constituents, so I will speak and his constituents will hear the answer. There was not a plan for the building. It was a pretend plan; it was a fiction. It was unfunded and undeliverable. It only existed in the head of Boris Johnson. There is the frustration for his constituents and I really understand it. They thought—because they were promised—that they were going to get something, which the Conservative party knew was never going to be delivered. That is absolutely unforgiveable. We will pick that up. We have put in place a funded scheme to build as quickly as we can, but it has to be funded and it has to be deliverable. That is the difference between the approach that we are taking and the approach that they took. Of course I will ensure that a relevant Minister meets the hon. Gentleman and his constituents to explain that more fully to them.

[Gordon McKee (Glasgow South) (Lab)]

Q12. In China, DeepSeek has developed an artificial intelligence model almost as good as the most advanced technology from OpenAI. In the US, they are investing up to $500 billion in building out data centres. To build data centres, we need two things: lots of energy and, ideally, cold weather. Fortunately, Scotland has both of those in abundance. Will the Prime Minister back Glasgow being an AI growth zone, to help bring investment and solidify the UK’s place as the third largest AI market on earth?

[The Prime Minister]

What a contrast to the SNP: a strong Labour voice championing economic growth in Scotland. The AI developments this week show why we are right to put artificial intelligence at the heart of our plan for change. We have already secured £39 billion of AI investment, which will create 13,000 jobs across the UK. I agree with my hon. Friend that Scotland has real potential for AI growth zones. I will make sure that he can meet the relevant Minister to discuss that.