UK-India Technology Security Initiative

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Aldridge

Tuesday 28th April 2026 Westminster Hall

[Dan Aldridge (Weston-super-Mare) (Lab) [R]]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the UK-India Technology Security Initiative.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. As a member of the Business and Trade Committee, I recently visited India, alongside colleagues from across the House, as part of our inquiry into the UK’s trade with India. It was a fascinating visit, where we discussed critical trade policy such as the UK-India technology security initiative with Indian officials and officials from His Majesty’s Government.

I am also chair of the all-party parliamentary group for cyber innovation and of the digital inclusion APPG. I care deeply about how our people and communities are empowered by technological advances and not left behind.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

As the hon. Gentleman says, it is important that no one is left behind. Does he agree that the devolved regions are sometimes left behind? We must remember that we have a world-class cyber ecosystem at Queen’s University Belfast, with thriving tech start-ups across Northern Ireland. Will he join me in asking the Minister what steps have been taken to ensure that the £7 million joint research programme on future telecoms and the new connectivity and innovation centre are directly accessible to firms in Strangford and across Northern Ireland, as well as the UK mainland?

[Dan Aldridge]

When I was on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, we visited Queen’s and talked about its cyber-security prowess. The ecosystem in the UK is very much connected—something we are very proud of—so I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention.

I am delighted to have secured this debate; in the spirit of interconnected communities, before going into the specifics of the UK-India TSI, I will talk about something a bit closer to home. This topic speaks to one of the reasons why Britain’s international relationships, our diplomacy and our international trade agreements matter not just at the Government level, but locally, on the streets of Weston-super-Mare and in towns, villages and cities across the UK.

My constituency might not be a place that people automatically associate with India, but our town is home to a small but thriving Indian community. Their contribution to local life is immeasurable, whether in our NHS, businesses, schools or civic institutions. The people who came to Weston from India and whose families have grown up here are woven into the fabric of what makes our town work.

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[Dan Aldridge]

As ever, I agree with my hon. Friend. Specifically on the point about how we build our domestic capacity, there is something very exciting about the new £500 million investment in sovereign AI. It would be great to hear how that investment might—I hope—be linked closely to this work.

[Jim Shannon]

The hon. Member is making an excellent speech, with plenty of thoughts for the Minister to reply to. We probably all agree that student exchange is important. The hon. Member showed his knowledge of Queen’s University Belfast, and I thank him for that, but student exchange also matters when it comes to technology and working together. Does he agree that, although we must always focus on immigration, we should perhaps look at and do more with the good points of student exchanges, which create opportunities for UK students as well as those from India?

[Dan Aldridge]

I absolutely agree. One of the things I took back to my constituency was about how I engage with schoolchildren and college students, but that point is much wider; we should be really ambitious in that cross-cultural dialogue. There is nothing but gains to be had, so far as I can see.

It came out loud and clear from our counterparts in India that cross-party political support for the UK and India’s partnership on AI and technology was critical in reassuring Indian officials and politicians that the UK was a safe and reliable partner. Politicians and officials in India were really impressed that the main two UK political parties could share a stage in India, and saw that as a real positive—a really good thing on the global stage.

On semiconductors, under the TSI the UK and India are pursuing a broad and ambitious partnership focused on research and development in chip design, compound semiconductors and advanced packaging. Both Governments have committed to sharing best practice on supply chain challenges and to facilitating trade and investment flows between semiconductor companies in both countries.

Then there is quantum: quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum communications. For most people, those technologies remain firmly in the realm of science fiction, but not for long. The countries that invest in quantum research and development now will have decisive advantages in cryptography, defence and pharmaceuticals, and in areas that we cannot yet fully predict. It is important that elected Members champion these frontier technologies and make them real for people in our constituencies, because if we do not do it, who will? It will probably be a drama or a TikTok, and those are not necessarily the best places for them to get their information.

The TSI explicitly includes quantum as a priority area for collaboration. I find the idea of building partnerships between UK and Indian research centres and developing the next generation of technologies together really exciting. The UK has world-leading quantum research capabilities. India has the engineering talent and institutional ambition to match them, and it is a brilliant match.

These are the technologies of tomorrow, and our collaboration on these sectors provides huge opportunities for the UK, particularly the small and medium-sized enterprises in our constituencies. The Indian Government and Indian businesses are actively looking for British partners, particularly SMEs, and the TSI is not just a framework for multinational corporations or Government-to-Government exchanges; it is designed to create partnerships at every level of the economy, including start-ups, research institutions, academic collaborators and supply chain partners. I am excited that next month I will be welcoming some start-up innovators from India to Parliament.

Our partnerships with small and medium-sized enterprises are the exception, not the rule, but it is our responsibility as local representatives to help change that—to open doors and to make the benefits of the UK-India partnership seen in our constituencies up and down the country. The only way we can make the most of the relationship is through sustained engagement, which relates to the point made by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) about youth and student engagement. The only limit is our creativity. A lot of this is not about huge investment, but about creativity of thought.

UK-based Tech Companies

Debate between Jim Shannon and Dan Aldridge

Wednesday 11th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

As always, it is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Betts; thank you for all you do for us in relation to Westminster Hall. I also thank the hon. Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Peter Fortune) for raising this issue and thereby giving us all an opportunity to participate in this debate—and it is always good to see the Minister in his place. I wish him well in the role that he plays and we very much look forward to hearing his response to the debate.

I always say good things about Northern Ireland, but today I want to talk about the things that I believe put us at the top of the tree when it comes to cyber-security. Northern Ireland has become the cyber-security centre of Europe—it is increasingly possible that it might even be the global cyber-security centre—but that situation did not simply arise out of nowhere. There has been a dedicated focus on investing in the sector, and on training young people to think differently and to become involved in it.

My parliamentary aide attended a grammar school that typically focused on maths, English language and science, yet she recalls a careers day when an adviser from Queen’s University in Belfast came in and advised her and her classmates to consider tech and computer science, saying that those would be the future of employment and job security in Northern Ireland. That was back in the year 2000. How right and how prophetic that university adviser was.

Sometimes along life’s way we meet people who will have an incredible influence on our lives; we all have those people, when we look back. That university adviser was one of those people; he had a vision, and in particular a vision for young people. Many of the people he taught are now in that category themselves, in that department or that section.

[Dan Aldridge]

I just want to pay tribute to a number of lecturers at the universities in Northern Ireland. I used to work for the British Computer Society and the Northern Ireland branch was phenomenal. If the hon. Gentleman has not yet made contact with that branch, to speak to it about its cyber-security work in Northern Ireland, it would be a fantastic group of people for him to connect with.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the hon. Gentleman very much for that intervention; it is always good to get an intervention that reinforces the point of view that I am putting forward. Obviously, he has a personal knowledge of this issue and we thank him for that, too.

Due to the dedication and focus of universities in Northern Ireland, in particular Queen’s University in Belfast, cyber-security quickly became a focal point for careers. Subsequently, Northern Ireland, because of its unique combination of world-class academic research, a high concentration of global firms and a stable, highly skilled talent pipeline, has developed a well-established reputation in this field.

However, we all know that we can never rest on our achievements or laurels, but must continue to strive for more. That is why it is imperative that funding exists to keep pace with and even outstrip our competitors in providing skilled workers and innovation, supported by world-leading university structures. Northern Ireland leads the way in that regard and it is good that it does so.

The Centre for Secure Information Technologies at Queen’s University in Belfast is the primary driver of world-class academic research, and we need to retain and enhance funding for that research to continue. The centre is the UK’s innovation and knowledge centre for cyber-security and is the largest of its kind in Europe, recognised by the National Cyber Security Centre as an academic centre of excellence in both research and education. Those are big plaudits for Queen’s University and its work.

Belfast has consistently ranked as the No.1 global destination for US-based cyber-security foreign direct investment, with more than 100 cyber-security businesses and teams located within just three miles of the city centre, hosting European or global security operations for firms including Rapid7, Proofpoint, IBM Security, Microsoft, Nvidia and Nihon Cyber Defence, as well as international financial giants such as Aflac, Allstate and Citi, which has established its global cyber-security operations centre in Belfast. Again, that is an indication of the confidence across the world in Belfast, in Queen’s University and in Northern Ireland.

We have the highest percentage of qualified IT professionals in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with more than 77% holding degree-level qualifications. Added to that is the fact that operating costs in Northern Ireland are approximately 40% to 55% lower than in other parts of western Europe. With a 40% reduction in typical salary costs compared with London, it is easy to see the attraction. The money that has been invested in growing this space has had a real return for the local economy—plenty of high-paying jobs and opportunity.

The sector generates more than £258 million in direct gross value added for the local economy annually, and supports almost 2,800 roles across more than 120 companies, with the average advertised salary in the sector exceeding £53,000, which is significantly higher than the regional private sector median. The recent £3 million investment in the Centre for Secure Information Technologies is estimated to unlock some £10.7 million in broader economic impact across the United Kingdom.

I am not quite sure if the Minister, in his role, has had a chance to go to Northern Ireland? If he has not, I encourage him to go. I think he would be impressed. Everyone knows that I am in favour of support for the Union; I think we are all better together. We have no Scottish nationalists or Plaid Cymru here to say otherwise. In this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, we all help each other, and there are great advantages to being a part of this, the best Union in the world.

If the Minister gets the opportunity to go, he would be impressed. He may tell me he has been there. If he has, that is fantastic news. Investing in growth in this sector is a must. I look to the Minister to ensure that Northern Ireland sees her share of investment, because we have proven already that we can not only provide the goods, but do so much more.