Oral Answers to Questions

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle]

I am grateful for that question. I certainly share the hon. Gentleman’s concern for the welfare of young people online, which is why so many provisions have been brought in since I came into office, including issuing a statement of strategic priorities to Ofcom, tackling intimate image abuse and getting right behind the implementation of the new regulations from January and age verification, which will come in in July. We are behind those as well as working on what will come next and strengthening it. I reassure him and the House that online harms are never up for negotiation under this Government.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)]

I really welcome the US-UK trade deal and the fact that the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister kept their commitment not to put online safety on the table in those negotiations. My Committee’s inquiry into social media misinformation and algorithms has heard evidence that the algorithms in social media drive the spread of misinformation, and we saw the consequences of that in the summer riots. Will the Secretary of State confirm that, as well as not watering down the Online Safety Act, he will look to strengthen it and is discussing how to do so with our allies in the US?

[Peter Kyle]

I reassure my hon. Friend that I am looking very closely at how we strengthen the online safety regime in order to protect children further into the future. I have commissioned research into the exact causal relationship between which products young people use and the impact that they have on them, and I will act accordingly from there.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Victoria Collins (Harpenden and Berkhamsted) (LD)]

Given the growing concerns around the Online Safety Act, which could be weakened during UK-US trade negotiations, and reports that the Secretary of State is meeting repeatedly with tech giants, including Amazon, Google and Meta, it is vital that children’s safety remains a red line in both our trade policy and our ongoing, evolving data protection framework. I welcome the comments that he made around the fact that online harms will not be up for negotiation, but can he confirm that the Online Safety Act will not be up for negotiation in the UK-US trade deal now or in the future?

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[Peter Kyle]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we are investing heavily in AI technology across the NHS for the benefit of patients. I have visited Huddersfield hospital, where AI has been fully integrated into the radiography department. I will look into the specific issue that the hon. Gentleman has raised, and if there are any conversations to be had, I can assure him that we are on the side of patients and of harnessing technology for the good of patients.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

Accurate data is important, particularly in the public sector—we will be voting on this later today. How will the Secretary of State measure his planned productivity improvements? How will he define success, and over what time period?

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[Peter Kyle]

I agree with my hon. Friend; excessive smartphone use is detrimental to children, as it is to MPs across the House. I can assure her that I am commissioning evidence on the impact of social media use on children. I am looking particularly closely at the addictive nature of some of the algorithms being deployed, and at how we can act to keep children safe and benefit their welfare.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)]

Labour has cancelled Britain’s new national supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh, damaging our research capability and economic growth. That project was fully funded by the Conservatives, and the university says that it will be a disaster if the cancellation is not reversed, so will the Government reinstate that supercomputer, or will it be another victim of the Chancellor’s failed economic experiment?

[Peter Kyle]

It surprises me that the hon. Gentleman continues down this path. One of the first decisions I had to take after becoming Secretary of State was how we deal with an unfunded commitment for hundreds of millions of pounds where the money never existed—the Treasury had not committed it. Not a single letter had gone to my Department from the Treasury, yet the previous Government spent years making verbal commitments. We will deliver a compute strategy that is fit for purpose, that will get our country where it needs to be—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are not going to get everybody in, Secretary of State.

[Alan Mak]

That project was fully funded, and the Secretary of State knows it. While Labour cancels our tech investment, our competitors—the US, Germany and Japan—are all increasing theirs. Next month, the Chancellor will cut the Department’s budget in real terms, so can the Secretary of State tell us today whether he will allow the Treasury to cancel more investment in Britain’s future, or will he finally speak up for Britain’s vital tech sector?

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[The Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms (Chris Bryant)]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There are older people, and others for that matter, who either have no online access or do not have a smartphone, who would not be able to access things in a digital world. That is why we introduced a digital inclusion plan, and that is one of the key differences between a Labour Government and a Tory Government: they did not have any interest in digital inclusion and they did not have a plan for 10 years, and we brought one in.

[Mr Speaker]

Before we come to Prime Minister’s questions, I welcome to the Gallery the Speakers of Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat and St Helena.

The Prime Minister was asked—

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[The Prime Minister]

I love the fact that when anyone says 14 years of a Conservative Government, Opposition Members all go, “Oh no.” That is how the country feels. Once again, a hard-working Labour MP is clearing up the mess that was left behind. My hon. Friend’s residents deserve far better, and we expect rapid improvements. We are closely monitoring air quality and will not hesitate to take further action. She is right that we must tackle rogue operators who blight our communities. That is why we have boosted Environment Agency funding by £188 million, alongside tough new rules on incinerators and commercial fly-tippers.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Leader of the Opposition.

[Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)]

If I may, Mr Speaker: Sir Roy Stone served 13 Chief Whips, and Prime Ministers from Margaret Thatcher to Boris Johnson. I would like to pay tribute to his extraordinary service and send my best wishes to his family.

Before we start, I would also like to say to the Prime Minister how horrified I was to hear about the attack on his family home. It is completely unacceptable, and I think I speak for the whole House when I say that it was an attack not just on him, but on all of us and on our democracy.

Yesterday we learned that unemployment is up 10% since the election. Why does the Prime Minister think unemployment is rising on his watch?

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[The Prime Minister]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her work with JLR and for standing up for the jobs in her constituency. The deal that we have agreed saves thousands of jobs in our car industry, securing the livelihoods of countless families. I have been up to JLR on a number of occasions, including last week. I know at first hand what it means for the workforce, their families and their communities—and the Leader of the Opposition says she would go and tell them that she is going to rip it up. She should go up there—[Interruption.] Well, she says she is going to go against it. What did the Reform leader say about JLR? He said JLR deserves to go bust. Shame on him! Labour is striking deals in the national interest.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

[Ed Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)]

On behalf of my party, may I offer heartfelt congratulations to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV? May I also offer our support to the Prime Minister and his family after the appalling arson attacks on his home? I echo his thanks to our brilliant police and firefighters.

Three years ago, the previous Government were faced with a choice. Their own Migration Advisory Committee told Ministers that recruiting more care workers required improved conditions, career progression and better pay, but the Conservatives chose not to do that and instead brought in large numbers of care workers from overseas. The carers looking after our loved ones in care homes should be thanked, not demonised. Will the Prime Minister now do the things that the Conservatives refused to do, starting with a higher minimum wage for carers?

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[Nigel Farage (Clacton) (Reform)]

Q8. We at Reform, a party that is alive and kicking, very much enjoyed your speech on Monday. You seem to be learning a very great deal from us. But can I encourage you please to go further as a matter of national security? Over the weekend, an illegal immigrant from Iran, who we believe came by boat, was arrested in the north of England on serious charges of terrorism. Since the speech on Monday, 1,000 undocumented young males have crossed the English channel. Does the Prime Minister agree that now is the time to declare the situation in the English channel a national security emergency?

[Mr Speaker]

It was not my speech; it was the Prime Minister’s.

[The Prime Minister]

The situation is serious. The last Government lost control of the borders. We are taking powers—[Interruption.] This is precisely to the hon. Gentleman’s point. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is the first Bill to give counter-terrorism-like powers to law enforcement, precisely so that we can get in before the crimes are committed and before people get to this country. This is the most far-reaching provision ever for law enforcement to defend and secure our borders. That is why it is extraordinary that he, of all people, voted against it, and sooner or later he is going to have to explain that.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

That completes Prime Minister’s questions.

[Jake Richards]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. During Prime Minister’s questions, the Leader of the Opposition claimed that unemployment has risen by 10% since the general election. That figure is completely and utterly incorrect. It is no wonder that George Osborne, the former Conservative Chancellor, has said that she has no economic plan if she cannot even get basic statistics right. Will the Leader of the Opposition return to the House and correct the record?

[Mr Speaker]

The accuracy of what a Member states is not a matter for the Chair, but you have corrected the record in your opinion. We will leave it there for now.