UK-based Tech Companies

Rachel Gilmour Excerpts

Wednesday 11th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) (LD)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Betts. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Peter Fortune) on securing this important debate. We have heard from both sides of the Chamber that the British tech sector spreads into all our constituencies, so it concerns us all.

When the Government came to power, they said that their central mission was to provide growth. I posit that a key way to do that is by supporting our small and medium-sized businesses, because that is where growth comes from.

[Rachel Gilmour (Tiverton and Minehead) (LD)]

Does my hon. Friend share my view that, although we can be rightly proud of having the third most valuable tech ecosystem in the world, we cannot be complacent, especially amid increasing international uncertainty? Shearwell Data in my constituency is exactly the sort of business that he refers to. A family-run business, founded by Richard Webber in 1992, it now exports livestock management systems internationally. Mr Webber is a true local champion: he not only runs that fantastic family businesses, but works at the heart of our community in Wheddon Cross. Does my hon. Friend agree that the flight of UK tech companies to other markets such as the United States shows that we must do more to ensure British companies can start, stay and scale here?

[Mike Martin]

I thank my hon. Friend for her comprehensive intervention, which speaks to exactly the issues that I will raise.

The key example is DeepMind, which was the world-leading AI company. We, the Brits, failed to create the ecosystem, funding and risk-taking capital to enable it to scale fully. It was then bought by Google, and now the British Government contract with Google rather than with DeepMind. That is exactly my fear: even though we are the world’s third AI power, that could move away from us very quickly if we do not create the right ecosystem to support our tech firms.

If this Government are serious about supporting growth, we need to look at small and medium-sized enterprises. It will not surprise hon. Members that I have some examples from my Tunbridge Wells constituency. First, Capital Web develops AI software to help businesses to improve productivity. That is on the application side of AI; we are never going to compete on the frontier model side of AI, but the UK can certainly compete on how we implement those frontier models to work cases. I will also give a bit more detail about Adzuna, a firm based in Tunbridge Wells that helps people to find jobs.

The problem in the UK is one of scaling up. We often have support for businesses that are very small. We might have research and development tax credits or innovation grants, or we might help them to spin directly out of universities. However, what just does not happen in the UK is moving them on from the position where they have a concept and patent and are perhaps ready to scale rapidly. Those firms are left to go abroad, be taken over, or perhaps wither and see the market move on and eclipse them. That is the real danger.

Social Media: Non-consensual Sexual Deepfakes

Rachel Gilmour Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

That sounds like a very interesting and practical solution to many of the challenges we are discussing. I hope that my hon. Friend will send me more details.

[Rachel Gilmour (Tiverton and Minehead) (LD)]

I cannot pretend to understand the complexities of AI bots or the stuff that we have talked about this afternoon, but I do understand the impact that sexual abuse has on children and girls in my constituency. On Saturday, I was talking to a grandmother, who told me that her granddaughter had been groomed; as a consequence, she had become suicidal, was locked in her room and was unrecognisable from the young woman that she had been just three months ago. I live in a very rural part of the country. May I seek reassurance from the Secretary of State that she will put as much money and as many facilities into rural parts of the country to prevent this disgusting habit as she will put into other parts?

[Liz Kendall]

I will do whatever it takes, and I know that is what the whole Government think. In particular, this is a personal priority for the Prime Minister. The people who abuse children find a way to do it, in every century and any different form. Our job is to find that and stop it, and that is what we will do.

Future of Public Libraries

Rachel Gilmour Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jonathan Davies]

I do agree. We need more money for libraries, but we also need to find ways of collaborating and innovating, so that we can do more with less. The hon. Member makes a good point about rural communities; I thank her for that.

[Rachel Gilmour (Tiverton and Minehead) (LD)]

I thank the hon. Member for securing the debate. Clearly, there is much agreement on the importance of public libraries, but in rural communities such as those in my constituency, access is often limited by insufficient transport and the rural premium associated with running services. Does he agree that the Government should urgently review steps to support access to rural libraries, so that constituencies such as mine are not left without these treasured community assets?

[Jonathan Davies]

I know the hon. Lady is a champion for rural communities and her constituents. The Government are looking carefully at public transport, but a national strategy for public libraries, which I will come to, could draw upon the issue she raises.

Many of our libraries have quietly evolved into digital learning centres, enterprise hubs and pillars of community wellbeing. Across the country brilliant initiatives have emerged, such as the Glass Box in Taunton, where people of all ages develop skills in 3D printing and programming in library spaces. There are initiatives such as Gloucestershire’s library-led programme tackling loneliness among older people. Those are models that should be shared.

As many as 13.7 million adults used a library last year, not just for books but to study, get online and sometimes as a place to feel safe. I believe the Minister referred to libraries as “cultural diamonds” and I could not agree more. Baroness Twycross has noted that they are

“one of the last non-transactional spaces in our communities.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 12 September 2024; Vol. 839, c. GC140.]

It is hugely encouraging to see such clear appreciation and understanding of public libraries at the heart of Government.

Listed Places of Worship Scheme

Rachel Gilmour Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Bradley Thomas) on calling this debate and I also congratulate my hon. Friends the Members for Chichester (Jess Brown-Fuller), Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart), South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings), Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos) and Ely and East Cambridgeshire (Charlotte Cane) on the points they have made.

[Rachel Gilmour (Tiverton and Minehead) (LD)]

In my beautiful constituency of Tiverton and Minehead, I have 25 grade I listed churches. There is hardly a village that does not have a grade I listed church and churches with other statuses. I hope the hon. Member agrees that, without this grant, there are dark days ahead for these communities.