Peter Kyle's speech at Labour Conference

Speech by Peter Kyle MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Throughout Britain’s history, when new ideas and inventions are made to work for everyone, the economy grows and people’s lives get better.

Ever since the industrial revolution, that change has been driven by technology.

From horses to cars, cruise ships to passenger jets, the information revolution, enabled by Tim Burners-Lee’s world wide web, and medical science that has made organ transplants, IVF and mNRA vaccines possible.

Wave after wave of scientific, technological and research driven progress.

Each wave posed risks. Each generated fear.

And when governments have got it wrong, too often it has been those with least resilience or wealth that either missed out on opportunities or, at worst, been left behind.

It’s why this is one of the great progressive causes of our times.

Now a new wave of change has arrived.

One with the potential to be the biggest yet.

Computers are on the cusp of becoming infinitely more powerful.

Programs are starting to organise vast amounts of information in recognisably human ways.

The life sciences sector is producing medicines that are personalized.

And clean energy is already starting to power our lives.

Understandably, once again people are worried.

That’s why the interests of working people will be baked into everything the next Labour government does.

Our partnerships with critical sectors and businesses will reflect our progressive values - technology developed to make the whole country better off.

A Keir Starmer led government will seek out, nurture, and harness the power of these great new advances.

We’ll make sure they become opportunities that benefit our country and its workers

Because new technology could strengthen our democracy, if we use it wisely.

The wealth and jobs generated by advancement in scientific and computing power could tackle regional inequality if we make it so.

And the data revolution could help transform our cherished public services and the welfare state after years of Tory decline, to the benefit those in greatest need.

It could reinvent them for generations to come.

Yet none of this will happen by accident.

It will only be possible if there’s a Labour government in place to make it happen.

And for those who think the task is too great: don’t forget, we’ve done it before.

It was Labour who grasped the white heat of technology.

It was Labour who threw open the doors to a university education, making it an option for everyone from every background.

And it will be a Labour government that will harness technologies like Artificial Intelligence and put it to work for everyone from every background, today and into the future.

Our potential has been squandered by thirteen years of Tory government.

Life Sciences are the crown jewel of our science sector, yet pharmaceutical exports have fallen by a quarter since 2015.

The Tory’s boasted about rejoining Horizon after 3 years of uncertainty, having promised access from the day we left the European Union.

Their chaos and instability is bad for innovation and bad for investment.

It is especially bad for the development of new, cutting-edge technologies, that require years of careful research.

Great, transformative breakthroughs need certainty and consistency.

But under the Conservatives, funding for innovation bodies such as UKRI only last three years.

That’s enough to see them through three Tory prime ministers - but not to create the innovations our society and economy needs.

So Labour will create certainty with 10-year R&D budgets.

This would allow relationships with industry to be built, long term partnerships to form and lead to investment in new technology and the infrastructure that underpins it.

We will go further than ever before to make Britain the best place to innovate.

We will end the time-consuming Tory labyrinth that sucks up the time and resource of our innovators.

A Labour government will cut red tape and introduce a system of earned trust in place of repetitive paperwork and endless box ticking.

And we’ll increase the number of University spinouts, accepting the recommendations of our start-up review.

That includes better tracking of spinouts from universities with a dashboard to identify what’s working and where there are barriers.

And we will work with universities to ensure there are a range of options on founder-track agreements helping to boost spinouts and economic growth.

Just think of the possibilities this new world of innovation, technology and scientific progress offers.

It could give every small business owner the same tools as global giants.

It could mean every student having an education tailored to their talents and challenges.

Doctors could spend more time with patients and less filling out forms.

But only if we have a government with the vision and leadership to harness and shape it.

Our country has the talent.

We have universities and research institutes that lead the world.

We have the workforce and unions with the skills and knowledge to deliver.

What’s missing is a government with the vision, energy and determination to deliver.

In Labour with Keir Starmer’s leadership - they will.

Let’s make it happen. Let’s shape the future so it delivers for all.