Topical Questions

Science, Innovation and Technology – in the House of Commons at on 18 March 2026.

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Photo of Kirith Entwistle Kirith Entwistle Labour, Bolton North East

If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

Photo of Liz Kendall Liz Kendall The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

No woman or child should live in fear of having their image sexually manipulated by technology. That is why in the past six months we have made intimate image abuse and cyber-flashing priority offences under the Online Safety Act 2023; criminalised the creation of non-consensual sexual deepfakes and mandated that those images are taken down within 48 hours; introduced an offence banning AI nudification apps; and stood up to Grok and X. We know that technology moves fast and, as a Government, we have to keep up. Where we need to go further, we will.

Photo of Kirith Entwistle Kirith Entwistle Labour, Bolton North East

Although I am proud of the steps that our Government have taken to advance online safety, we are merely playing catch-up. What more are the Government doing to ensure that we keep pace with the reality facing women and girls and how will they address emerging technologies such as AI smart glasses, which are operating without scrutiny?

Photo of Liz Kendall Liz Kendall The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

One of my reflections in this job is that it took eight years for the Online Safety Act 2023 to come in, and it is still to be fully implemented. We need to move faster. MPs discuss a Finance Bill every year, and technology moves incredibly fast, so I am always prepared to take further action when it is needed.

Photo of Peter Fortune Peter Fortune Conservative, Bromley and Biggin Hill

I am asking this question on behalf of my hon. Friend Julia Lopez, the Shadow Secretary of State, who cannot be here today, but wants the House to know how important this issue is to her. The lobular moon shot project is a plan to fund critical research into lobular breast cancer. It is a disease often missed by screening and with no targeted treatment. A total of 463 Members of this House, including the Leader of the Opposition, support this plan. The Health Secretary says that there is no political disagreement on this, yet nothing has materially happened. His Department now says that it is for DSIT and UK Research and Innovation to comment on budget allocations and spending research priorities. I ask the Secretary of State this: is the moon shot project a research priority for her, as it is for 463 of her parliamentary colleagues?

Photo of Liz Kendall Liz Kendall The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

Anything that deeply affects the lives of thousands of people is a priority for me. I am more than happy to work with the hon. Gentleman and others to reach a resolution here. My understanding is that we need to get right the quality of bids, but I would of course be happy to meet to discuss this further.

Photo of Peter Fortune Peter Fortune Conservative, Bromley and Biggin Hill

I thank the Secretary of State for that response. She should know that, on 22 April, vigils will be held across Westminster for the 22 women diagnosed with this insidious disease every day. I thank her for that commitment to work with the Health Secretary between now and then so that we can highlight this issue. Will she agree to come back to the House and update us on the comments and discussions that she has had with the Secretary of State for Health?

Photo of Liz Kendall Liz Kendall The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

Yes, because I always believe in action, not just words.

Photo of Gordon McKee Gordon McKee Labour, Glasgow South

Britain has a world-leading creative sector and an AI economy second only to the US and China. Will the Secretary of State tell me how she is promoting and protecting both industries?

Photo of Liz Kendall Liz Kendall The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

This Government are determined to protect the UK’s position as a world-leading creative powerhouse and unlock the extraordinary potential of AI to grow the economy and improve British lives. Today, we published a report and impact assessment, fulfilling the commitments made in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. We have listened to the views on our initial consultation and confirmed that the Government no longer have a preferred option. We have also set out where we will do more work with our creative and AI sectors, including on digital replicas, labelling AI-generated content, creator control and transparency and support for our brilliant small and independent creatives. Every country is grappling with this issue and we are determined to get this right, so that both these vital sectors can continue to flourish, thrive and lead the world.

Photo of Edward Leigh Edward Leigh Father of the House of Commons

Will the Secretary of State commend the new nuclear fusion site at West Burton, just two miles from the town of Gainsborough, which, potentially, will unleash unlimited green energy as well as hundreds of millions of pounds of investment and thousands of jobs? Will she confirm that, when it comes to science and innovation, this country is not broken, but is leading the world?

Photo of Kanishka Narayan Kanishka Narayan Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

First, may I affirm the importance of the project that the right hon. Gentleman is talking about? The Government are backing the future of nuclear fusion across the country, and this site in particular has a huge contribution to make. Construction will be on its way by the end of the decade, with research and development tests before that. At the heart of it, we will be backing the use of AI to further our clean energy goals in fusion and beyond.

Photo of Graeme Downie Graeme Downie Labour, Dunfermline and Dollar

Last week I met pupils from Pittencrieff primary school, Dollar academy and Queen Anne high school in my Constituency to talk about how to keep them safe online. They were very much in favour of some restrictions to make sure that they were safe on social media but were very cautious of age-based bans. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the consultation coming forward is reflective of what young people say and that it fits their daily lives?

Photo of Liz Kendall Liz Kendall The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

Yes. We have already had more than 25,000 responses to our consultation, including 1,700 from children and young people. If my hon. Friend or any other hon. Member wants to send in the views of their constituents, including of young people, I will personally read them.

shadow

The shadow cabinet is the name given to the group of senior members from the chief opposition party who would form the cabinet if they were to come to power after a General Election. Each member of the shadow cabinet is allocated responsibility for `shadowing' the work of one of the members of the real cabinet.

The Party Leader assigns specific portfolios according to the ability, seniority and popularity of the shadow cabinet's members.

http://www.bbc.co.uk

Minister

Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.

Leader of the Opposition

The "Leader of the Opposition" is head of "Her Majesty's Official Opposition". This position is taken by the Leader of the party with the 2nd largest number of MPs in the Commons.

Secretary of State

Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

Father of the House

The title Father of the House is given to the MP with the longest unbroken service in the House of Commons.

The most important duty of the Father of the House is to preside over the election of a new speaker should that office be vacant at the beginning of a Parliament.

A minister is never considered the Father of the House, even if that minister is more senior than any other MP.

constituency

In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent