Speeches by Aldridge.

“Absolutely. All the officials we worked with were fantastic. The UK-India tech security initiative is the right framework at the right moment. It covers the technologies that will define this country and it brings together Government, industry and academia. It has the backing of both Prime Ministers and cross-party sup…”

“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 ou…”

“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 Indi…”

“I thank my hon. Friend, who accompanied me to India. It was a phenomenally insightful visit. The human connection is not incidental to this debate; it is the very foundation of it. I use this opportunity to give a special shout-out to people such as Akhilesh Madhav and his family, who chose Weston to work in our NHS, t…”

“So there is a potential for the increase in profits to be fed back into consumers? I am trying to translate that into something that our constituents might understand.”

“There is a question about capital as well. Is the UK thinking seriously enough about its capital? Can we afford to do what we need to do? Is there enough money on the table?”

“Thanks, everybody, for being here. You have talked a bit about the EVs, battery storage and renewable energy infrastructure that are prioritising some of this. Emerging technologies, such as semiconductors, AI hardware and quantum systems, are also coming online and will be increasing the demand for specialist material…”

“Which countries are making the most progress in diversifying their critical minerals supply?”

“That is fascinating. Thank you.”

“We are talking about the money situation. The Government are talking very differently—[Interruption.]”

“Thank you very much for everything you are saying. I love these sessions because you get to raise your eyes and look at the bigger picture and the global picture. It is really helpful because sometimes we just perceive the global threats and we forget that we have some game. There are weaknesses across the piece as wel…”

“That is really helpful. In our session last week on artificial intelligence, Professor Dame Wendy Hall said that she felt that her academic freedom was being curtailed by the seeming obfuscation of the academic partnership between China and the UK. If we are looking at AI, quantum and life sciences, it feels like there…”

“I am really interested in what your members are thinking about this. You have talked a bit, I think positively, about your members’ perception of the Government’s movements around China. You have helpfully explained some of the purpose of Government around identifying security risk. I would be really keen to know wheth…”

“This is National Grid’s fault.”

“We have scratched at something that I want to talk about more, but I know we are out of time.”

“It is not as bad as it was.”

“I am really encouraged by the idea that we do not have to be talking about investment in these astronomic terms to change the dial. The £500 million investment for the sovereign AI fund could potentially have a significant impact. I am hopeful of that.”

“What would we need to do? What would that fund need to do for it to be impactful?”

“Albeit pre Brexit, when Demis Hassabis sold DeepMind to Google, a big selling point of keeping it in London was proximity to European talent. How do we take advantage of some of the options that we have now with a potentially uncertain US environment? You alluded to some people potentially wanting to be here. What do t…”

“When we were in India with the Committee, the vibe was very different. We have got the vibe a bit wrong.”