Speeches by Aldridge.

“We have heard different things from politicians, civil servants and business about the technology prosperity deal. Is the tech prosperity deal operational, as you see it? Could you give us an update on where we are with it?”

“This is something that has excited and captured the attention of lots of young people in Weston-super-Mare and, I imagine, across the country. What conditions, in your view, must the UK impose on any youth experience scheme that it agrees with the EU?”

“I do not know where we go from here. What tangible things can we do to move it forward? Is there anything we can do? It feels almost like a land grab of future industry.”

“I think you have covered most of it within that question. The only thing I would maybe probe a bit more is whether there is any policy substance that is more useful than any of the others in some of the UK-US agreements and which we could exploit or we could encourage the Government to work harder on.”

“Yes, you were nodding.”

“We could put that together.”

“That has been suspended now, I suppose.”

“We have beautiful clarity; I love it.”

“Scott, I have a question relating to British standards and what changes the US is looking for. Could you give a bit more detail on what the impact could be for the UK? I feel like standards have a bit of a PR problem and people do not take them as seriously as they should. It would be really helpful if you could give s…”

“The difference we have now is between the political, the practical and the policy. This has opened up fissures that we did not contemplate before. It is about how we, as elected officials, have the confidence to go back to our colleagues and constituents. It is a work in progress and we all have work to do, but maybe i…”

“This Committee’s report on economic security pointed to a rapidly increasing level of private sector ownership of public risk. That was a powerful concept that I probably spend too much time thinking about, but it reminds me of how many of my constituents, if I talk to them about anything to do with artificial intellig…”

“Last November, I read the Tony Blair Institute’s report on UK quantum strategy, which has the UK third globally in academic research in quantum and second highest in terms of venture capital investment. There are huge reasons to be very positive and excited about the UK’s quantum future, but “the country risks failing …”

“When it comes to the US, there is an important distinction between corporate investment and national strategy, but the Council of Economic Advisers’ report on “Artificial Intelligence and the Great Divergence” has bugged me since I saw it. It outlines a far more competitive than collaborative future for American artifi…”

“I just want to turn to the tech prosperity deal, which was separate from the investments that were announced during the state visit. I know that BritishAmerican Business has raised concerns that there is a lack of detail and that is potentially impeding business planning. There is concern around accountability within i…”

“Personally, I feel a bit frustrated by it. Is there anything of substance in there that we can hang anything off of? It feels like there is a lot of noise and very little substance. Maybe I am wrong; I am just trying to look for a silver lining. What is your perspective?”

“We are bookended, in that we missed the boat on proprietary sovereign AI. That is where politicians are mistaken with the idea that we can retake it because we have quantum coming up.”

“That is fascinating. Thank you. I really appreciate that. Would you say that the UK Government are doing well in terms of supporting the quantum strategy?”

“To follow up on that point first, you mentioned looking at specific products. In my constituency of Weston-super-Mare, drivers are currently paying 9p more per litre for petrol than they are just 30 minutes up the road in Bristol. The Government launched the transparency tool yesterday, and I am interested in the panel…”

“Does anybody else have any views on that?”

“No, it is fine, I got the stuff I wanted on the petrol issue. As constituency MPs, the thing that is front and centre of many of our minds is, what are the main challenges being faced by families and individuals on low incomes? We talk about the poverty premium, but how can the that be reduced? What other levers should…”