Speeches by Baldwin.

“Are any of your members planning to do that now that the regulator is looking at innovation in this area?”

“If I may very quickly, Chair, a question for Jana and your members. We have heard in the past from policymakers about their concerns of the quantum apocalypse when quantum computing is used to unencrypt everything and causes a massive systemic risk to the financial system. Do your members believe that artificial intell…”

“This question is for Ms Mackintosh. This Committee has always thought that our constituents struggle to get financial advice—and I put the emphasis on advice—without paying quite a high price for a full personalised piece of work. Probably over 90% of our constituents have to rely on guidance. Do your members see a sco…”

“Anything to add, Mr Luther?”

“We should not have to worry about it at all, then?”

“Can anyone else elaborate on anything they have heard of in this area where artificial intelligence actually helps our constituents make wiser financial decisions?”

“I am going to try again, because although I appreciate that the Security Minister has to be very careful about specific aspects of this case, the House and the country need to know whether the Iranian nationals came into the UK illegally or on a legal migration route.”

“I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement. This deal marks a landmark moment for the UK and its global trading relationships because it is the largest trade deal secured by this country. I was therefore shocked that the Minister did not acknowledge that progression of the deal was possible only thanks to …”

“The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill, which is about to start its Committee stage in the House, may sound a little dry, but it would give the Secretary of State unfettered power to sign up to dynamic alignment with the European Union at the 19th summit. Given that voters are going to the polls today, will the Mini…”

“It is good to hear that the trade negotiations with India, which began when we were in government, are progressing well. There must surely now be an opportunity to reopen talks with Canada, so it can buy more wonderful cheese from the UK. With the tariff clock ticking, I am sure the Secretary of State recognises that t…”

“The Government are far from supporting small businesses to export. Businesses of every size, up and down the country, are failing at a rate not seen since the 2008 financial crash, when Labour was last in power. Confidence is slumping, family businesses are closing, millionaires are fleeing the country—and that is befo…”

“In the last Parliament, we reported on crypto. We were concerned that potentially bringing firms into the regulatory perimeter might create a halo effect for some of the cryptocurrencies. Do you share that concern, Mr Smart?”

“If I may, Chair, is the disclaimer “not intended to be, or the subject of” an investment opportunity—would that be enough in your view to exonerate someone in the UK if they issued such a meme coin?”

“On meme coins, there has been a huge amount of use of finfluencing for purchasing meme coins. Do you see that kind of behaviour as being outside your rules and therefore non-compliant and something that should be tackled by the social media platforms?”

“In your last Financial Lives survey, I think you said that 7 million people across the UK had bought some form of cryptocurrency. The Committee found that quite a startling number. We heard yesterday that the FCA is now going to be given responsibility for bringing a lot of the cryptocurrency firms into the regulatory …”

“If someone in this country were to issue a meme coin and pump it heavily across social media, would you try to go after them and enforce that?”

“I take it you don’t own any, Mr Smart. Do you own any, Ms Castledine?”

“On the day he was inaugurated, Donald Trump issued something called $Trump, a meme coin, on Truth Social, that led to a market cap in multibillions, and there have subsequently been quite a lot of losses off the back of that. The First Lady issued a meme coin—$Melania. That was, again, heavily promoted on Truth Social.…”

“A lot of your guidance speaks about cryptoassets being an asset class. Do you see them as an asset class, or more of a means of exchange?”

“You say, “If it was criminal”, so it is not the fact that it is a meme coin that would be criminal. How would you see it?”