Statement from Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP
Serving my fellow citizens in a Labour Government has been the privilege of my life.
At both the Department of Work and Pensions and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology I have had the chance to change lives for the better, delivering greater equality and expanding opportunity to build a better future for all.
While being in government is never easy, every day in office has been a reminder of the difference Labour can make when we are in power.
At DWP I launched the Youth Guarantee: a promise that every young person should be earning or learning.
This landmark intervention, ably taken forward by my friend and successor as DWP Secretary of State Pat McFadden, embodies all that a Labour Government should be about: offering young people, regardless of their background, the chance to be part of this country’s future based on the belief that talent is everywhere but too often opportunity is not.
This same belief underpinned my determination to tackle child poverty and abolish the two child limit. It was an honour to co-chair the Child Poverty Taskforce with my friend and colleague Bridget Phillipson. By removing the two-child limit we removed an injustice, lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.
This is why I came into politics: to give children the best start in life, no matter where they are born or their family background.
My belief that every child should have the chance to thrive and get the childhood they deserve lies at the heart of the landmark ban on social media companies offering their services to under-16s, which I announced last month. I believe this will be one of the lasting achievements of this Labour Government, resetting how children interact with technology and creating a healthier and more fulfilling online world for this generation and generations to come.
As DSIT Secretary I have been proud to stand up to Elon Musk and Grok, ban nudification apps and help make the online world safer for women and girls. Throughout my career I have championed women’s equality, which is why I established the Women in Tech taskforce and launched the Women in Research Charter: to give women a fair shot and make science and tech work for all.
The latest ONS figures show that science and technology are the key drivers of economic growth in this country. It is essential that we maintain this momentum in order to create the jobs and businesses of the future and allow all parts of the country to thrive.
Working with the UK’s world leading scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs gives me great hope for our country’s future. Their ingenuity and talent are proof that this country’s best days lie ahead of us and not, as some opposition parties want people to believe, behind us.
If we are to build a modern Britain for a modern age we must do everything we can to support and nurture our world-leading tech sector.
AI is the most powerful technology of our lifetimes and we need greater leverage and sovereign control to make AI work for Britain and the British people. That is why, as Secretary of State I made a decisive shift towards backing more British AI companies. This included launching Sovereign AI, a unique initiative that matches the speed of venture with the power of the state, and a £1.1billion AI hardware plan to ensure that British companies and British people are at the heart of the AI revolution.
These are the foundations on which we secure our future prosperity and national security, but there is much more still to do. As I said in my RUSI speech earlier this year, the choice facing our country isn’t whether we have AI or not, but whether we shape it to our advantage or are left at its mercy and whim. This is a challenge I know the new Government will rise to in the coming weeks and months.
I am very grateful to Keir Starmer for giving me the opportunity to serve in Government and I thank him for his leadership. None of the achievements I have helped deliver would have been possible without the support of my brilliant ministerial teams, officials and special advisers at both DWP and DSIT.
I am also grateful for the support I have had from my Cabinet colleagues, parliamentary private secretaries and many Labour MPs. Together we have improved lives, righted injustices, delivered opportunity and laid the ground for a country that can once again stand tall in the world.
I wish whoever takes on the science and technology portfolio the very best for the future. She or he is fortunate to be overseeing, what is to my mind, the most exciting and transformative brief in government. They will do so under the leadership of our new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who I know will take this country from strength to strength. I stand ready to support him in any way I can.
I will continue to serve the people of Leicester West as their MP and work to ensure this Labour government delivers the change it promised at the general election, for my constituents and people across the country.