Liberal Democrat manifesto: What's in it for tech?

The industry gets short shrift in a manifesto for the young

The Liberal Democrat manifesto is long on promises but short on solutions.

Ed Davey's party is clearly going into this general election with a plan. Unfortunately, that plan only touches the tech sector by chance.

At the heart of the manifesto is the promise to reverse the worst of Brexit's damage by rejoining the EU's Single Market (and a longer-term pledge to rejoin the EU) - the only major party, if we can still count the Lib Dems that way, to do so.

Based on the EU's previous statements, it's likely that rejoining the Single Market would also mean having to accept freedom of movement for EU citizens wanting to come to the UK.

The party also promises to "work across borders to...tackle common threats such as human trafficking, cybercrime and terrorism" - all part of its design to appeal to voters who want to repair the UK's relationship with Brussels.

Notably though, this is the only real mention of cyber defence anywhere in the manifesto.

Artificial intelligence

What about the words on every technologist's lips at the moment: artificial intelligence?

Here, the Lib Dems are on somewhat firmer ground. They at least have some concrete promises, although only two of them.

First, they plan to create "a clear, workable and well-resourced cross-sectoral regulatory framework" for AI. This framework is intended to promote innovation; create certainty for users, developers and investors; and establish transparency and accountability for AI systems used in the public sector.

Linked to that latter point, the framework will also "ensure the use of personal data and AI is unbiased, transparent and accurate," while also respecting "the privacy of innocent people."

This is good – nobody wants rogue AI – but represents a big change to the Conservatives' (well-received) light-touch approach.

With how clear the Lib Dems have been about their desire to draw closer to Europe, we expect they'll take inspiration from the AI Act in their own plans.

The party's cross-border goals are also at the centre of their second AI pledge: to negotiate the UK's participation in the Trade and Technology Council with the US and the EU. That would give the country a seat at the table when it comes to building global AI regulation.

But what will be promised to get that seat? It's unclear. It would be nice to think the EU and USA would welcome the UK's participation – the Conservative government has been trying to establish the country as an AI leader, and we have a lot of expertise to offer – but at the end of the day, if they have something we want then they can set the price.

Investment

There is a big focus on the climate running throughout the manifesto. The Lib Dems say they will "make Britain a world leader in the new infrastructure, businesses and technologies needed to tackle climate change."

The separate funding page, which sets out calculations for these plans, gives a figure of £8.4 billion a year to spend on tackling climate change.

It will also spend £1.1 billion a year on NHS technology, including replacing computers and making all NHS IT systems interoperable.

... And everything else

Unfortunately, technology gets short shrift in the rest of the manifesto. There are few mentions of how the Lib Dems will support the industry, aside from some fairly nebulous and wide-ranging promises to support the economy in general.

The party says it will support entrepreneurs and small businesses; champion investment in the North, West and Midlands; and invest in more apprenticeships and new Lifelong Skills Grants.

It also plans to continue participation in Horizon Europe, join the European Innovation Council and aim for "at least" 3% of GDP to be invested in R&D by 2030, rising to 3.5% by 2034.

Taxes

Funding doesn't come for free. Luckily, this is a costed manifesto, and we can dig into the nuts and bolts of the Lib Dems' plans.

The party plans to spend £31.7 billion in 2028-29, slightly offset by about £5 billion in savings from cutting the asylum backlog and slashing public sector consultancy spending.

The money will not come from public taxes like income tax, national insurance or VAT, which nearly every person in the UK pays into. Instead, it will mostly come from corporate taxes.

The big element here for the tech sector is a tripling of the Digital Services Tax on tech giants, from 2% to 6%, expected to raise more than £2 billion.

Also included are a "proper" windfall tax on oil and gas companies' super-profits, backdated to October 2021; reversing cuts to banks' taxes; increasing taxes on water and tobacco companies; and targeting the very wealthy with a new tax on private jet flights and reformed Capital Gains Tax.

In total, the Lib Dems expect to raise about £26.9 billion from tax reforms, roughly balancing their spending commitments when the £5 billion savings are taken into account

Computing says:

With its heavy focus on repairing our relationship with Europe, fixing the NHS and prioritising climate change, this manifesto is undoubtedly targeting younger voters. What a shame, then, that the Lib Dems have missed talking about the technologies, like AI and cyber defence, that will shape their adulthood.