Will Starmer take Blair's one piece of advice and focus on tech?

Lack of Manifesto detail is not an insurmountable problem

The new government must have a deep understanding of technology to secure the UK's global future.

"You've gotta focus on this technology revolution. It's not an afterthought. It's the single biggest thing that is happening in the world today, of a real world nature that is going to change anything. This revolution is going to change everything about our society, our economy, the way we live."

This was former Prime Minister Tony Blair's single piece of advice to Keir Starmer's new government in a recent podcast. Whether you agree with everything Blair has done or said, it's hard not to rally behind this piece of advice to Starmer and his new Cabinet, including the Secretary of State for Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle.

As Shadow Secretary of State, Kyle's Labour Party team had a digital event planned on 3rd June where they would have delivered a Labour digital strategy, and possibly, a rumoured sixth Mission. This event was, of course, cancelled as a consequence of the snap election, leaving the tech sector with little to hold onto in Labour's digital policy.

While Kyle has been critical of the Conservatives being behind the curve on social media, and promised that Labour will be different, what does the party's Manifesto tell us about where Labour are going?

Early days

Unsurprisingly perhaps, the Labour Manifesto did not dive deeply into Labour's tech positions or plans. We see planning restrictions on datacentres will be eased (Deputy PM Angela Rayner is already reviewing two blocked datacentre plans); that we will have a Data Library - whatever form that takes, it will hopefully interoperate with EU's GaiaX; that AI will have some top level regulation; and that there will be a new Office of Regulatory Innovation to speed up the process of regulation and hold the regulators accountable.

The tech sector currently has little to hold onto in Labour's digital policy as the work of this government begins. But that isn't necessarily an insurmountable problem.

The landslide victory has removed many of the MPs with most experience from the Conservative party, with a few exceptions like George Foreman having held their seats. The Labour Party's Labour Digital group identified 40 prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs) pre-election who were experienced in the tech sector, three quarters of whom have been elected.

A deep dive into these new MPs' experience shows that only a handful have worked in tech companies, and of that group even fewer have been in technical roles, like Mid Cheshire's new MP Andrew Glamorgan, who has worked as a head of software, and returning Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah, who began her career as an engineer. Unsurprisingly, the majority have worked in policy for industry organisations or at the soft end of tech rather than in deep tech.

How the UK can lead

To make informed decisions and drive the right tech sector skills, scaling and success, this new government, like our public sector colleagues, will need ongoing support. They need support in building understanding on complex and sometimes nuanced issues. Without that deep understanding we will see bad policy, which will lead to bad regulation.

We are already seeing "bad" legislation from the EU (the AI Act has been criticised by the tech sector - Ed.). The UK currently has an advantage and the opportunity to make agile, principles-based legislation that can support a future-looking position. Doing so would enable the country to grow its digital economy and become a global tech leader. That won't take the wave of a magic Labour wand, but hard graft. If Labour fails to do this fast, it will have a profound impact on the UK's long term future.

Many are already asking who the new government should listen to. Sunak was criticised, probably rightly, for listening too much to the Bay Area's ‘tech bros'. Their interest in the UK as a competitive force in deep tech is likely limited, although they have been quick to snap up the UK's innovation and start-ups. The bets are off as to when we see the Sunak Institute formed in Stanford or Berkeley.

More important than what has happened in the past is to look at what is to be done now for the UK, and the actions to be taken in the short term for an impact in the long term. The voices that are heard must be broad, balanced, and must represent not only policy lobbyists but civil society and the small players and creators of deep tech.

The UK has a particular opportunity in open source technology, where our ecosystem is a world leader. For the country to leverage its leadership in openness, the new government must listen and understand the potential of open data in its library, the reduction in datacentre emissions offered by open source, and the potential of our leading open source software community to help build a deep understanding of the meaning and impact of each aspect of opening AI.

Sunak's campaigning was correct in as much as this is a moment in tech history that requires the government to make the right decisions around tech; that these decisions must be made in short order; and that these decisions will have a very long term impact. Blair's message makes clear he agrees. These big, difficult decisions require a real and deep understanding of the last 30 years of our digital history, how we got to the position we are in today as well as understanding the detail of the present and the nuances of the possible future.

For political leaders to understand this detail, to enable them to work out what the right policies are, they must access the opportunities and mitigate the risks. But what does that really mean? Starmer has recognised in his first couple of days the principles of country over party and that the hard work starts now. For the future of the UK, that hard work must start with the deep digital understanding that will underlie every aspect of the UK's future. If we do not then our ambitions will be in limbo for generations to come.

Amanda Brock is CEO of OpenUK.