Topical Questions

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

No woman or child should live in fear of having their image sexually manipulated by technology. That is why in the past six months we have made intimate image abuse and cyber flashing priority offences under the Online Safety Act 2023; criminalised the creation of non consensual sexual deepfakes and mandated that those images are taken down within 48 hours; introduced an offence banning AI nudification apps; and stood up to Grok and X. We know that technology moves fast and, as a Government, we have to keep up. Where we need to go further, we will.

Although I am proud of the steps that our Government have taken to advance online safety, we are merely playing catch up. What more are the Government doing to ensure that we keep pace with the reality facing women and girls and how will they address emerging technologies such as AI smart glasses, which are operating without scrutiny?

One of my reflections in this job is that it took eight years for the Online Safety Act 2023 to come in, and it is still to be fully implemented. We need to move faster. MPs discuss a Finance Bill every year, and technology moves incredibly fast, so I am always prepared to take further action when it is needed.

I call the shadow Minister.

I am asking this question on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Hornchurch and Upminster (Julia Lopez), the shadow Secretary of State, who cannot be here today, but wants the House to know how important this issue is to her. The lobular moon shot project is a plan to fund critical research into lobular breast cancer. It is a disease often missed by screening and with no targeted treatment. A total of 463 Members of this House, including the Leader of the Opposition, support this plan. The Health Secretary says that there is no political disagreement on this, yet nothing has materially happened. His Department now says that it is for DSIT and UK Research and Innovation to comment on budget allocations and spending research priorities. I ask the Secretary of State this: is the moon shot project a research priority for her, as it is for 463 of her parliamentary colleagues?

Anything that deeply affects the lives of thousands of people is a priority for me. I am more than happy to work with the hon. Gentleman and others to reach a resolution here. My understanding is that we need to get right the quality of bids, but I would of course be happy to meet to discuss this further.

I thank the Secretary of State for that response. She should know that, on 22 April, vigils will be held across Westminster for the 22 women diagnosed with this insidious disease every day. I thank her for that commitment to work with the Health Secretary between now and then so that we can highlight this issue. Will she agree to come back to the House and update us on the comments and discussions that she has had with the Secretary of State for Health?

Yes, because I always believe in action, not just words.

T2. Britain has a world leading creative sector and an AI economy second only to the US and China. Will the Secretary of State tell me how she is promoting and protecting both industries?

This Government are determined to protect the UK’s position as a world leading creative powerhouse and unlock the extraordinary potential of AI to grow the economy and improve British lives. Today, we published a report and impact assessment, fulfilling the commitments made in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. We have listened to the views on our initial consultation and confirmed that the Government no longer have a preferred option. We have also set out where we will do more work with our creative and AI sectors, including on digital replicas, labelling AI generated content, creator control and transparency and support for our brilliant small and independent creatives. Every country is grappling with this issue and we are determined to get this right, so that both these vital sectors can continue to flourish, thrive and lead the world.

I call the Father of the House.

T3. Will the Secretary of State commend the new nuclear fusion site at West Burton, just two miles from the town of Gainsborough, which, potentially, will unleash unlimited green energy as well as hundreds of millions of pounds of investment and thousands of jobs? Will she confirm that, when it comes to science and innovation, this country is not broken, but is leading the world?

First, may I affirm the importance of the project that the right hon. Gentleman is talking about? The Government are backing the future of nuclear fusion across the country, and this site in particular has a huge contribution to make. Construction will be on its way by the end of the decade, with research and development tests before that. At the heart of it, we will be backing the use of AI to further our clean energy goals in fusion and beyond.

T6. Last week I met pupils from Pittencrieff primary school, Dollar academy and Queen Anne high school in my constituency to talk about how to keep them safe online. They were very much in favour of some restrictions to make sure that they were safe on social media but were very cautious of age based bans. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the consultation coming forward is reflective of what young people say and that it fits their daily lives?

Yes. We have already had more than 25,000 responses to our consultation, including 1,700 from children and young people. If my hon. Friend or any other hon. Member wants to send in the views of their constituents, including of young people, I will personally read them.