Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to Sir Keir Starmer, has called for a modernisation of Westminster and Whitehall to better govern artificial intelligence (AI). Speaking on BBC’s Question Time, he acknowledged the challenge of speed lawmakers face but insisted that existing tools can be adapted to keep pace with technological advances.
Jones highlighted the recent Crime and Policing Act, which includes a flexible power to amend the Online Safety Act 2023 to address AI-generated illegal content. Critics, including Conservative shadow minister Lord Davies of Gower, have labelled this a “Henry VIII power” with “wide-ranging constitutional implications”. The Act also bans the creation and distribution of nudification tools used to generate deepfake intimate images.
Jones contrasted the UK’s approach with that of the US and EU, stating: “In the United States, you basically allow the harm to happen and then you sue someone… In the European Union, they try to predict the outcome, regulate it… quite badly, and then stop the innovation from happening at all. What we’re really good at in the UK is legislating for outcomes and good regulation.”
Conservative shadow technology secretary Julia Lopez criticised Labour’s record, claiming increased employment and energy costs deter tech companies, and that the government has added 8,000 civil servants. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, in a Substack post, defended the UK’s AI progress, citing investments in datacentres and improvements to public services like the NHS, asserting that Britain is “an AI rule-maker, not a rule-taker”.
