Keir Starmer's attempts to placate big tech have been a disaster, argues crossbench peer Beeban Kidron. Labour came to power promising to tackle Silicon Valley, but from workers' rights to online privacy it has failed at almost every turn.
Democracy broken by wealthy interests
During a recent conversation in the House of Lords, a former senior US government official told Kidron that 'democracy was broken'. When asked why, they pointed to research showing that governments represent the interests of the wealthy, not voters. Nowhere is this more visible than with the tech lobby, which has thwarted attempts to hold the sector accountable while embedding its services into the state and personal lives.
Powerful interests, aided by limitless cash, fund thinktanks, pay for friendly research, and deploy armies of lawyers, consultants, and government relations professionals. They spin a tale that technology is too complicated to regulate easily and too important to refuse. What they want is not a world without regulation, but one where big tech writes the rules.
UK tech policy: lobbying in action
Looking at the past two years of UK tech policy, the results of lobbying are clear. In opposition, Labour was at the forefront of protecting children online, creative copyright, and workers disrupted by technology. It wanted to prevent public data held by the NHS from being treated as a private asset for Silicon Valley. Every one of these positions was changed once in government. Some argue this is 'realpolitik'; others point to big tech influence. One insider recounted that the government was 'swaddled' by lobbying from the very beginning.
What the government has given up is the democratic right to set terms for technology use, and any national control over infrastructure and critical services. Since the start of 2025, the government has signed multiple memorandums of understanding (MOUs) without scrutiny. It has pledged to discount energy costs for datacentres, largely benefiting American multinationals. It has opened tenders for military satellites to a US company for the first time. And it has given access to highly sensitive data, including health and defence, to US companies like Palantir, a controversial firm with a history of citizen surveillance.
The real choice: democratic accountability vs private power
Lobbyists frame the debate as regulation that inhibits innovation versus no regulation for progress. This obscures the real choice: imposing our rules or living under terms of service set by Silicon Valley. If we refuse, big tech reaps benefits while we pay costs. The impact on mental health services, education time, UK businesses, and creative industries all have economic and social costs. We are choosing between democratic accountability and private power.
Soon there will be a new leader of the Labour party and the country. For the incoming leadership, it is essential to reject the swaddling and soft promises of the tech lobby. To be a nation is to govern in one's own interest. To deliver household prosperity, we need control of tech. This means investing in UK-based tech companies, valuing our data as a sovereign asset, and understanding that replacing a worker who pays tax and spends in their community with an AI, whose profit goes largely untaxed to its US owner, is inefficient.
Three commitments for a new deal with big tech
Kidron has spent the past year talking to businesses, tech experts, and those hurt and left behind. She believes without solving this issue, no leader will be truly in control. She proposes three commitments: first, an unequivocal commitment that any tech deployed in the UK will respect the privacy, rights and safety of children. Second, an unequivocal commitment to use the precious data of the BBC, NHS, and UK innovators to benefit the UK. Third, an unequivocal commitment to invest in key UK infrastructure so no US company can exert influence over Britain's defence, security, or government decisions.
These are the minimum terms of engagement for a new deal with big tech.
