Anna Gelderd MP: speeches

Speeches

• 14 Jul 2026 · Coastal Communities: Isolation and Hidden Deprivation · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Richard Quigley) for securing this debate. A report by Plymouth Marjon University used the phrase “pretty poverty” to describe places such as mine in South East Cornwall, where visitors see our coastline, fishing villages and tourist economy, but behind the curtain are local families facing low wages, insecure and seasonal work and a shortage of affordable homes. Poor transport links, patchy digital connectivity and challenges in accessing healthcare, education and employment are part of the challenge. The realities of living in rural and coastal communities cannot be measured by populations, because the distances, travel times and cost of service delivery really matter. They impact whether someone can actually get to an appointment, their college or a job interview. We need more bus provision to enable them to do so. Those realities should be reflected much more consistently in funding decisions. Tolled crossings, such as the Tamar crossings, which many of my constituents rely on every day, adding yet another cost. High levels of second homes and short-term holiday lets put additional pressure on the local housing market, reducing the supply of homes for local people and often forcing them to move away the communities where their support networks are based. The social infrastructure in South East Cornwall, made up of pubs, social clubs and other places, is thriving, but these places are under pressure, and we must do more to support them. Property values in Cornwall are driven up by homes that local people could never realistically afford, which impacts our experience. Tourism is vital to our economy, but those visitors cause significant additional pressures; young people often feel they have to leave home to find opportunities. I want Cornwall to become not only one of the UK’s leading tourist destinations, but a place where young people can build careers in digital industries, defence, clean energy and maritime tech, as well as other advanced manufacturing. We have so much potential; we have led the country before and we will do so again. With greater support from the Government, we can face these challenges head on, because Cornwall certainly does not lack ambition.

• 8 Jul 2026 · Societal Impact of AI: Government Policy · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Poole (Neil Duncan-Jordan) for securing this crucial debate. The quality of the contributions reflects how timely this conversation is. Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant future challenge; it is here, shaping our economy, public services and daily lives. The challenge is how we ensure that these changes work for people, strengthen our communities and deliver benefits that are shared across the country and internationally. The UK has an opportunity to lead by embracing innovation and making sure that the right safeguards are in place to protect our communities, build confidence and ensure that the benefits are shared. It is vital that we recognise how we can share in that new economy, and that we act now to safeguard public value and wealth generation. Every day, through our public services, our NHS, our transport network and countless interactions with the British public, we generate data that has enormous value. AI is the technology that unlocks that value, but the resource it is built on is our human data, which belongs to us all. As I outlined in a recent article, we must learn the lessons from the past on this. In the past century, Norway decided to turn the national resource of fossil fuels in the North sea—the original driver of modern industrial development—into lasting public wealth. In the UK, we did not invest the revenues from North sea oil; we spent it to cover day to day costs. We must not make that same mistake twice. Rather than allowing the value created by AI from public data to flow permanently into a few private hands, we must ensure that British public services share in the wealth generated from that value—from the national assets we have created—by creating a national data wealth fund. The Government have already recognised the strategic importance of data through the national data library and the AI opportunities action plan. Those are welcome steps forward, but we must do more to build the institutions that capture this value before it slips through our hands. I fully agree with the comments made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) about the need for real sovereign AI capabilities and urgent collaboration with our European allies. Keeping our communities safe and defending our democracy are essential parts of the AI challenge. I recently met the Minister for AI and Online Safety to discuss the growing impact of AI on children and young people particularly. We need to ensure there are strong safeguards around AI-generated content. If we cannot trust what is shown to us online, and if we cannot distinguish between what is real and what has been artificially created, the consequences can reach far beyond individual users and can undermine trust in our democratic institutions themselves. That brings me to accountability. Companies with influence over what millions of people see should be held accountable and made responsible. Social media is not a village noticeboard. It is driven by algorithms that control what is recommended and amplified to millions of people every day. Technology companies act as editors: they decide what people see, what spreads, what is promoted and what disappears. AI will increasingly determine the information that people consume not only through social media, but through search engines, digital assistants and the services people use every day. That is why transparency, accountability and effective regulation are crucial. As AI use grows, so too does the demand for further infrastructure, as I have outlined before. Data centres will become increasingly important to Britain’s economy. As the Member for South East Cornwall, I know that nature is not a blocker to growth. With careful planning, meaningful engagement and strong environmental protections, we can protect the landscapes that make Cornwall special while creating skilled jobs, attracting investment and ensuring that local communities benefit from a new technology, which, concentrated in companies in London as it is, can often feel very far from South East Cornwall. The economic revolution is happening whether we welcome it or not, but our responsibility is to ensure that we are ready to unlock the opportunities, that we protect children and vulnerable people, and that we hold the powerful platforms to account. I am ready to ensure that the remarkable technology being developed today strengthens my community and does not leave them behind.