Science should be for everyone

5 min read2 hr

This is a period of huge change in science and technology, from AI to breakthrough treatments, creating massive opportunities to transform the lives of ordinary working people for the better.

The new Labour Government was elected in July on a platform of change which leaned heavily on science, innovation and technology to the tackle the challenges the country faces- economic growth, climate change and an NHS fit for the future – whilst maintaining the fiscal rules. Up and down the country innovation is creating new jobs, new treatments and new ways to connect and understand each other.

But that’s not how my constituents see it. Too often, they are at best irritated by technology, at worst afraid of it. As for science, whilst there is huge respect for scientists and their work, there is also growing distrust and longstanding belief that science is something that happens ‘over there’ on a university campus or in a lab, by men in white coats for the ultimate benefit of billionaires.

That needs to change. The reason I stood for Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, and the reason I am so pleased to be elected, is that I believe politicians can and must take a leading role in bringing about that change.

Often MPs, like many in the media and just about everyone with a non-tech background, are reluctant to talk about techie things. We don’t like to look stupid. We don’t want to get the ‘science’ wrong. Who does? But the fact is that if there is one thing MPs are good at, its talking. You could call it MP’s superpower. We just don’t apply it enough to science, innovation and technology. If we aren’t going to embrace science how on earth can we expect our constituents to do so?

And this is where the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee comes in. Its job is literally to talk science to power, holding the Government to account on policy delivery. It also means ensuring these policies are in the public interest. The Committee has a cross-departmental remit to assess how all Government decisions are based on appropriate scientific evidence, but the main focus of our work is the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Recently, the new Government moved several organisations managing data and digital services into DSIT – bringing data, digital and AI policy under the committee’s remit. This means we can ask some of the key questions of our age: What ethical framework should govern our digital world? How can, and should, we best embrace the possibilities of AI? How well equipped is the state to fulfil the possibilities of digital government?

Science and engineering have been a huge part of my life since I was a child – I decided I wanted to be a scientist when I was nine. I was told that wasn’t possible because ‘girls can’t do maths’. I remember going to my maths teacher with this distressing playground intelligence - thank God he laughed and told me maths was no more than common sense, like one plus one equals two and did I think girls had common sense?

Thanks to him, I entered Parliament in 2010 as the only Chartered Engineer in the House and went on to shadow science ministers for eleven years in opposition. Before Parliament, I oversaw our nation's digital transformation as Head of Technology at Ofcom, after spending 17 years working all over the world in the private sector, designing and building telecom systems to drive growth.

In 2022, research found that just 8% of 14-to-18-year-olds in the UK can think of a scientist that looks like them and only 12% of young people think scientists represent their views and values

The new intake of MPs also brings huge amounts of knowledge and enthusiasm on science and technology. We have MPs who have run their own cyber security and biotech companies, been responsible for innovation in the health trusts and designed defence systems. They are all keen to celebrate what science, innovation and technology bring to our constituents. Whether it’s Wales’ semiconductor cluster, Manchester’s Graphene Institute or space technology in Durham, world-leading scientific research is happening all around us. In my own constituency, Iksuda produces amazing Antibody-drug conjugates, which are drugs designed to target cancerous cells whilst sparing healthy ones.

Despite this innovation being everywhere, it is not in many people’s minds. In 2022, research found that just 8% of 14-to-18-year-olds in the UK can think of a scientist that looks like them and only 12% of young people think scientists represent their views and values.

Science should be for everyone. From climate change to infrastructure and global health, scientists and engineers will be at the forefront of the biggest global challenges for decades to come. We need to inspire and connect British people of all ages and backgrounds to the opportunities these challenges represent. By doing this, we can change the sense of despair in so many towns and cities across our country where jobs have disappeared due to deindustrialisation, automation, centralisation and globalisation.

In the last election, as I knocked on doors with the Labour message of change it was clear many have lost faith in politician’s ability to make change happen. I believe that we can make change: we can bring the jobs and wealth that science, innovation and technology generate to every corner of the country. We need our constituents to believe that too. We must show that politics will bring the benefits of science, innovation and technology to their very door.

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