Speeches by Kendall.

“The hon. Gentleman may not have heard me earlier, but I said that it will be designed and built in-house.”

“Tackling child poverty is also a priority, as the hon. Lady will see when we produce our strategy.”

“I think there is a lot of misinformation out there about this proposal. It is not about surveillance; it is not about a police state—the police will not be able to stop people and require them to show their digital ID. In many other countries where such a scheme has been used, it has been about making the Government an…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her question. We also need to look at the potential benefits of this policy in savings from cracking down on fraud and making services more effective and efficient. Clearly, the eventual cost will depend on the design and build of the system, which is what we are consulting on. I am sure that…”

“There will not be surveillance, and we are not proposing that it will be mandatory to access all different types of services. That is just a wrong characterisation of what we are proposing.”

“We absolutely will not. If the hon. Gentleman would like to write to me with more detail about areas and groups of people in his constituency who are digitality excluded, I will make a commitment to doing everything possible to tackle that problem.”

“I will try to keep this brief, Madam Deputy Speaker. The hon. Lady raises a number of different issues that I mentioned in my statement. On digital exclusion, we have a digital inclusion action plan and will be spending £9.5 million in local areas to help people who are currently excluded to get online. We will be publ…”

“I absolutely agree, and that is why I am determined to do everything necessary to remove illegal content and to protect children from online harms. Many years ago, when I was a member of the Science and Technology Committee, as part of a report we were doing, I spoke to children in secondary and primary schools in my c…”

“Protecting children from harmful content online is a top priority for this Government and for me personally, because it is a deeply concerning issue for parents and children across the country. Since implementing the Online Safety Act this summer, 6,000 sites have taken action to stop children seeing harmful content on…”

“Yes. If Reform Members are so concerned about the Online Safety Act, why are they not here in the Chamber asking me questions about it? Reform wants to scrap the Act, which would mean ripping up protections that crack down on revenge porn, violent misogynistic content, and posts encouraging self-harm or suicide. I comm…”

“If the hon. Gentleman sends us the details, we will make that issue a top priority. As we build the country of the future through jobs, growth and transforming public services, we cannot deliver for everybody in every part of the country unless they have the broadband coverage they need. Three of the seven new contract…”

“I am always driven by the evidence. We need to see how the Act is being implemented and whether and how it works, and that is the absolute priority for me. I will look at any evidence that hon. Members provide, but the key thing for me is that we are taking action. We have one of the strongest protections anywhere in t…”

“I am glad that the hon. Lady has mentioned that today is World Suicide Prevention Day. Anyone who has experienced it in relation to their family or friends, or in their constituency, knows how devastating it can be. The hon. Lady raises an important issue. From my constituency experience, children and young people want…”

“In the few days that I have been in post, a number of MPs and other organisations have already raised this issue with me. I will always be driven by evidence. I want to protect people’s rights to privacy, but I want to make sure that nothing is done that will put people at risk. If the hon. Member has evidence and want…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his passion about this issue. He should come in and talk to Ministers, officials and Building Digital UK to set out what he thinks needs to happen, because we are only going to get this right if we work with people on the ground. The Western Isles contract will provide cover for 65,000 new pr…”

“I have a feeling that will be one of the gentler questions that my hon. Friend asks me over the coming months. I am a passionate public service reformer and I believe there is huge potential for technology and AI to deliver better outcomes for the people who use services and better value for taxpayers’ money. I will de…”

“The hon. Gentleman raises a really important point. My own constituency is dominated by small businesses, and one issue that they always raise is that we are great at start-ups in this country but we need to do more to help those companies to scale up. I am new in the job and open to ideas, so if the hon. Gentleman and…”

“I am delighted to join the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. This is a crucial area for our country, providing opportunities for jobs and work, and to improve our public services. As Secretary of State, I am getting to work straight away. As I said on Monday, I have strengthened the law to add further …”

“New technology in the workplace can help companies become more productive and efficient. In making workplaces more accessible so that people can get work and stay in work, it is also good for people. We are supporting companies in a number of ways, especially through our industrial strategy, and we have seen great exam…”

“My hon. Friend will know that the UK is a world leader in research and innovation. Over the spending review period, we are delivering £86 billion for research and development—a record amount. UKRI invests more than £300 million a year in transport innovation, and sustainability is a key focus. Projects include work to …”