Party’s conference mirrors Harold Wilson’s defining moment at 1963 gathering, says Melanie Smallman
From Sunday, the Labour Party meets in Liverpool for its annual conference. Almost 60 years to the day since Harold Wilson delivered his famous “white heat of technology” speech, many are asking whether current leader Keir Starmer will match the ambition of that era.
Speaking at Labour’s 1963 conference in Scarborough, Wilson described his vision to create a different kind of Britain by harnessing the scientific and technological revolution that was taking place in electronics, computing and biology.
Many have pointed to this speech—and the sense of change that it embodied—as being key to Labour’s success in the 1964 general election, which evicted the Conservatives and made Wilson prime minister.
There are strong parallels today. This year’s conference season could be the last before a general election. And, in the grip of the growing climate emergency and cost of living crisis, Britain seems a country ripe for retooling for the future.
In some ways, Labour’s course on technology and innovation is set. Last year’s conference unveiled the party’s Green Prosperity Plan to make Britain a superpower in clean, cheap energy through unprecedented levels of investment in technologies, skills and industries.
So what of this year and beyond? Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s efforts to make issues such as pollution controls and net zero a dividing line in a culture war have given the opposition an open goal: in a recent poll carried out by Survation for Greenpeace, 71 per cent of voters in marginal seats said that environmental policies would sway their vote.
More importantly, Starmer understands the importance of innovation in addressing the key issues facing the country: growing the economy, tackling twin cost of living and climate crises, and winning the global race to the top.
My prediction for this year’s conference is that Labour will double down on its commitment to clean energy and low-carbon innovation, as part of a package to tackle the cost of living crisis.
Sending signals
For the UK’s science and technology sector, this is about more than the specific policies. The signals sent to industry will influence whether vast sums of private sector funding are invested in the UK or elsewhere.
Beyond the low-carbon transition, I expect the party to also focus on artificial intelligence (AI), both in its promise to transform public services and deliver more for less, and in the challenges of its regulation and governance. This is a tricky tightrope for Labour to walk.
On the one hand, Silicon Valley techno-optimism offers a positive and transformative story about the future. It would be a foolish chancellor who did not want a stake in this huge and growing industry. On the other hand, trade unions are increasingly concerned about the impact of automation on their members’ jobs; the Treasury struggles to collect revenues from digital companies; and the role of these technologies in widening inequality is becoming clearer.
As algorithms begin to shape decisions in all walks of life, and particularly the public services, issues with AI will come up more on the doorstep and in MPs’ inboxes. At the same time, the UK risks getting caught between the EU’s desire for strong regulation on AI, and the US and China’s desire to drive their industries forward.
Finally, the focus on green growth and AI must not overshadow a vital area of UK science. Once the jewel in our crown, the life sciences saw a steep drop in 2022, the life sciences saw a steep drop in the estimated value of inward foreign direct investment, according to a government report published in July. R&D spending by medical charities has also yet to recover to its pre-pandemic level in real terms.
Successive governments have never quite managed to convert the UK’s strength in life sciences into savings for the NHS. But coupling advances in genetics and genomics with AI and computational power has the potential to be transformative, reaching beyond healthcare to how we approach issues such as the impact of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Back to the forefront
After the conference season, Labour will need to think carefully about how to reboot the life sciences sector—not necessarily just with more public funding, but by partnering and developing joint-investment vehicles, and through opportunities to harness NHS data for public value.
Regaining our leading edge in life sciences would place a Labour government truly at the forefront of global innovation in all sectors, positioning the country to maximise the benefits of technologies that promise to be white hot, now and in the decades ahead.
Melanie Smallman is associate professor in science and technology studies at University College London and a member of Labour’s National Policy Forum and its green and digital future commission. She will be speaking at a 12 October event at UCL marking the 60th anniversary of Harold Wilson’s ‘white heat’ speech.