The Government has rightly identified both artificial intelligence and the creative industries as key growth sectors. They are also both increasingly interlinked. AI is already being used across the creative industries, including in music and film production, publishing, architecture and design. As of September 2024, more than 38 per cent of creative industries businesses said they have used AI technologies.

 

While AI has the potential to transform the creative sector, many artists, writers, and designers have sincere fears that AI could detrimentally affect their earnings and, ultimately, their way-of-life. Current laws make it difficult for creators to control or seek payment for the use of their work. It is also true that present ambiguities in the law create legal risks for AI firms, and could deter developers from investing and developing their products in the UK.

 

Therefore, the Opposition welcomes that the Government has launched a consultation into the legal relationship between the creative industries and AI developers.  The Government is seeking to simultaneously ensure protection and payment for rights holders and support AI developers to innovate responsibly. Key areas of the consultation include boosting trust and transparency between the sectors, so right holders have a better understanding of how AI developers are using their material and how it has been obtained. The consultation will run until the 25 February 2025.

 

The consultation also explores how creators can license and be remunerated for the use of their material. The Government proposes allowing rights holders to reserve their rights, so they can control the use of their content, while also introducing an exception to copyright law for AI training for commercial purposes. This is an effective opt-out which means that creators would have to reaffirm their desire to protect their work. Worryingly, this position appears to place the major technology companies at a considerable advantage, and my colleague Dame Caroline Dinenage MP has raised this directly with the Prime Minister in Parliament.

Israel suffered the worst terror attack in its history on 7 October at the hands of Hamas, and Palestinian civilians continue to face a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Conservative Party’s thoughts are with the families of those still held hostage, and every innocent life which has been lost or impacted by this conflict. Hamas must release the hostages who have been held in such cruel captivity for almost a year.

The Opposition supports Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international humanitarian law. Indeed, it is important that international humanitarian law be respected and civilians protected, and that as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel makes sure that humanitarian aid including food, water and shelter is available to people in Gaza.

The last Government, rightly, did everything it could to get aid in to Gaza as quickly as possible by land, sea and air, including by: trebling the UK’s aid commitment to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the last financial year, establishing a field hospital in Gaza, participating in numerous airdrops of aid, and providing a package of support to help set up a maritime aid corridor to Gaza. It is vital that the UK continues to provide much-needed humanitarian support to the people of Gaza, and continues to press Israel on its commitment to increase the amount of aid getting to Gaza.

Regarding the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Opposition has serious concerns about South Africa’s case, and do not believe it to be helpful in the goal of achieving a sustainable end to this conflict. Although formal determination of genocide should be based upon the final judgment of a competent court, Israel’s actions in Gaza cannot be described as genocide.

The Opposition strongly disagrees with the new Government’s suspension of 30 of arms export licences to Israel, announcing this decision on the day that Israel was burying murdered hostages, and within weeks of British military personnel and arms defending Israel from Iranian attack. Decisions like this also have important broader geopolitical implications, and we must be clear that there is no moral equivalence between Hamas and the democratically elected Government of Israel.

Holiday lets contribute to the economy, create jobs, and support tourism.  The Opposition backs small businesses, including responsible short-term holiday letting, recognising they bring significant investment to local communities. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge the impact that large numbers of holiday lets concentrated in an area can have on local communities. 

The Government has published draft legislation to abolish the furnished holiday lettings tax regime from April 2025. The intention is to align the tax rules for furnished holiday lettings with those for other property businesses. This is an important step to level the playing field between short-term and long-term lets and support people to live in their local area. 

DS

It has been a challenging time for the hospice sector over the last few years due to the rising cost of living. Hospices play a vital role in local communities by providing high-quality, compassionate care at the end of life.

Under the previous Government, the Children’s Hospice Grant was extended to provide an additional £25 million of funding for children and young people’s hospices in 2024/25. Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are responsible for allocating this funding.

Through the Health and Care Act 2022, ICBs also have a wider duty to commission palliative and end of life care services, and it is important that they give sufficient priority to meet the needs of their local populations.

The Government has stated that it will be considering next steps for hospices over the coming months, and the Conservative Opposition will be holding them to account for ensuring hospices in our community receive adequate, sustainable funding.

DS

The UK has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and it shares the highest ranking on the animal protection index and the highest in the G7. The Government takes the issue of low-welfare and illegal supply of animals very seriously. Significant steps have been taken to improve and update the laws in England to crack down on unscrupulous breeders who breed purely for financial greed at the expense of animal welfare.

Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, anyone in the business of breeding and selling dogs and/or who breeds three or more litters in a twelve-month period needs to have a valid licence from their local authority. Under these regulations, local authorities have powers to grant, refuse or revoke a licence. Licences must achieve and maintain statutory minimum animal welfare standards, linked to the welfare needs of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Further, under these regulations, licensed breeders are prohibited from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected that on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health, this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies. This applies in the case of brachycephalic breeds. Both licensed and unlicensed animal breeders are required under the Animal Welfare Act to protect the animals involved in breeding from harm and to provide for their welfare in line with good practice. A breach of these provisions may lead to imprisonment, a fine, or both.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has been reviewing the 2018 Regulations. Defra also meets regularly with numerous animal welfare organisations and is kept abreast of concerns relating to brachycephalic animals.

Finally, Defra’s campaign Petfished raises awareness of issues associated with low-welfare and illegal supply of pets. The campaign provides a list of red flags for buyers to look out for when searching for a pet online. More information can be found here: https://getyourpetsafely.campaign.gov.uk/

DS

Holiday lets contribute to the economy, create jobs, and support tourism.  The Government backs small businesses, including responsible short-term holiday letting, which brings significant investment to local communities. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge the impact that large numbers of holiday lets concentrated in an area can have on local communities.

The Government will abolish the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime. Importantly this will eliminate the tax advantage for landlords who let short-term furnished holiday properties over those who let residential properties to longer-term tenants. This does not stop people conducting short term lets, but rather ensures that the system is equal for those letting long term or short term. This will level the playing field between short-term and long-term lets and support people to live in their local area.

DS

 

The UK’s rigorous regulatory system ensures that no animal testing or research takes place if a non-animal alternative exists that would achieve the scientific outcomes sought. The National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) is the UK’s leading scientific based organisation dedicated to replacing, refining, and reducing the use of animals in scientific research and testing. The NC3Rs supports the research community to use the latest science and technology to replace animal studies, providing new approaches for biomedical research, and avoiding the time and cost associated with animal models.

Without animal testing it is highly likely that a large number of potentially dangerous new medicines would be tested in healthy volunteers and patients in clinical trials. This would be completely unacceptable. That said, the Government’s commitment to the development of non-animal technologies is positive. Such technologies have the potential to reduce the reliance on the use of animals, improve the efficiency of drug research and development, and deliver safer, cheaper, and more effective medicines to patients. Ministers have also stressed that they continue to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce, and refine the use of animals in research.

With regard to your concerns about the wearing of bearskin caps Guardsmen take great pride in wearing the bearskin cap, which is an iconic image of Britain, and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is very sparing in the acquisitions that it makes. Individual soldiers do not possess their own hats, rather they are cared for and shared within the Household Division and, despite their constant use, every effort is made to carefully prolong the longevity of each ceremonial cap. On account of this, they usually last for more than a decade, with some having been in use for as long as 60 years.

The MOD would like to find an alternative material to bearskin should one prove acceptable. This is a commitment the MOD takes very seriously. The MOD have not to date seen evidence that a suitable faux fur product exists to be considered as an alternative. Until that material is sourced and proven, the UK goes to great lengths to ensure that the pelts that make the King’s Guards caps are procured in the most responsible way possible.

Bears are never hunted to order for the MOD. Bear pelts used for the King’s Guards’ ceremonial caps are sourced exclusively from Canada precisely because it is a regulated market and a declared party to the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora.

DS

Young people in Britain already have opportunities to live, work and study abroad through existing Youth Mobility Schemes. Agreements are in place with 13 countries including Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea, and new schemes with Andorra and Uruguay took effect in January 2024.

The Government remains open to negotiating new arrangements with other countries and territories, including EU Member States.

However, the Government has no plans to introduce an EU-wide youth mobility scheme. The British public voted to leave the EU in 2016. Free movement within the EU therefore ended and there are no plans to re-introduce it. It is right that the Government is open to agreeing schemes with individual EU countries, where it’s in the UK’s interest and supports the skills and opportunities of British young people.

DS

The Government is committed to upholding our high standards in animal welfare. The Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare sets out Ministers’ vision to introduce a range of world-leading reforms to improve the welfare and conservation of animals at home and abroad.

The Government is aware that there is considerable support for banning all imports of fur products.  Fur farming has been banned in the UK for 20 years and legislation prohibits the keeping and breeding of animals solely or primarily for slaughter for the value of their fur. There are also strict restrictions on some skin and fur products that may never be legally imported into the UK. Those include fur and fur products from cats and dogs, whose import, export and placing on the market is prohibited. 

While fur cannot be farmed in the UK, it is still possible to import and sell other types of fur from abroad. In 2021, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published a call for evidence on the fur trade in Great Britain, which asked for views on animal welfare and on the social and economic impacts associated with the trade. Around 30,000 responses were received from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area.

Officials from Defra have been analysing the responses received and have also engaged directly with stakeholders. Defra continues to build its evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade.

Finally, the Animal Welfare Committee has been considering the issue of responsible sourcing in the fur industry, including the animal welfare standards and safeguards that apply to fur imported into this country. 

DS

The Resources and Waste Strategy for England sets out the Government’s plans to reduce, reuse, and recycle more plastic and Ministers have committed to work towards all plastic packaging on the market being recyclable or reusable by 2025.

Significant progress has already been made to address plastic pollution, including a ban on microbeads and restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. The use of single-use carrier bags in supermarkets has reduced by over 98 per cent.

Further, restrictions on a range of single-use plastics, including plastic plates, trays, bowls, cutlery, balloon sticks and certain types of polystyrene cups and food containers have now come into force. England uses 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery and over 700 million single-use plates per year, but only 10 per cent are recycled. This new ban is the next step in cracking down on harmful plastic waste.

Through the Environment Act 2021, the Government has set a target is to halve residual waste by 2042. This refers to waste that is sent to landfill, put through incineration, or used in energy recovery in the UK or overseas. This is an intentionally broad target, which will include the most environmentally harmful materials like plastics, rather than banning a single type of material and risk producers moving to a different, more harmful material. 

DS