By Stephen Tulip, UK Country Manager, Association for Competitive Technology
At this year’s Liberal Democrat conference, I was particularly interested in what the party had to say about the businesses I spend most of my time with — small technology companies trying to build and grow in the UK. There was quite a lot to welcome as the Lib Dems are making a clear effort to appeal to the business community.
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, Daisy Cooper MP, formally launched the Liberal Democrats’ Plan to Get Britain Growing Again. This 30-page document sets out measures to remove barriers for businesses. Ms Cooper stressed that too many ideas, startups, and research started in Britain but ended up being taken overseas. She called for the creation of a digital one-stop-shop service for businesses and investors, with tax, regulatory, legal, Companies House, and general business services.
The conference also passed a business motion that included several ideas the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) has been calling for. These included raising the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) limit, making it easier to claim R&D tax relief, and recognising that software and intellectual property are valuable business assets. The party also acknowledged a problem our members know well: too many promising British companies struggle to find the financing they need to scale and end up looking overseas.
This is not an abstract issue. Ms Cooper’s speech referenced our member company Stars Edge, a British space technology company developing satellites designed to operate much closer to Earth than conventional satellites. Businesses taking on challenges like that need access to investment at every stage, from the first prototype through to commercial growth. It was encouraging to hear those realities discussed at the conference.
I joined a technology Q&A with technology spokesperson Victoria Collins MP and Lord Clement-Jones. We covered encryption, online safety, and the difficulty of growing a technology company in Britain. On children’s online safety, they raised concerns about blanket social media bans and the need for those platforms to take greater responsibility. On encryption, they recognised the importance of protecting privacy while taking safety concerns seriously.
I asked about public procurement because government should be a much better customer for small British companies. The speakers agreed that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face a real problem getting through the door. That matters: a contract can help a founder prove their product works, bring in revenue, and grow without relying entirely on another funding round.
The AI policy motion Ms Collins moved later in the conference picked up that theme. It calls for greater consideration of British technology in public contracts and a trial of a social value requirement for digital services procurement. It also addresses the scaleup funding gap and AI skills. Those are sensible areas to focus on, provided any new procurement requirements are simple enough for a small company to meet.
Max Wilkinson MP announced plans for a specialist agency to tackle serious online crimes, such as child sexual abuse material, AI deepfake revenge porn, and weapons and drugs trafficking. The new agency would be funded by a levy on large technology and AI companies. The crimes he described demand an effective response. The levy will need careful consideration to ensure that costs are not simply passed on to smaller businesses that use the large platform’s services.
Sir Ed Davey ended the conference with a call for a global pause on the development of superintelligent AI and the creation of an international AI safety agency. His proposal concerns the most advanced AI systems, but the party will need to explain clearly where it draws that line and what it would mean for the many smaller companies putting AI to useful work today.
I also heard plenty of enthusiasm for closer alignment with the EU. What that means for UK technology rules is still unclear. According to Ms Cooper, the economic damage of Brexit is currently costing the UK £90bn a year in lost tax revenue. Startups need to know how closer alignment will affect tech regulations, where the UKs approach to regulating digital markets and AI, for example, has significant differences from the EU approach. The UK has created an opportunity to make its own evidence-based, proportionate choices, and I would like to hear how the party intends to protect that flexibility.
Overall, I came away encouraged that Liberal Democrats are listening to founders. The next step is making sure these ideas work for the small businesses that will have to use them.