Dame Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central and West, releases the technology sovereignty letter from Minister Kanishka Narayan.
The letter was in response to Chi’s Technology Sovereignty Debate on March 10th 2026.
In the letter Minister Kanishka Narayan MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, sets out his response to the questions raised in Dame Chi’s debate and followed up by letter on March 31st 2026.
His response covers issues concerning big tech and democratic accountability; the Government’s definition on tech sovereignty; cybersecurity, data governance, and foreign dependence; open source, procurement and public sector tech; and international collaboration.
Chi Onwurah, who Chairs the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, said:
“I am grateful for Minister Narayan’s response and for the confirmation that technology companies should not be treated as states, and that competitive capability matters. However, the letter reads more as a list of separate actions than as a coherent strategy for achieving technology sovereignty – identifying where the UK must be self-reliant, where interdependence is unavoidable, and how the associated risks will be managed.
“It is impossible to judge whether the £22 billion spent annually on public-sector research and development is serving the UK’s long‑term interests if we do not know how it is contributing to our technology sovereignty.”
Notes:
- The Westminster Hall debate took place on the afternoon of Tuesday 10 March 2026 at 4.30pm.
- A link to watch the debate is here: tv – Westminster Hall
- A link to read the debate in Hansard is here.
- Dame Chi Onwurah MP’s letter is here.
- The Minister’s response letter is here, and copied below.