The UK will heed expert warnings about the risks of artificial intelligence while seeking to harness its economic and scientific potential, First Secretary Louise Haigh is set to tell the TUC annual congress. Her remarks in Brighton on Tuesday will underline the Government’s determination to work with international partners on public safety and national security.
Haigh sets out a dual approach to AI
Ms Haigh will acknowledge that AI could reshape public services, strengthen businesses and accelerate scientific discovery. But she will argue that its rapid development also requires ministers to confront potential dangers rather than dismiss them.
“AI has enormous potential to transform our public services, make our businesses stronger and deliver new scientific breakthroughs,” she is due to say.
The First Secretary, who is regarded as the de facto deputy prime minister, will add that ministers must “heed the warnings of those who are at the forefront of developing this technology” and “be ready to work with international partners”.
Her intervention is intended to establish a middle course: encouraging investment and innovation while preparing for risks that individual governments may struggle to manage alone. The approach places particular emphasis on cooperation across borders, reflecting the global reach of the companies and research programmes driving advances in the technology.
Ms Haigh is addressing trade unionists after Prime Minister Andy Burnham withdrew from the event following the death of his father.
Ministers defend Britain’s AI safeguards
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has sought to reassure the public that the UK is capable of managing the challenges posed by increasingly powerful AI systems.
“We should neither be complacent nor should we be hyperbolic about this,” he told BBC Breakfast.
Mr Reynolds described the UK as a world leader in AI safety, while acknowledging that much of the most advanced development is taking place elsewhere. “It’s a difficult situation in that a lot of this technology, the frontier technology, does in the main come from the US and China,” he said.
That concession highlights the central difficulty facing British policymakers. The UK may be able to establish domestic safeguards and contribute to international standards, but it cannot unilaterally control technology developed by companies and research institutions operating primarily in other countries.
Mr Reynolds’s comments therefore point towards a broader strategic challenge: maintaining access to cutting-edge AI while ensuring that its deployment does not compromise public interests. The Government will need to balance innovation, security and public confidence as the technology becomes more deeply embedded in workplaces, public services and commercial decision-making.
A widening transatlantic divide
Ms Haigh’s position stands in sharp contrast to that of US President Donald Trump, who has rejected concerns about AI as a “hoax”. Mr Trump has argued that tighter regulation could slow American progress and provide Chinese firms with a competitive advantage.
He has also resisted calls for greater government oversight from prominent technology figures, including Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk. These industry leaders have warned about the dangers associated with the rapidly expanding capabilities of AI systems.
Writing on Truth Social, Mr Trump said: “The only control or “guardrails” that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”
The dispute reflects a deeper disagreement over how AI should be governed. One approach prioritises rapid development and national competitiveness; the other accepts the commercial stakes but argues that independent safeguards and international coordination remain necessary.
For the UK, the issue extends beyond regulation. AI could influence productivity, employment, cybersecurity, scientific research and the delivery of public services. How ministers respond now will help determine whether the country can benefit from the technology while limiting its potential harms.
Why it Matters
AI is no longer a distant technological prospect but a growing force in everyday economic and public life. Ms Haigh’s intervention signals that the UK Government intends to support innovation without treating safety concerns as an obstacle to be brushed aside. The difficulty will lie in turning that balanced rhetoric into effective safeguards at a time when the most powerful systems are largely being developed in the US and China. The decisions made now will shape not only Britain’s competitiveness, but also the public trust on which widespread adoption ultimately depends.
