Lib Dems announce plan for AI Digital Independence to end the UK’s dependence on US Tech Giants

22 Apr 2026

EMBARGO: 00:01 Wednesday 22nd April 2026

Lib Dems announce plan for AI Digital Independence to end the UK’s dependence on US Tech Giants

The Liberal Democrats have today set out a bold new strategy for British digital sovereignty as they pledge to award billions in public contracts to British tech firms. Data compiled by the House of Commons Library shows nearly £8 billion of active Government contracts with US big tech firms - putting the UK at risk of a Trump shut off of critical digital infrastructure, the party warns.

The party is warning that the UK’s current total dependency on foreign-owned AI and cloud infrastructure poses a direct threat to national security and democratic process. The plan comes as the Trump administration has made clear its intention to influence European politics and signalled the US’s “departure from traditional alliances.”

DSIT spokesperson Victoria Collins MP is arguing for a fundamental shift in how the UK handles its sovereign data assets - such as with Palantir, who have recently expressed intent to weaponise AI for the US defence industry, received more than £183 million of government contracts, and have been handed the NHS’s world-leading datasets. Liberal Democrats want to ensure that we drive domestic innovation rather than have our data exported for the benefit of Silicon Valley boardrooms and foreign powers with different strategic objectives and values.

New figures highlight the scale of the challenge: 55% of central government organisations now report that a majority of their estate is hosted on the cloud, almost exclusively through two US-based providers. In doing so, big US tech firms are pocketing billions in UK public money, including Accenture (£2.7 billion), DXC (£2.5 billion), AWS (£1.2 billion), and IBM (£780 million). Smaller contract values have also been awarded to Oracle (£444 million), Microsoft (£46 million), and Google Cloud (£24 million).

The Liberal Democrats believe that successive governments have left the UK vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and foreign policy shifts over which the British public has no influence.

The Liberal Democrat plan focuses on "Strategic Sovereign Public Procurement," ensuring that critical national functions are powered by technology that the UK can actually control - such as with datacentres and databases. This would involve trialing changes to the procurement of digital service through increasing the “social value” of tenders, ensuring procurement partners are aligned with the UK’s strategic goals on digital sovereignty and AI, while retaining UK compliance with international procurement obligations. The party is also proposing local government “technology sandboxes”, where startups and SMEs can test new AI service models in small-scale, realistic settings allowing for rapid experimentation and evaluation before a full national rollout.

Key proposals from the AI policy paper include:

Protecting the future of work through AI Education: AI Literacy as a core part of the National Curriculum, including a new AI GCSE. For adult education, a £10,000 Lifelong Training Grant for every adult to ensure workers can reskill and thrive as AI reshapes the labour market.
Protecting the UK’s creative industry: An opt-in licensing model would protect the £124bn creative economy. Ensuring AI companies cannot use the work of artists, writers, and musicians without consent and compensation, alongside new personality rights to protect individuals from unauthorized deepfakes.
A new AI regulator: Establish a single, powerful AI regulator to enforce a statutory code of ethics. Regulating that safety and bias-testing are built-in by design rather than voluntary, moving the UK from a Wild West approach to a world-leading, trust-based framework.
A National Online Crime Agency: Combat the supercharged threat of AI scams by reclassifying certain types of AI-enabled fraud as a National Security Priority. A new dedicated agency will be tasked with dismantling the digital infrastructure used by organised criminals for voice-cloning and identity theft.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Science, Innovation, and Technology, Victoria Collins MP, said:

“For too long, the UK has been content to be a digital colony of Silicon Valley. We are ceding both economic value and strategic autonomy because we lack a coherent plan to stand on our own two feet.

“Our technological future relies so heavily on decisions made in boardrooms we have no seat in.

“We have so much home grown talent in the UK, with some of the biggest and brightest tech start-ups being founded here - we must allow this talent to prosper here in the UK.

“Trump’s America has now clearly signalled their departure from traditional alliances. The Government has been asleep at the wheel - it is way past time to end our dependence on US tech giants.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The link to the House of Commons Library research showing details of active UK government contracts with US tech firms can be viewed here.

The State of Digital Government Review details how Government data is handled and the percentage that is held in cloud servers.

A Parliamentary Question from Victoria Collins revealed that “55% of central government organisations reported that over 60% of their estate is now on the cloud. All survey participants indicated that they use one of two leading cloud providers, both of whom are US based.”