Exeposé attended the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham last week on media accreditation, one of the only student publications to do so, speaking to MPs about the party’s approach to AI, education, and defence. Ben Spencer, Shadow Minister for AI, speaking to Exeposé has said that ‘AI is a huge opportunity we have to seize’ with its effect on the graduate job market still ‘unclear’.
The conference ran from 4 to 7 October. Exeposé attended fringe events, panels, and interviewed MPs and other figures, including lobbyists and think tanks, during the four days.
On artificial intelligence, Helen Whately, Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions, said that ‘AI is going to hugely change work’ and that ‘it’s going to be a disruptive period like any other technological change is’. Though she is ‘ultimately an optimist about it’. This follows other lines that party members have taken. Speaking to Exeposé, many members spoke optimistically of AI, but some did note of the need to be wary at the speed it’s developing. This follows the apprehension that other recent reports into the technology have taken. The Lancet Commission, part of The Lancet, an independent medical journal founded in 1823, cited artificial intelligence as one of the 17 threats to human health in its Lancet 17 report.
‘AI is going to hugely change work’ and that ‘it’s going to be a disruptive period like any other technological change is’
Education was also a recurring theme. During the closing ceremony of the Conservative Party Conference, Kemi Badenoch, Leader of the Conservative Party, reiterated her party’s commitment to cutting interest rates on student loans. Speaking to Exeposé after Kemi’s final speech, Alex Burghart, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, was ‘very pleased about the announcements previously made about student loans’ also pointing to the announcements about cutting business taxes, which are designed to ‘help young people get back into work’. However, what was unclear was whether tuition loans would be affected, and if interest rate cuts would be made to Plan 5 student loans, which affect students beginning their courses after 2023.
At an Armed Forces Reception, David Reed, MP for Parliament for Exmouth and Exeter East, who also serves as Shadow Minister for Defence, Security and Resilience, told Exeposé of his continued support for relationships between higher education and the armed forces. Attendees at the reception, whose names Exeposé did not record, voiced their discontent at defence being ‘neglected’ over the past decade. Analysts from institutes such as the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and parliamentary committees, have said successive governments have underinvested in defence as a whole. Though the main parties continue to blame one another for the problems in defence spending today.
The effects of new technology, the changing nature of the job market, and our uncertainty around our defence capabilities are becoming apparent by the day. On 28 October the Labour government announced its Autumn budget, where the UK government gave it’s main annual statement outlining the plans for public spending, taxation, and economic growth. Whether or not the party used it’s political capital to address some of the issues has been contested across the political spectrum.
Exeposé attended the conference to report on what the party is saying to, and about, young people, including students regarding Exeter. If you’d like the opportunity to be part of our on-site journalism, participating in opportunities like this, then reach out to us editors@exepose.com or on Instagram.
