House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
UK House of Commons select committee scrutinising science, innovation and technology policy.
The Committee reported on 7 July 2026 that the UK has "no coherent strategic framework" for sovereign technology, warning Britain risks being "cut off at whim" after the US barred access to Anthropic's frontier models.
Last refreshed: 4 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did MPs single out a single US AI supplier as the UK's sovereignty risk?
Timeline for House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
Posted the chair's warning and logged the 7 September response deadline
European Tech Sovereignty: Committee chair warns on DSIT closurePublished a report finding no coherent strategic framework for sovereign technology
European Tech Sovereignty: MPs name the UK's sovereignty gapBackground
The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee is a cross-party House of Commons select committee, chaired by Dame Chi Onwurah, that scrutinises government policy on Science, research, digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence. Like all Commons select committees it draws MPs from across parties in proportion to the chamber's composition and can summon ministers and officials to give evidence, though its reports carry no binding force on government.
Its historic REMIT was aligned to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). With DSIT abolished and its functions split across the Cabinet Office and two new departments , the Committee's oversight relationship with government now runs to a more diffuse set of successor bodies, leaving unresolved which department it should hold to account going forward.
It found no coherent strategy
The Committee, chaired by Dame Chi Onwurah, reported on 7 July 2026 that the UK Government had no coherent strategic framework for sovereign technology, warning Britain risks being cut off from critical technology at whim. It cited Washington's June decision to cut off UK access to Anthropic's two flagship models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, as evidence of the exposure .
On 24 July, four days after DSIT was itself abolished, the Committee's chair warned that closing the department risks fragmenting policy and pressed for a government response to the July report by 7 September. Because DSIT no longer exists, it isn't clear which successor department now owes that answer .
Who chairs the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee?
What did the UK sovereignty-gap report find?
Why did the committee cite Anthropic in its report?
