All articles written by Lord Holmes on PoliticsHome.com

08 Jan Social affairs

We can no longer accept this grotesque employment gap for sight-impaired people

If you are blind or sight-impaired in the UK, currently the employment rate is just 27 per cent. If you are not disabled, it is 83 per cent. That is an employment gap of 56 percentage points. It means that if you are sight-impaired, you have only around a one in four chance of being in work.

04 May 2023 Economy

The future is undoubtedly digital – but bank closures are leaving people without access to cash

First, they closed the bank branches, then they closed the cash machines, then they questioned the point of cash itself, then they didn’t financially serve us. Our high streets, our communities, the financially vulnerable, all of us, left high and financially dry.

07 Nov 2022 Economy

The Electronic Trade Documents Bill will make international trade cheaper, faster and more secure

Not only will the Electronic Trade Documents Bill make trade faster, cheaper and greener, it is a model of how to legislate for tech through specific criteria. A blockchain bill that will stimulate blockchain development and adoption without ever mentioning blockchain.

10 Feb 2022 Home affairs

The National Disability strategy must be led by disabled people

The National Disability Strategy, published in July last year, set out actions the government promised to take to improve the everyday lives of the 14 million disabled people in the UK.

08 Nov 2021 Economy

Access to cash is vital to protect the most vulnerable from being digitally and financially excluded

First, they closed bank branches, then they closed cash machines, then they questioned the point of cash itself, then they didn’t financially serve us. Our streets, and millions of people, have been left high and financially dry.

27 Jul 2021 Economy

UK must lead in battery and fuel cell technology or risk losing its automotive industry

The UK is at risk of losing its existing automotive industry, falling further behind global competitors in battery manufacture and failing to meet our net-zero commitment.

21 Apr 2021 Coronavirus

Britain can be a world leader in Artificial Intelligence

As Co-chair of the APPG on Data Analytics, I was pleased to participate in the launch of a report – Our Place Our Data: Involving Local People in Data and AI Based Recovery – that took place in early April.

08 Mar 2021 Economy

Amendments to the Financial Services Bill will empower FinTech to drive our economic recovery

My amendments seek to improve lives for the most financially vulnerable, as well as supercharging a successful UK industry.

23 Jul 2020 Communities

Our farmers deserve the digital infrastructure to grow their business and thrive in a technological world

Our farmers have been on the front line throughout this Covid crisis, let's return the service by delivering an Agriculture Bill that addresses the shocking lack of digital infrastructure and skills in the countryside.

11 Mar 2019 Health

AI has the potential to transform the NHS

We must address all of the challenges if Artificial Intelligence is to save time, money, and lives, writes Lord Holmes of Richmond

23 Nov 2018 Economy

Back my bill to end the scandal of unpaid internships

The Government must demonstrate that it is serious about ending the illegal and exploitative practice of unpaid internships, writes Lord Holmes

05 Feb 2018 Home affairs

The general public must know their rights and responsibilities when it comes to data

What could a social contract based on data for public good look like, asks Lord Holmes.

15 Nov 2017 Economy

Government 'will fail and fast' without an innovative approach towards UK's digital future

Conservative peer Lord Holmes writes for PoliticsHome ahead his PQ warning that if the Government approaches the fourth industrial revolution from a siloed, departmental specific perspective we will fail and fast.

20 Oct 2017 Economy

Calling time on the scandal of unpaid internships

It’s painfully clear the law on unpaid work experience is not fit for purpose. Now it's time to act, writes Lord Holmes

06 Jul 2017 Economy

Inclusive and well funded Fintech sector would be transformational for most vulnerable communities

Fintech has the opportunity to be 'illustrative and enabling of inclusion', says Lord Holmes.

09 Dec 2016 Communities

Why did the blind man cross the road?

Conservative peer, Lord Holmes, writes on the danger of “shared space” for blind people and calls upon local authorities to put inclusive design at the heart of their work in the public realm.

27 Oct 2016 Education

Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not

Ahead of his debate on social mobility, Lord Holmes writes for PoliticsHome arguing Britain must ensure that opportunities are open to all.

12 Sep 2016 Communities

Rio Paralympic Games are 'altering attitudes to Great British sport'

Former Paralympic swimmer Lord Holmes writes from the Rio Paralympic Games which he says will continue to inspire, excel and delight and 'Paralympify the planet'.

08 Jun 2016 Economy

Unpaid internships are a stain on our society

Tory peer Lord Holmes calls upon parliamentarians to support his PMB to outlaw unpaid internships and consign the practice to the classics.

15 Oct 2015 Communities

Government must act on dangerous ‘shared space’ projects

Conservative peer Lord Holmes calls for a rethink on ‘shared space’ initiatives ahead of his debate in the Lords this afternoon.