For over 40 years the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) charity has been working to promote mutual understanding between Parliament and the worlds of business, industry and commerce for public benefit. It is such an important mission and I am delighted to be part of it, initially by attending events in parliament, participating in industry […]
Category archives: Digital Technologies
Building back better with digital hiring
On the Home Office’s step by step check list for how to employ someone, number two, alongside “recruit someone”, is “check they have the right to work in the UK.” For any business employing staff in the UK, right to work checks are an essential requirement. Before Covid struck these checks had to be done […]
Lord Holmes’ Fintech Figures in Five
2020 was such an extraordinary year, a year of incredible suffering and turmoil, Covid-19 turned life as we know it upside down and my heart goes out to all who have been affected. But it was also a year in which technological innovation and digital platforms came to the fore, particularly in financial services. I […]
Back Cash and Inclusive Digital Transition
Already in sharp decline, Covid, like Don Maclean’s jester has stolen cash’s crown. ATM withdrawals are down 80% in London and though significant, loss of cash is not and must not be allowed to become a terminal inevitability. I was delighted to write on the role of cash in our communities and how we transition together to […]
Digital ID
Today (20 May 2021) in the House of Lords I asked about the Government’s plans for a distributed digital identification protocol. A distributed digital ID offers incredible potential for reimagining the relationship between citizen and state and delivering significant social and economic benefits. “Lord Holmes of Richmond to ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they […]
Build Back Better Together
Today I had the pleasure of speaking in the first of five days of speeches that follow, and respond to, the Queen’s Speech. The speeches are organised into specific policy areas and I was keen to contribute to the debate addressing the economy and business. We must build back better. We must absolutely build back […]
Financial Services Bill Amendments: Digital ID, Open Finance, Digital Infrastructure and Digital Payments.
The Financial Services Bill – still in the House of Lords – has moved from committee stage to report stage – and I am continuing to champion the issues and put forward the amendments that I raised at committee stage. On Monday, 19 April 2021, several of these amendments (regarding open finance, digital infrastructure and […]
Reforming the Computer Misuse Act: time to CyberUp
Cyber security has never been more important than it is today. As digital technology continues to advance apace and COVID-19 has prevented normal in-person interaction, almost everything in our personal and working lives has become digital. The CyberUp campaign highlights the way current legislation inhibits rather than promotes the important work of cyber security. As […]
Financial Services Bill Amendments: Digital ID and Other Digital ‘Infrastructure’
On day 6 (10 March 2021) of the committee stage of the Financial Services Bill in the House of Lords I put forward a large group of amendments under the broad heading of fintech. One important amendment would introduce distributed digital identification (Digital ID) and others would encourage digital operational resilience and the modernisation of […]