How to watch the Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee

Panel 2: Black Friday sales and misleading pricing (cont.)

Liam Byrne Labour

Second witness panel examining consumer protection issues around Black Friday sales and pricing practices.

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Panel 1: Fireworks regulation and consumer protection (cont.)

Liam Byrne Labour

First witness panel on consumer protection issues related to fireworks regulation and usage.

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Panel 2: Black Friday sales and misleading pricing

Liam Byrne and 2 others

Second witness panel examining consumer protection issues around Black Friday sales and pricing practices.

In this chapter

1. Misleading Black Friday pricing practices and enforcementLiam Byrne
2. Online payment methods and consumer protectionJoshua Reynolds

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Panel 1: Fireworks regulation and consumer protection

Liam Byrne and 2 others

First witness panel on consumer protection issues related to fireworks regulation and usage.

In this chapter

1. Impacts of fireworks on animals and enforcement of fireworks lawsLiam Byrne
2. Impact of fireworks on veterans and PTSDLiam Byrne
3. Impacts of fireworks on animals and enforcement of fireworks laws (cont.)Liam Byrne

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Panel 3: construction, markets and retail: finance and operating pressures

Liam Byrne and 3 others

Final panel details cash-flow and late-payment problems in construction, high setup costs for markets and convenience stores, and operating-cost pressures, while stressing the role of mentoring, youth work experience and better apprenticeship linkages to address labour and skills shortages.

In this chapter

1. Panel 3 opens: construction trades, cash flow and late paymentLiam Byrne
2. Construction downturn, SME housebuilders and sentimentSarah Edwards
3. Markets as low-barrier entrepreneurship and need for mentoringDan Aldridge

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Panel 2: Budget asks on BBB, pensions and VCT incentives

Sarah Edwards and 1 other

Witnesses set out Budget priorities to expand the British Business Bank, accelerate pension fund consolidation and UK equity allocations, restore stronger VCT tax reliefs and age flexibility, and support founders recycling capital into scale-ups.

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Panel 2: venture capital schemes, British Business Bank and investment gaps

Liam Byrne and 4 others

Second panel examines reduced VCT fundraising, British Business Bank regional and diversity programmes, persistent gender and ethnicity gaps in venture finance, and constraints on regional re-industrialisation from VCT company age rules and proximity bias.

In this chapter

1. Panel 2 opens: venture capital trusts and tax credit cutLiam Byrne
2. British Business Bank: regional funds, diverse investors and AISarah Edwards
3. Gender and ethnicity gaps in venture finance and cultural change

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Panel 1: Budget proposals for inclusive entrepreneurship support

Alison Griffiths and 2 others

Panel outlines specific Budget asks including youth enterprise stipends, university-linked programmes, high-street and minority-focused support, improved tax schemes and R&D credits, and a single business identifier to better target fast-growing and under-served firms.

In this chapter

1. Budget asks: youth enterprise grants and education reformAlison Griffiths
2. Budget asks: high streets, minority talent and ownership of the agendaLiam Byrne
3. Budget asks: tax-efficient schemes, R&D credits and data ‘Masterkey’

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Panel 1: migrant, minority and women-led entrepreneurship challenges

Liam Byrne and 1 other

Witnesses present data on migrant, ethnic minority and women founders, highlighting their contribution alongside persistent gaps in visas, finance, procurement access and equity investment, and propose targeted programmes and co-investment to unlock under-served talent.

In this chapter

1. Migrant founders, visa uncertainty and opportunity costLiam Byrne
2. Ethnic minority entrepreneurship, finance barriers and procurementSarah Edwards
3. Women founders, Investing in Women Code and early-stage finance gapLiam Byrne

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Panel 1: inquiry opening and UK entrepreneurship context

Liam Byrne and 3 others

Chair and Professor Hart set out the inquiry mandate and GEM evidence on record UK entrepreneurial activity, international comparisons, and structural gaps in youth support, education, finance awareness and regional ecosystems.

In this chapter

1. Committee opens inquiry and GEM headline findingsLiam Byrne
2. International comparison and youth support gapsAlison Griffiths
3. Entrepreneurial framework conditions and regional disparitiesDan Aldridge

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Reindustrialisation metrics, procurement policy and local economic impacts

Joshua Reynolds and 3 others

Members probe definitions, sectors and KPIs for reindustrialisation and its link to living standards, then examine how Buy British operates within procurement rules, steel use in public projects, and the department’s tools for supporting non‑mayoral areas, SMEs, business rates reform and high street regeneration as visible measures of local prosperity.

In this chapter

1. Reindustrialisation, living standards and place-based metricsJoshua Reynolds
2. Public procurement, Buy British and UK steel useSarah Edwards
3. Territorial devolution, SME pressures and high street regenerationSarah Edwards

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Department mandate, budget pressures and regulatory oversight

Liam Byrne Labour

The opening segment sets out the new department’s mandate, objectives and industrial strategy framework, then moves quickly into scrutiny of immediate business pressures and the department’s regulatory role, focusing on Royal Mail’s service performance, Ofcom’s powers, and stalled audit and corporate governance reform after the Manchester City case.

In this chapter

1. Department vision, objectives and industrial strategy frameworkLiam Byrne
2. Regulatory oversight: Royal Mail, audit reform and political firewallLiam Byrne

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Industry leaders panel: lab safeguards, incidents and regulatory stance

Liam Byrne and 6 others

Executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and Meta defend their safety frameworks, concede past incidents and capability overshoots, and discuss cyber, bio and power‑concentration risks, transparency failures and limits of ‘kill switches’, including for open‑weight models. MPs press them on embedded evaluators, statutory powers for AISI, mandatory incident reporting, international access parity and liability, before the Chair flags unresolved gaps in today’s largely voluntary trust regime.

In this chapter

1. Opening of industry panel and direct safety guaranteesLiam Byrne
2. Labs concede past harms and need to ‘pace the frontier’Liam Byrne
3. DeepMind and Meta defend safety regimes and AISI roleLiam Byrne

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Whistleblower panel: frontier AI risks and governance proposals

Liam Byrne and 6 others

Former AI lab staff outline systemic safety failures, competitive pressures, existential and democratic risks from frontier models, and argue for enforceable regulation, external evaluators, liability, and compute‑based slowdowns to avert loss of control. The Chair closes by highlighting their evidence on dangerous capabilities, weak incident reporting, and the inadequacy of voluntary self‑regulation.

In this chapter

1. Opening of inquiry and whistleblower resignationsLiam Byrne
2. Industry safety culture and competitive race dynamicsLiam Byrne
3. Existential risk estimates and lack of an alignment planLiam Byrne

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