By Dave Robertson MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Quantum Technologies
We are in the middle of a global quantum race. From Washington to Beijing, Tokyo to Paris, Berlin to Canberra, governments are pouring tens of billions into quantum technologies, each betting that the nations which master quantum computing, sensing and communications first will enjoy decisive advantages in productivity, security and scientific discovery for decades to come. The OECD estimates that governments worldwide have committed over $55 billion to quantum since 2013. This is not a future competition. It is happening now.
This World Quantum Day, I want to make the case that the conversation between policymakers and the quantum sector needs to be deeper, more sustained, and more global. And I want to explain what we are doing in Westminster to make that happen.
I come to this as a former physics teacher. Before entering Parliament as MP for Lichfield in 2024, I spent eight years in the classroom making science comprehensible and exciting. That gave me a conviction I carry into every debate: science and technology belong at the heart of political decision-making, not at its margins.
The international commitment to quantum is staggering. The United States is reauthorising its National Quantum Initiative with billions in new funding. China has made quantum a centrepiece of its technology strategy, with investment dwarfing any other nation. Japan designated 2025 its “first year of quantum industrialisation.” France has committed €1.8 billion, Germany €3 billion, and the EU’s Quantum Flagship is deploying €1 billion across the continent. South Korea, Canada, Finland and others are staking their own claims.
Against that backdrop, the UK government’s announcement of up to £2 billion in quantum investment is both welcome and strategically vital; it is one of the most significant commitments by any government in the world. It signals that Britain intends not merely to participate in the quantum era, but to compete at its leading edge.
The ProQure procurement programme, inviting companies to partner with government on building large-scale quantum computers on British soil by the early 2030s, is particularly important. It echoes the strategic procurement the United States used to develop satellite navigation and stealth aircraft: government as anchor customer, absorbing risk and catalysing private investment.
I warmly welcome this commitment. But money must be matched by informed policymaking, and that requires a political class that understands the technology, grasps its global context, and hears from the people building it, wherever they are based.
Quantum’s policy case rests on the breadth of its application. Quantum sensors are enabling wearable brain-scanning devices that could transform neurological diagnosis. Quantum computing promises to accelerate drug discovery, optimise energy systems and model financial risk beyond classical reach. The UK government estimates quantum could boost productivity by seven per cent over two decades, creating over 100,000 jobs and £212 billion in economic impact.
On the defence and security side, quantum timing offers resilient alternatives to GPS, increasingly vulnerable to hostile jamming. Quantum-secure communications will protect national infrastructure as adversaries harvest encrypted data for future quantum decryption. No allied nation can afford dependence on others for these sovereign capabilities, yet none can develop them alone. That tension between sovereignty and collaboration is why quantum demands serious parliamentary attention.
This conviction led me to establish the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Quantum Technologies, which brings together politicians from across the political spectrum to look at these issues. Our purpose is to promote understanding across the full array of quantum technologies — computing, sensing, timing, navigation and cryptography — and to examine its dual role in civil and defence domains. In particular, we are working to ensure the UK recognises and nurtures its sovereign British technology.
What makes this APPG genuinely distinctive is its international character. Supply chains cross borders. Research spans continents. Standards must be set multilaterally. The UK has just hosted the Quantum Development Group in London, bringing together thirteen nations to cooperate on research security, investment and standards. Export controls, workforce mobility and dual-use regulation are challenges no single legislature or government can address alone.
Our APPG reflects that internationalist spirit. We are building connections not just within Westminster, but with quantum communities and parliamentary counterparts worldwide. Whether you are a startup founder in Tel Aviv, a hardware company in Munich, a research lab in Waterloo or a defence integrator in Virginia, the policy shaped in the UK Parliament will affect you, and we want to hear from you.
So here is my ask to the global quantum industry: engage with us. The UK is home to eleven per cent of the world’s quantum startups and has attracted twelve per cent of global quantum private equity. We have world-class research hubs, a new Quantum Software Lab in Edinburgh, and a growing talent pipeline. With £2 billion on the table, Britain is one of the most compelling destinations for quantum investment anywhere.
But lasting advantage requires close partnership between industry and policymakers that does not happen by accident. I am making that effort from the parliamentary side. I hope the quantum community, in Britain and beyond, will join us.
Dave Robertson has served as Member of Parliament for Lichfield, Burntwood & the Villages since 2024, and is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Quantum Technologies. Before entering Parliament, he spent eight years as a secondary school physics teacher.
