David Willetts

Jan 14, 2025 | conservativehome.com | David Willetts

David Willetts was Minister for Universities and Science 2010-2014. Two Brits won Nobel prizes last year for their work on AI. Sir Demis Hassabis created Deep Mind which uses large datasets not just to learn to win at Go but also to identify protein structures; Geoffrey Hinton won his for the original insights into how a large language model could work. Their research careers overlapped at one key place: UCL’s Gatsby computational neuroscience unit, backed by the great David Sainsbury.

Dec 17, 2024 | conservativehome.com | David Willetts

David Willetts is a member of the House of LordsThe collapse of the evil Assad regime in Syria has been the best news of the year. The uprising against Assad began as part of the Arab Spring back in 2011. But the high hopes then were soon disappointed as civil war broke out and dictatorships survived across the Middle East. It would be an extraordinary coda if, almost 14 years after the start of civil protests in Syria, they finally get some kind of victory and peace.

Dec 3, 2024 | conservativehome.com | David Willetts

David Willetts is a member of the House of LordsGovernments can’t get elected saying: “The world is a dangerous place and the unpredictable happens more than ever – look at Covid and Ukraine. So it is silly to promise a detailed programme.

Nov 20, 2024 | the-tls.co.uk | Richard Toye |Thomas J. Sojka |David Willetts |Samuel Earle

Early in 1981, Tony Benn, the darling of Labour’s left wing, found himself in the same railway carriage as Keith Joseph. The latter was the intellectual mentor to Margaret Thatcher who had played an instrumental role in her rise to power. Benn talked about the “log-jam in a market economy”, while Joseph spoke of “crippled capitalism”. By Benn’s account the two men got along like a house on fire.

Nov 19, 2024 | conservativehome.com | David Willetts

David Willetts is a member of the House of LordsThe Sunday Times had an interesting and important column from Kemi Badenoch on the business of Government. It drew on her own experience of trying to get prompt payment of compensation for the sub-postmasters. But it reflects the experience of many ministers, from different parties, all frustrated at how hard it is just to get things done. She focusses particularly on the legal constraints.