'ARM isn't a one-off' says Chancellor Philip Hammond as he puts technology at heart of 'post-Brexit Britain'

Don't be a "pantaloon weaver" in the face of progress, warns Chancellor

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has claimed "ARM isn't a one-off" and the UK can be at the "cutting edge" of global technology with a "future-proofed post-Brexit Britain" if "human anxiety" against technological change is kept in check.

At his keynote at Microsoft's Future Decoded 2016 conference in London this morning, Hammond pointed out how the "first businessman" he met after being appointed Chancellor "wasn't the CEO of one of the UK's big banks or car manufacturers, crucial though those sectors are to our economy" but instead SoftBank CEO Masoyoshi Son, on the morning he announced the £24bn purchase of the Cambridge-based ARM Holdings.

"It was the biggest European tech deal in history, and the largest ever single Japanese investment in Britain, and it was fitting that he was the first businessman I saw as Chancellor, because the tech industry is the future of the British economy," said Hammond.

"And Mr Son told me when we met in Number 11 that he wanted to buy into Britain, because he recognised the huge potential Britain has to play a leading role in the next global wave of technology innovation - artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things."

Hammond said that this meeting and "many others" he'd had in the weeks following "reinforced my belief that the UK is strongly positioned to be at the cutting edge of the digital revolution".

"Why? Because ARM isn't a one-off. In fact, it is one of the most successful products of a proud history of British technological innovation stretching back decades," said Hammond.

Pointing to the Cambridge-based computing successes of Alan Turing or the DNA advances of Watson and Crick, Hammond hailed a "tech industry [that is] growing at pace - up 42 per cent since 2010".

"We have more tech unicorns than anywhere else in Europe - we're home to the largest data centre in Europe, and we're the world leader in e-commerce," he continued.

"The question is, how do we get in front, and how do we stay there? I believe there's a once in a generation opportunity for the UK to cement our role as a leader in digital tech innovation, and to future-proof the economy of post-Brexit Britain. And we need to take that opportunity."

Hammond went on to talk about the so-called "fourth Industrial Revolution" and how "just like in the first, there are some who resist that change and the disruptive effects it can bring - let's call them the pantaloon weavers".

"The fears that machines could render humans obsolete are as old as machines themselves. It was almost 500 years ago back in 1589 that the British inventor William Lee was refused a patent for a new knitting machine by Queen Elizabeth I."

Hammond chastised Elizabeth I for driving Lee's invention into the arms of the French: "A timely reminder that our friends across the Channel are not novices when it comes to trying to seduce a key UK industry."

Hammond also said that "human anxiety to technological change is nothing new" - citing opposition to the invention of the railway - and urged people to be "optimistic".

"It's about doing all we can to foster innovation," said Hammond.

Computing caught up with Nick Walker, managing director of RAC Connected Solutions, who was also keynoting today, to find out his thoughts on Hammond's attitude around ARM. Can we really simply make more ARMs?

"They come along far and few between, don't they?" said Walker. "There's a few significant events that propel us forward, and ARM I think was one of those. You've got other architectures that nobody cares about or talks about, but that one actually changed the world, as the first RISC processor - it changed the way data was processed."

Nevertheless, Walker said he found Hammond's rhetoric "quite intriguing" and possibly "a wake-up call" for the UK industry.

"It was a great British invention, and it's a pity it's now in someone else's hands," said Walker.

But as a technologist, does Walker feel confident that we can make more successes, and soon?

"I think we are doing it again," he replied. "I think there's a lot of innovation going on now, and you see a lot of it through the services you get. But behind the scenes, there's an awful lot of creativity going on."