Political Comment: Havant MP Alan Mak challenges Labour Government’s cancellation of new UK national supercomputer

He said the project at Edinburgh University, the UK's leading centre of supercomputing and data science, was fully funded by the previous Conservative administration.

In his role as Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Mr Mak spoke in Parliament and told his Government counterpart Peter Kyle: "The university says that it will be a disaster if the cancellation is not reversed, so will the Government reinstate that supercomputer, or will it be another victim of the Chancellor's failed experiment?"

He added: "The project was fully funded and the Secretary of State knows it. While Labour cancels our tech investment, our competitors - the US, Germany and Japan - are all increasing theirs.

"Next month the Chancellor will cut the Department's budget in real terms, so can the Secretary of State tell us today whether he will allow the Treasury to cancel more investment in Britain's future, or will he finally speak up for Britain's vital tech sector?"

Mr Mak said the cancellation of the supercomputer was another example of the Labour Government not caring about the tech sector.

In contrast, he said the previous Conservative Government had turned Britain into one of the world’s leading tech economies and encouraged start-ups to invest and flourish.