UK Prime Minister Burnham Rejects National Data Centre Ban in Parliament

He told Parliament on Wednesday that the government's artificial intelligence growth zone programme would help ensure that communities hosting new data centres feel the economic benefits of the development. Responding to a question from Labour MP Ian Lavery, Burnham said: "I will not go as far as imposing a ban at this stage." He also said data centres "can be a magnet that attracts other investment over time", and that AI growth zones help increase tax revenue for communities with data centres.

In his question, Lavery said three "large" AI data centres are currently under construction in his Blyth and Ashington constituency in north-east England. The constituency contains several major projects, one of which is a planned 10 billion pound (13 billion US dollar) conversion of a former power station into an AI data centre with an installed capacity of 720 megawatts, developed by Blackstone-owned QTS.

Burnham plans to devolve more powers to local mayors, including allowing them to use a larger share of taxes collected in their areas for local projects. Under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the UK government treated data centres as a vehicle for economic growth, establishing AI growth zones to attract digital infrastructure projects to specific areas and offering tax incentives and priority access to electricity.

Over the past year and a half, several changes have occurred: Starmer is no longer prime minister, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which launched the AI growth zone programme, was closed and merged into the Department for Business, Innovation and Science and Trade when Burnham took office in the summer of 2026. After a period of uncertainty over the future of the growth zone programme, government officials confirmed that the team now reports to UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan. Matt Clifford, the architect of the programme, has left his government post to join AI lab Anthropic.

Burnham's position on data centres differs from that of UK Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who has called for a nationwide moratorium on construction, citing concerns over electricity and water use. In Scotland, MPs from the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Green Party also support a similar ban in Scotland.