UK Prime Minister Burnham Rejects Calls For National Data-Center Moratorium

Authored by Matthew Gooding via Data Centre Dynamics,

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has ruled out a national moratorium on data centers.

Speaking in the UK parliament on Wednesday, Burnham said the government's AI Growth Zone scheme would help ensure communities hosting new data centers would feel the economic benefits of developments.

Responding to a question from Labour MP Ian Lavery, who said three "vast" AI data centers are currently under construction in his constituency, Blyth and Ashington in north-east England, Burnham said: "At this point, I won't go as far as a moratorium."

He added that data centers "can be the magnet that clusters in other investment over time," and said AI Growth Zones would help boost tax revenues for communities with data centers.

Burnham plans to devolve more power to local mayors, including allowing them to spend a greater proportion of tax raised in their areas on local projects.

Under Burnham's predecessor, Keir Starmer, the UK government championed data centers as a vehicle for economic growth.

It set up AI Growth Zones as a way to attract digital infrastructure projects to specific areas, touting tax incentives and priority access to power.

Blyth and Ashington, Lavery's constituency, is home to major projects including a £10 billion ($13bn) plan to convert a former power station into a 720MW AI data center, which is being developed by Blackstone-owned QTS.

A lot has changed in the past year and a half, with Starmer out and the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT), which oversaw the launch of AI Growth Zones, closed and merged into the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade when Burnham took office this summer.

After a period of uncertainty about the future of the growth zone program, government officials confirmed to DCD that the team now reports to UK AI minister Kanishka Narayan. However, the architect of the scheme, Matt Clifford, has left his role in government to join AI lab Anthropic.

Burnham's backing of data centers contrasts with the stance of UK Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who has called for a national moratorium citing concerns over power and water usage.

In Scotland, lawmakers in the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Green Party have also backed a ban north of the border.