It was a flowing speech packed full of precise statistics – but Jason O’Connell, a Reform UK Senedd member, was not quite the gifted orator he had first appeared.
asserted
he → pack → statistics
The periodic flashing in his spectacles seemed to give the game away as he spoke for five minutes in the Senedd chamber without a glance at his notes.
asserted
he → seem → notes
“Cardiff reviewed 192 roads, following 933 requests, and only four routes have returned to 30mph,” he said as he led the party’s charge to abolish 20mph traffic zones.
asserted
he → review → zones
It was probably no feat of memory – rather, the Reform member for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr was suspected of using smart glasses that turned his lenses into tiny teleprompters.
asserted
that → suspect → teleprompters
In the days afterwards, Senedd members said the issue of smart glasses – popularised by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta – needed to be dealt with at pace, with explicit guidance developed on their use.
asserted
guidance → say → use
There was no suggestion that O’Connell’s glasses were recording.
asserted
glasses → be → ?
But it has prompted a fresh debate about the increasingly popular technology, with the House of Commons facing calls to ban smart glasses at Westminster.
asserted
House → prompt → Westminster
The Liberal Democrats wrote to Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, on Wednesday urging him to act amid the “increasing use of smart glasses” on the parliamentary estate.
asserted
Democrats → write → estate
They warned that with Christmas coming, even more people could start using the AI-enabled devices in 2027.
uncertain
people → warn → 2027
The technology has myriad implications.
asserted
technology → have → implications
Anna Sabine, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for culture, media and sport, said smart glasses could lead to debates becoming increasingly “managed”.
uncertain
debates → say → culture
“How much is the quality of what an MP is saying actually down to what they’re getting through the AI glasses?” she said.
asserted
she → say → glasses
“It’s a really interesting question.”
asserted
It → ’ → ?
She said she had not yet identified anyone wearing smart glasses in parliament but added: “This is the problem: I wouldn’t necessarily know.”
asserted
I → say → parliament
A law would help to keep the estate and the work MPs did “private and secure”.
asserted
MPs → help → estate
Sabine added: “Smart glasses can record video and take photographs discreetly … creating a particular risk to the existing rules on the parliamentary estate [limiting recording and photography].
asserted
glasses → add → recording
“I am regularly in meetings with documents or talking about important, private matters on behalf of my constituents.
asserted
I → talk → constituents
I am sure you will agree that the details of such cases should never be at risk of being shared because someone is filming or taking pictures discreetly.
asserted
someone → agree → pictures
“Because smart glasses look like ordinary glasses, and increasingly their recording indicator lights can be covered or disabled, filming could easily go unnoticed by security teams, putting private information at risk.”
uncertain
filming → look → risk
A spokesperson for the UK parliament said it was reviewing its policy on the use of camera-equipped smart glasses, as well as other forms of wearable technology, on the parliamentary estate.
asserted
it → say → estate
The senior deputy speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Ponsonby, told parliament last month that the review “is considering the implications of these emerging technologies and whether additional guidance is required”.
asserted
guidance → tell → technologies
He added: “This work will bring together expertise from those responsible for filming and photography policy, physical and information security, privacy and data protection compliance and accessibility and reasonable-adjustment requirements, ensuring that any future approach appropriately balances security, privacy, operational needs and accessibility considerations.”
asserted
approach → add → security
O’Connell has been contacted for comment.
asserted
O’Connell → contact → comment
On Sunday he posted a picture on X of himself wearing a pair of comedy large pink glasses for a breast cancer charity, with the message: “Trialling some new glasses for the chamber this week.
asserted
himself → post → chamber
Apparently my last ones caused quite a stir.”
asserted
ones → cause → stir
The Aporia
