Government must reverse damaging science cuts

Responding to reports that the government is planning significant cuts to UK research funding, Prospect Senior Deputy General Secretary Sue Ferns OBE said:

“The UK’s desirability as a partner for international research collaborations is built on national capacity – infrastructure and the skilled workforce that supports it – not just grant funding. Denuding any of those diminishes our standing on the global research stage. 

“The cuts announced this week are the product of a political choice.  UK government investment in R&D is well behind its historic peak and also other leading scientific nations. This is forcing damaging competition between the science that’s ready to commercialise today, and that which keeps us at the experimental leading-edge of international research communities. We cannot afford to lose either.

“Public sector research facilities like those at Harwell and Daresbury, now facing devastating cuts, act as catalysts to regional business ecosystems, and offer training and job opportunities to their local communities. 

“The Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank is an icon of our national identity – a UNESCO World Heritage site and an active research station – representing the past, delivering the present, and inspiring the future of UK science. It must be protected.

“If we want lasting growth, and high-quality scientific and technical jobs for future generations, we must invest like the ‘scientific superpower’ we aspire to be. We should be restoring and not further eroding the foundations of our research capabilities, the incoming Prime Minister must urgently review this decision.”