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Britain’s science base will be in “real jeopardy” if the government does not commit to spending more in the years to come, warns Liam Byrne, Labour’s shadow universities minister.
In an interview with the Guardian, Byrne says “we should not be under any illusion that our position in global science will slip” if the government does not prioritise investment.
“We are flagging the warning that we’ve heard literally all over the world from British scientists who work in Britain and other countries,” says Byrne.
The UK spends 1.79% of its GDP on research and development, which is below the EU average of just over 2%. Germany, France, Japan and South Korea all invest a greater percentage of GDP than Britain.
The Germans spend 3% on R&D and they have made it very clear that they see their future in the world dependent on the strength of their research base, adds Byrne.
It’s time to flag how serious this has now become, he warns – and reveals that research councils have told him in private that they are worried about “how they will keep the lights on in big research facilities”. Yet despite these concerns, Labour says it cannot commit, at present, to new spending on science.
In a pamphlet published today, entitled Robbins Rebooted, in a reference to the Robbins report on university expansion in 1963, Byrne says that the spending on R&D in the UK is too low.
Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, says: “This is something we have long argued and so we are eager to hear how prospective governments would prioritise increasing investment in this vital area for economic growth.”
Professor David Price, vice-provost for research at University College London, says: “Many counties, particularly in the far east, have increased and continue to increase the amount of money spent on university research and infrastructure. If the UK is to remain globally competitive, ‘flat cash’ funding [fixed spending] will no longer be enough, but rather we must see increased but focused investment in our world leading research and teaching-excellent universities.”
The government announced this year that it will continue to protect the science ringfence for 2015–16.
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