The United Kingdom leads the world in science and research, but we will only thrive outside the European Union if we grasp the opportunities available and play to our strengths. Increased investment and higher productivity is vital for us to maintain our competitive advantage.
Our country may not be as big as China or the US - we represent less than one per cent of the world’s population - but the UK science industry produces 16 per cent of top-quality research findings and we rank second in the world for the quality of our scientific research institutions. The statistics available in support of British science and research are more than impressive.
The prime minister’s announcement of an additional £2 billion investment a year in research and development (R&D) by the end of this parliament is fantastic news for industry and will help to create jobs and increase productivity.
And yet, the Labour leader and the shadow chancellor have called for even existing reliefs in this area to be slashed. However, their shadow BEIS secretary criticises our commitment to invest further billions in R&D. Over and over again the Labour Party demonstrate they’re too divided and incompetent to provide the leadership our country needs.
Our decision to leave the EU is not an example of Britain stepping back from the world. Following our departure, we have our sights set on forging a global role in trade, research and innovation. The science industry has a fantastic opportunity and a chance to lead the world again in new areas of innovation.
The promise of a new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund from the prime minister shows that this government is making plans to support industry post-Brexit. The fund will be used to back priority technologies such as robotics and biotechnology, which have recently been the subject of an inquiry in the science and technology select committee.
Despite our strengths in science, we need to do more to reap the benefits by converting our research findings into commercial results both in terms of products and services. Often ideas developed in the UK end up being commercialised elsewhere.
Having worked as an engineer in the mass spectrometry industry for nearly 20 years, I know that this is not an easy task to accomplish. It requires more than a protection of budgets – we must also reduce the complexity of support systems to provide clear advice on funding. The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund seeks to right this wrong. By putting research and development at the heart of our country’s new industrial strategy, the government is ensuring that we will have an economy firing on all cylinders.
Importantly, we need an industrial strategy that will seek to ensure working people in every part of the country can really benefit from the opportunities that research and development provide. We must tackle longstanding problems, most especially the historic imbalance towards London and the southeast.
Britain needs to set the scientific pace at the global and regional levels. Both government and industry must grasp this historic opportunity we now have to deliver jobs and economic growth to every corner of the country.
The government is providing the strategy and investment, business has bounced back following the referendum result and now the university sector and innovators in every symposium and conference should spread the word that Britain is investing for the future.
Chris Green is a Conservative MP and member of the science and technology committee.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/…/britain-can-lead-the-world-in-s…