£2 Billion per year More for Sciences

Prime minister Theresa May has approved £2 billion per year science funding increase.

16:31 22 November 2016

Prime Minister Theresa May has unveiled plans to invest an extra £2billion a year in science starting in 2020 at a speech to the CBI. The funding will be used for emerging fields of research in which the UK excels, such as robotics, artificial intelligence and biotech. 

 

Addressing business leaders, she said she wanted the UK to be “"the global go-to place for scientists, innovators and tech investors".

 

"Today, Britain has firms and researchers leading in some of the most exciting fields of human discovery. We need to back them and turn research strengths into commercial success,"

 

"That means not only investing more in research and development, but ensuring we invest that money wisely, supporting technologies and sectors that have the potential to deliver long-term benefits for Britain."

 

Mrs May’s announcement was welcomed by the president of the Royal Society, Prof Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, who said: "This sends out a strong signal to the rest of the world that Britain is determined to be a leading innovative country".

 

However, he said he was concerned that tighter immigration rules as a result of Brexit could hamper UK research. 

 

"An influx of money on its own won't be sufficient in itself if we are to make the best use of this money.” 

 

"We need to hire the best talent. Hopefully a lot of that will be home-grown. But there is no substitute for attracting the best in the world so we can be the best in the world."