UK's Conservative Party re-discovers science

Ian Taylor, MP: the former science minister will lead the Conservatives' new task force.

“I hope this group will be seen as a contribution to forming the right policy for the nation,” said Oliver Letwin MP, chairman of the party’s policy review, speaking at the launch on Monday (15 May).

The main purpose of the task force – known as STEM – is to propose actions that an incoming Conservative government should adopt to ensure that science makes the maximum contribution to the UK’s economic competitiveness.

It will also consist of 10 other members drawn from politics, academe and industry. They include: Bruce Smith, a former chairman of the Economic and Social Research Council and currently director of IP Group, which provides funds for commercialising academic research; Malcolm Harbour MEP, vice-chairman of the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Unit; and Ric Parker, director of Research & Technology at Rolls-Royce Group.

Taylor admitted that the party’s track record on science hasn’t been particularly good. “The Conservative Party has recently failed to take science and technology sufficiently into account in policy formation,” he said. “Science was not mentioned at all into our last general election manifesto.”

But he claimed that the party now recognised the importance of science to economic growth. “Without the ability to create and retain high-quality, knowledge-intensive jobs and the innovative businesses that develop and apply new technology, our economy and well-being will suffer,” he said.

STEM, which forms part of the Economic Competitiveness Policy Review Group, will consider ten main themes.

• The scope of a national strategy for STEM.
  
  
• The relative importance of applied science and ‘blue skies’ research.
  
  
• The key research areas that need to be developed and/or retained.
  
  
• The achievement and exploitation of STEM in a global market.
  
  
• The most effective mechanisms for the successful exploitation of STEM.
  
  
• The relative effectiveness of input funding versus government procurement.
  
  
• The methods and mechanisms of attracting and retaining students/leading experts.
  
  
• The role of public sector research establishments.
  
  
• The remit, organisation and management of the Research Councils.
  
  
• The impact of the EU and international research collaboration in STEM.

As part of its deliberations, the task-force will gather views and opinions from individuals, universities, professional bodies and companies. Taylor mentioned the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and the mobile phone company Motorola as two innovative companies that he hoped would submit evidence.

The task force plans to publish an interim report by the end of the year listing 10 priorities for an incoming Conservative government. Letwin and Taylor also said that they would be happy if the current Labour government adopted some of the proposals. “If the [present] government wants to start the good work of implementing what Ian recommends, so much the better,” said Letwin.

The Labour government outlined its plans for the future of UK science in 2004, when it published the science andinnovation investment framework 2004–2014. It pledged to increase government funding for scientific research and to adopt measures to make the UK the most attractive location in the world for science and innovation.

Taylor said that although there is a strong science base there are “some disturbing signs that the UK is not performing as well as it ought to”.

He highlighted the increasing competition from overseas research and said, “We are not as strong as we think we are when we think of our great universities.” In a ranking of world universities produced by Shanghai Jian Tong University in 2005, only two UK universities – Cambridge and Oxford – made it into the top 10. All the other eight places were held by US institutions.