Brown: Economic success depends on science
Britain’s future economic success depends on making better use of its cutting-edge scientific research in areas such as genetic experimentation and stem cell research, Chancellor Gordon Brown today.
And he vowed to make “any necessary reforms” in his quest to make Britain one of the world’s most attractive environments for business and a world leader in scientific research.
Opening the Advance Enterprise conference in London, the Chancellor said Britain could become “one of the most successful enterprise centres of the world”.
This would only be achieved by pushing forward on genetic research, animal experimentation and GM foods, and by welcoming people with scientific skills from other nations to come and work in Britain.
The Government was developing plans for “science cities” and would be updating its £2.5 billion ten-year framework for advancing British science, he added.
But noting that India and China produced 120,000 computer science graduates each year to Britain’s 5,000, he warned: “Britain will not only have to be more enterprising . Britain will only attain a new and competitive place for ourselves if we strive for, and win, world leadership in science and skills and enterprise.”
The UK already had more than 11 per cent of the world’s most often cited scientific papers, and a greater share of economic growth delivered by science-based innovations than any other industrial nation, the Chancellor said.
“All of this shows us that we in Britain now have the chance, if we make the right long-term decisions, to become the best location for scientific research and development and world leaders in the new enterprises of the future.”
And he promised: “To win this prize, we are prepared to remove any unacceptable barrier, legislate any necessary reforms and introduce far-reaching incentives.”
He added: “We can be one of the global economy’s greatest success stories.”
Repeating the oft-heard refrain of stability, the Chancellor said that there would be no “pre-election spree”.
Underlining the need to improve entrepreneurship teaching in schools, Mr Brown said every college and university should be twinned with a “business champion”. Female entrepreneurship should also be encouraged.
On Europe, the Chancellor promised to resist “inflexible regulation” from the European Union, and to use Britain’s presidency to push forward a new transatlantic trade and investment partnership to liberalise trade between Europe and the United States.
