Election pledges put research at heart of economy

As the election approaches, the two main parties have both promised to increase research and development from 1.7% to 3% of gross domestic product, although only the Labour Party has specified a timeframe. It’s the first time both major parties have committed to such a huge increase in funding in their manifestos and it would translate to billions more for science and technology, writes Maria Burke for Chemistry World.

The Conservative Party pledges in its manifesto to meet the current Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, countries’ average investment in R&D of 2.4% within 10 years, with a longer-term goal of 3%. It also states that it would increase the number of scientists in the United Kingdom but without any detail.

Labour, while committing to investment in research, doesn’t give any detail on how this would be achieved apart from promising to meet the OECD target of 3% of GDP by 2030. Labour also announced a £250 billion (US$320 billion) ‘National Transformation Fund’ that would provide investment for infrastructure over 10 years, including funding for transport, energy and research.
Full report on the Chemistry World site