Science Facilities and Laboratories
Debate between Alison Hume and Sarah Russell(3 days, 9 hours ago)
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Alison Hume
My hon. Friend makes a really important point. Certainty of funding is so important. We risk cutting off everything at the knees and, with our plan for growth, that is not something that the Labour Government can afford to do.
The cuts are £162 million in cumulative savings by 2030. Brian Cox, TV scientist and professor at the University of Manchester, has likened the impact of these cuts to the “destruction of the future”. His concerns have been echoed by academics across the field, who fear that physics departments at universities will close. Professor Jeff Forshaw, also at Manchester, has said that these cuts are “annihilating” a field of research that inspired young people into physics.
Multiple physics facilities carrying out world-leading research now face serious funding challenges or the threat of closure. Diamond Light Source and the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source are facing cuts of 15% apiece. The Jodrell Bank observatory, home to the UK’s largest radio telescope for nearly 70 years, faces closure as early as 2028.
Sarah Russell (Congleton) (Lab)
The Jodrell Bank observatory has been doing fantastic, cutting-edge physics in my constituency and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (Tim Roca) for a very long time, but it is regularly updated and retains its reputation for cutting-edge science. Does my hon. Friend agree that it would be an absolute travesty if its funding were withdrawn?
Alison Hume
My hon. Friend is absolutely right—it would be catastrophic. I completely agree with her. Other hon. Members have also mentioned Jodrell Bank. These cuts are threatening some of the UK’s most important scientific assets and arguably the entire discipline of UK physics.