Science Facilities and Laboratories
Debate between Alison Hume and Tristan Osborne(3 days, 9 hours ago)
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Alison Hume
My hon. Friend and constituency neighbour is absolutely right in that important intervention. The constituency he represents has some of the most deprived communities in the UK and would benefit most from the expansion of the Boulby lab.
Involvement in LHCb, the large hadron collider beauty experiment—one of the major experiments at CERN’s large hadron collider—is also in doubt. STFC has cancelled UK participation in the next upgrade programme because of cost pressures, despite the UK being a major contributor. It is not clear to scientists working on the project exactly why it has been deprioritised.
Cancelling projects and closing facilities will lead to the loss of talent and reduce UK competitiveness in high-precision science and international collaborations. There is also the negative impact it will have on the success of Labour’s industrial strategy. The proposed expansion at Boulby and the construction of the XLZD will generate substantial economic benefits for the north-east, North Yorkshire and the UK.
Tristan Osborne (Chatham and Aylesford) (Lab)
My hon. Friend makes an outstanding point about the multiplier effect on surrounding economies. I have had the pleasure of visiting Sussex University and its leading quantum lab. The proposal it has put together would make a net contribution not only to the local economy, but in terms of direct drivers to jobs linked to airports and other transport corridors. Does my hon. Friend agree that cuts to simple science budgets have a material impact on communities, and also a multiplier effect?
Alison Hume
I agree with my hon. Friend entirely. This is about looking forward and investing in the future.
Independent analysis by Arup shows that the proposed expansion of the Boulby site and the construction of XLZD would bring approximately £587 million to the UK economy through the creation of skilled jobs, by increasing supply chains in advanced manufacturing and by attracting scientific investment into the region. There are also plans for a visitor centre to showcase the north-east’s remarkable contribution to our understanding of the universe, which could attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.
Although the Government are increasing spending on research and development, I would be grateful if the Minister could answer a couple of questions. First, why does the facility in the north-east face more than double the cuts faced by facilities in the south? Will she set out how the Department, UK Research and Innovation and the STFC assessed the relative value of investment in fundamental physics compared with other areas of research and development? Will she publish the evidence that underpins the decisions? Has the Minister looked at the cumulative impact of the cuts on physics as a discipline in the United Kingdom?
On Boulby specifically, will the Minister please explain how the Government have assessed the laboratory’s unique strategic position? What weight has been given to the projected economic impact of the expansion of the Boulby lab? Finally, will the Minister explicitly restate the Government’s interest in and support for the XLZD project? It is a project of such international stature that it could deliver the discovery of dark matter, which would be worthy of a Nobel prize.
I appreciate that I have asked my hon. Friend the Minister a lot of questions, but I assure her that they pale in comparison with the number of questions physicists ask themselves every day. Science facilities such as Boulby are places where discoveries are made, young people are inspired, international partnerships are forged and the foundations of future industries are laid. With XLZD at Boulby, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the UK to make one of the biggest discoveries of our age in the search for dark matter. It offers transformational economic opportunity for the north-east, and would strengthen our industrial strategy, skills base and reputation on the world stage. I therefore urge the Minister to recognise the exceptional national value of Boulby underground laboratory and other UK science facilities and laboratories, and to ensure that Britain remains at the forefront of scientific discovery for decades to come.