Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Oral Answers to Questions

Chi Onwurah Excerpts
Thursday 31st March 2011

(13 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Chi Onwurah Portrait Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
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In November, the Chancellor took £1.4 billion out of capital investment for science. Last week, he gave back about £100 million—strangely, all of it to Conservative constituencies. Our country’s leading reputation in science deserves better than that. When this week’s Royal Society report, “Knowledge, networks and nations”, spelled out the rise of China, India, Korea and Brazil as science superpowers, it was unable to set out the UK’s long-term plan because there is not one. Will the Secretary of State prevail on the Chancellor to agree a long-term plan for science funding, as we had under Labour?

Vince Cable Portrait Vince Cable
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There is a long-term plan for science funding. The hon. Lady obviously has not followed the comments that were made by the Royal Society and many others in the science community welcoming the flat-cash settlement and the ring-fencing of the science budget.