Oral Answers to Questions

Martyn Day Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd May 2023 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

1. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on association to the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Leo Docherty)]

We are in discussions with the EU on the UK’s involvement in EU research programmes. We are doing this in good faith, and we hope that the discussions will be successful. We are determined to secure a fair deal for researchers, businesses and taxpayers.

[Martyn Day]

Owen Jackson, the director of policy at Cancer Research UK, has said that Pioneer, the Government’s proposed replacement for the EU’s science programme, does not “match up” to association to Horizon Europe. He has warned that if we do not rejoin, we

“will be at the margins, rather than at the centre, of these important opportunities”

to win funding. Now that the Windsor framework is in place, will the Minister update the House on recent meetings between the UK Government and the European Commissioner responsible for Horizon Europe?

[Leo Docherty]

We have always been at the centre of scientific innovation. I will not give the House a running commentary on the negotiations, but we do have optimism. We are confident that we will be able to secure that fair deal for researchers, businesses and taxpayers, with the kind of important research that the hon. Gentleman has mentioned.