Notes & Theories science blog

Vince Cable's science speech praised by Lord Sainsbury

Tony Blair's science minister was impressed with the business secretary's speech, but laid on the pressure ahead of cuts
British Minister of Business Vince Cable in Brazil
Vince Cable, the business secretary, gave a major speech on science research on Wednesday. Photograph: Antonio Lacerda/EPA

Lord Sainsbury, the former science minister to Tony Blair's government, shared his thoughts on Vince Cable's science speech yesterday. No one asked him to do this, though of course they should. He was giving a press conference on another matter entirely. "If no one's going to ask me about Vince Cable's speech, I'm going to tell you," he announced. "I've thought about it."

Sainsbury was impressed and even optimistic. He dismissed the much-covered reaction against it as unjustified. Cable was "exactly on the right lines", he said, and gets that "if we're going to get economic growth...we are going to have to do it through science."

The praise will come as welcome relief for Cable. His speech and latter comments on the future of research in this country drew the ire of academics who are understandably nervous and fear bad times ahead for British science. But Sainsbury was playing an interesting game. His praise puts the pressure on.

What followed was Lord Sainsbury's guide to UK economic salvation: "France, Germany and the US are all putting more money into science. And Germany has to be the most fiscally prudent country in the world. Why are they doing that? It's not just for the love of science. They see absolutely that it is critical for economic growth."

No need to read between the lines here: countries make money by investing in science, not taking funds away from it. Sadly, investing is not an option that appears to be on the table in Britain. Research councils have been asked to draw up plans for cuts of 20%, 10% or flat cash in the months and years ahead. The uncertainty is in the magnitude of the cuts and precisely where they will fall.

When Sainsbury went on, it was in the spirit that if you praise someone enough for what they say will do, they are in for a hard time if they fail to deliver. "It's only when we see what comes out of the spending review that we'll know whether [Cable] has managed to persuade the Treasury of the importance of science and innovation for the future of this country and economic growth."

And then there was: "If this is all a subtext for warming people up for major cuts, then people should be very worried. I hope he can do better than that, and that is what I'll judge him by."

Grim scenarios might well lie ahead if science cuts are deep, Sainsbury said. His concern is that within a year, if there are no signs of economic growth, government will scratch around for programmes specifically designed to boost the economy. "But this will be after we have just cut off one of the most important ways of getting economic growth in the future."

As for the tough decisions to be made over what research is spared and what projects are axed, Sainsbury's answer is to focus research in fewer universities, instead of spreading it quite so wide. Surely what is needed are high precision cuts. Top ranking universities have mediocre research projects and vice versa.

Will British science survive what is coming in next month's spending review? "I don't think there is any activity, certainly no government activity, where you can't find seven percent waste," said Sainsbury. "But if you go beyond that, you begin to make the impact of science much less."

Throughout, Sainsbury repeated a message to scientists: they must keep on telling government that when the country is desperate for growth, the only way to get it is through science and innovation. "The science community must go on and on making this case and we need British industry to say look, this is where our future lies." This was Sainsbury leading by example, from start to finish.

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