There is a paucity of research policy in the Conservative Party leadership contest.
Rishi Sunak is announcing funding which already exists. Liz Truss has retreated into reminding everyone Britain can be a science superpower. In the meantime, with no full-time science minister major issues like association to Horizon remain unresolved.
It is not because the candidates aren’t interested in research. Truss is leading legal action against the EU over Horizon. Sunak was the Chancellor, who despite his fiscal instincts, sanctioned the single largest uplift in research of any government ever. Both candidates have made vague gestures about using research to boost the economy. It’s just that it is all a bit flat.
