Conservative former science minister George Freeman has warned that cuts to UK research spending, including for association to Horizon Europe, will remain a risk if the government “ploughs on with unfunded tax cuts”, despite securing Treasury commitment not to cut the science budget.
After the Liz Truss government’s “mini-budget” series of unfunded tax giveaways alarmed the markets, analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggested that funding those plans through public spending reductions would necessitate cuts of about £60 billion.
