Science and Politics in the United Kingdom

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Coming months will determine how much research spending will really increase

Science and politics in the United Kingdom have enjoyed a summer of love, but now the holidays draw to a close. Universities, policymakers, and politicians prepare to return to the fray, and the detailed decision making due during the coming months about allocatation of new funds announced in the summer will test just how strong the new relationship is.

Hopes are high. "We're seeing a renaissance of British science," enthused Ian Gibson (Labour, Norwich North), chair of the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology. As an adherent of the hard left, Gibson is not a natural …