31 March 2015 
Jen Summerton, Executive Director
The Green Party has pledged to bring science funding up to 1% of GDP in a letter to the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) after the organisation asked parties what their plans would be for science spend ahead of the election. The CaSE received six letters back.
According to an article by the BBC: “David Cameron and Ed Miliband both said science was important to Conservative and Labour plans, respectively, for stimulating economic growth. But CaSE said neither of the two major parties had put a firm number on that assurance.”
Despite its position as a minor party, the Greens’ commitment to doubling public spending on research over the next 10 years is noteworthy. The UK’s science budget has fallen in real terms, despite being protected as a “flat cash” sum, since 2010. In 2012 it fell below 0.5% of GDP, according to research, and is now proportionally the lowest science spend in the G8.
This information comes just after the chancellor, George Osborne, announced plans to introduce some loans of up to £25,000 for PhD and research master’s students in his Budget, delivered on 18 March. A previous article on this website refers to these loans being earmarked for certain relevant subject areas, including science.
