Funding council officials are concerned about the effects of potential 25% cuts on the science budget could have on Britain's involvement in a number of international projects such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as creating a 'lost generation' of scientists, the Guardian reports. It quotes Professor Brian Cox, of the University of Manchester, as saying that it would "irreparably damage physics in the UK at all levels, not to mention the massive waste of taxpayers' money involved in building facilities and then withdrawing from them on the eve of their scientific return. It would be madness, vandalism even".
The Independent takes a slightly different tack and points to some of the projects being worked on as a result of council funding, which might not be developed in a more austere future.