As a leader of the industrial age, Britain has a long and rich history of invention and ingenuity. While we may no longer be a manufacturing nation, we still maintain a strong tradition in innovation, and the government is clear that it wants the UK to become a global research and development powerhouse.
We need only look to the life sciences sector and the research that enabled the UK to produce one of the leading vaccines in the response to Covid-19 to see this in action. But, as we emerge from the pandemic, taking lessons from Covid-19, we need to invigorate markets like infrastructure to spearhead a green revolution and truly ‘build back better’.
Government investment in research at universities is welcome. As is the creation of the new Advanced Research and Invention Agency, which challenges the public sector to throw off some of its usual constraints to invest in disruptive research and technology. Without strong funding to pay the top talent and...