Labour pledges to tackle underinvestment in R&D

The Labour party has said it wants to “improve the UK’s record of underinvestment in R&D” and has reiterated that it will introduce a long-term framework for science and innovation to provide stability and to help do so.

In its paper A Better Plan for Britain’s Prosperity, published on 16 February, the Labour party sets out its aim for how to boost productivity in the UK. One of four major steps to do so, it says, involves the public sector "playing an active part in driving up productivity across the whole economy, supporting firms through cutting-edge innovation and research, strategic investment and procurement."

The paper also reiterates that there has been a lack of a long-term vision for science and innovation in the UK. It also highlights the low UK public and private expenditure on R&D, illustrating the difference between the UK figures and those of Japan, the United States, Germany and France. The paper quotes from a report by Mike Wright on advanced manufacturing in the UK, which said that “as a country we spend far too little on research and development”.