Little science in parties’ opening general election salvos

Three major parties largely overlooked R&D in their first volley of campaign messages

The Campaign for Science and Engineering has called on all political parties to make three key commitments to support science and engineering, after a week of campaign launches largely devoid of content on research.

Case is calling for a long-term plan to reach 3 per of GDP invested in R&D by 2030, with planned yearly increases for public investment. Also included in its manifesto for science and engineering published on 6 November are the twin goals of making the UK a “partner of choice” for international and EU collaborations and an immigration system that works for science and engineering.