In a blistering and impassioned address, Professor Brian Cox has launched a fierce condemnation of the UK government's approach to science funding, labelling it a profound and damaging failure of vision that risks the nation's future prosperity.
The world-renowned physicist and broadcaster issued his stark warning during a speech at the prestigious Francis Crick Institute in London, arguing that chronic underinvestment is systematically crippling Britain's ability to compete on the global scientific stage.
'We Are Being Outpaced and Outthought'
Professor Cox pulled no punches, stating that the UK is being rapidly "outpaced and outthought" by international rivals who are making bold, strategic investments in research and development. He painted a picture of a nation squandering its illustrious scientific heritage through short-sighted political decisions.
"The conversation in government is not about ambition for science. It's about cost-cutting," he asserted, highlighting a fundamental misalignment between the scientific community's needs and Westminster's current priorities.
A Dire Warning from a Nobel Laureate
The event, hosted by BBC Studios, also featured Sir Paul Nurse, the Nobel Prize-winning geneticist and director of the Francis Crick Institute. Sir Paul echoed Cox's concerns, delivering a similarly grave assessment.
He criticised the government's recent decision to delay a critical £2 billion allocation of research funding, a move he believes sends a disastrous signal to the international scientific community about the UK's commitment to discovery and innovation.
The Stark Economic Consequences
Both luminaries emphasised that this is not merely an academic issue. The health of the nation's scientific ecosystem is directly tied to its economic future, driving growth, creating high-skilled jobs, and solving pressing global challenges from health pandemics to climate change.
Their powerful interventions serve as a rallying cry, urging a dramatic shift in policy to safeguard the UK's position as a science superpower before the damage becomes irreversible.
