Nick Clegg MP, leader of the Liberal Democrats, this afternoon addressed a packed audience at the Royal Society, laying out his party’s views on the importance of science, technology, engineering and maths. In a wide-ranging speech which lasted for approximately half an hour, Mr Clegg covered a range of topics; from early-years science and maths education to the use of independent scientific advice by the government. Mr Clegg’s speech was then followed by a high quality question and answer session.

Mr Clegg began his speech by congratulating the Royal Society on a diverse and exciting programme of events to celebrate their 350th anniversary year, stating that the Society represented one of the only bodies which has been influential historically and which continues to be so. His speech emphasised the importance of STEM training and STEM professionals in leading the UK out of recession and called for not just a ‘rebuild’ but a ‘redesign’ of the economy, built not just on the financial sector but on science, technology and innovation. Mr Clegg blamed the Labour Government for failing to capitalise on the success of UK research (with 1% of the world’s population and 8% of the world’s scientific publications) by translating this success into business opportunities.

As a key part of his speech, Mr Clegg made five pledges to the scientific community. According to Mr Clegg a Liberal Democrat government would;
1) Be honest about spending:
Mr Clegg emphasised that the Government’s current debt was not sustainable and that a period of fiscal contraction would have to occur in the years to come. He stated that STEM would be at the forefront of Liberal Democrat thinking in grappling with the economic situation.
2) Allocate funding to broad priorities:
A Liberal Democrat government would respect the ‘Haldane Principle’ but that government would be entitled to take strategic decisions based on broad priorities. ‘Impact’ as part of the Research Excellence Framework would be re-examined.
3) Reform education to increase scientific literacy:
One of Mr Clegg’s key points was the fundamental importance of early-years education in crystallising young people’s attitudes to STEM and take-up of STEM subjects later in life. A Liberal Democrat government would be committed to improving the quality of STEM tuition, with all Key Stage 4 students having the opportunity to take three sciences.
4) Uphold policy based on independent evidence:
Mr Clegg said that he understood the importance of independent scientific advice and that he supported the Prinicples for the Treatment of Independent Scientific Advice as submitted to the Government by Sense about Science. A debate was also necessary, he said, on the media’s communication of science and of the nuances of scientific discovery.
5) Immediately reform English libel laws:
Freedom to evaluate critically the work of others is fundamental to science, Mr Clegg said, and immediate reform is needed to make sure that the UK’s libel laws don’t stifle scientific debate and inquiry.

In response to questioning Mr Clegg confirmed that these five principles would be found in the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto. In response to other questions he reiterated his party’s commitment to abolishing tuition fees for university students, although acknowledged that money was not available for this at present, and reiterated his commitment to ‘lead with evidence’ the policy-making process. When questioned about how he would deal with a direct clash between the evidence (in this case, that eating less meat would be better for the climate) and politics (safeguarding farmers’ interests) Mr Clegg was pragmatic however, stating that ultimately he and his colleagues were politicians, representing the public. With many rural constituencies he said that it would be difficult in this case to make policy purely on the basis of this evidence. He hoped, he said, that a Liberal Democrat government would show ’sophistication’ in its approach to evidence-based policy-making.

The Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn MP, and Shadow Environment Secretary, Nick Herbert MP, will both address the Oxford Farming Conference today, setting out their respective parties’ policies with regard to food and farming.

Nick Herbert is due to announce that a Conservative government would establish a supermarket ombudsman to protect the interests of farmers against any abuse of power by large food retailers. The ombudsman would be created as a unit inside the Office of Fair traiding and would be funded by a levy on big supermarkets. Nick Herbert will say that the ombudsman will “curb abuses of power which undermine our farmers and act against the long-term interests of consumers… failure to do so could result in reduced investment by suppliers, lower product quality and less product choice, with potentially higher prices in the long run.”

Hilary Benn will launch the government’s ‘Food 2030′ report, setting out the government’s food strategy for the next 20 years. Mr Benn will use his speech to the conference to call for Britain to grown more food in different ways, to reduce the environmental impact of food production and farming and to provide food for the world’s growing population. Mr Benn will say that society “know(s) that the consequences of the way we produce and consume food are unsustainable to our planet and to ourselves” and that a consumer revolution can bring about change. “People power can bring about a revolution in the way food is produced and sold…(farming will) follow consumer demand for food that is local, healthy and has been produced with a smaller environmental footprint.”

In his foreword to the report, Prime Minister Gordon Brown says that Britain “need(s) to produce more food without damaging the natural resources – air, soil, water and marine resources, biodiversity and climate – that we all depend on.” Plans within the report include making it easier for people to lease land to grow their own fruit and vegetables, reducing long waiting lists for city allotments, and a ‘land bank’ to ensure that plots of land do not go empty.

Original sources: BBC News: Parties to unveil plans for supermarkets and food, Guardian: Britain must grow more sustainable food, says Benn and Guardian: Conservatives to create supermarket ombudsman to protect farmers

The Guardian today reports on the Conservatives’ plans for new ‘conservation banks’, from which developers would be asked to buy credits as a condition of being granted permission to build. The Conservatives would use the money generated to lead to the creation of new woodlands, wetlands and wildlife corridors.

Many wildlife groups have greeted the proposals, from shadow environment secretary Nick Herbert, with caution. There is concern that the plans could offer a license to developers to destroy habitats, with the promise of compensatory ecological benefits elsewhere. Groups are also worried that the scheme could mean the end of public funding for nature conservation and a reliance on markets and private investment.

The ‘conservation banks’ could be run by local communities, voluntary groups or companies. In an interview with the Guardian, Nick Herbert said that “the existing bureaucratic, regulatory approach has failed to halt biodiversity loss. We need radical new thinking to reverse the decline. Our natural ecosystems and the services they provide like carbon storage, water storage, habitat for wildlife are worth billions of pounds. We have to find a way to unlock this value”. He stressed that the scheme would not weaken existing protection for endangered species or sites.

Original article: Tories reveal plams for conservation banks, 16 November

A member of the Policy Team yesterday attended a meeting of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee to discuss the vexed question of coal-fired energy generation and ‘Carbon Capture & Storage’ (CCS).

The Conservative Shadow Energy Minister, Charles Hendry, gave a very interesting presentation summarising his views and the priorities of any future Conservative Government. He stated that the market can no longer genuinely deliver a satisfactory energy system by itself, and that the Government needs to get more involved and establish a national energy policy. He then proceeded to argue that diversity of supply was essential to ensure energy security, and that therefore the UK needs to keep burning coal, and thus needs to introduce CCS.

Mr. Hendry recognised that this would require significant Government leadership and funding, for whilst the price of one large coal plant is approximately ₤700 million, including CCS would add a further ₤1 billion to the cost. Clusters of CCS-utilising power plants should therefore be created to attain as many economies of scale as possible, with one prime cluster candidate being in the South-East, on the Thames estuary.

To ensure that carbon reduction did occur, the Shadow Minister stated he was very interested in adopting an emissions performance standard along the lines of California, where any new power plant cannot be built unless its projected carbon emissions are under a certain set level. He also said he was considering the introduction of a minimum carbon price, in the form of a carbon tax, which could remedy the volatility and uncertain outlook of the current EU carbon price.

He was followed by Andy Read, the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project Manager at Kingsnorth coal-fired power station, who argued that CCS would definitely work, and that it is rather a question of economics, regulation and political uncertainty which will dictate how soon and where it is implemented. E.ON UK, the owners of Kingsnorth, are strongly pushing the creation of a CCS cluster in the South-East, with the carbon to be transported via under-sea pipeline to an old oil and gas field in the North Sea. The Q & A session did pick out one interesting point however, in that E.ON are committed to post-combustion removal of carbon technology, whilst many, including numerous chemical engineers in the audience, felt that pre-combustion carbon removal will be the real technology of the future. Charles Hendry stated that he recognised it was still unclear which exact technology will be most effective, but argued that the Government therefore had to support demonstration projects to ascertain which technologies would provide the best answer.

Science policy professionals met in London today for the first ‘Policy Lunchbox’ seminar, organised by the Biochemical and the British Ecological Societies. Nick Dusic, Director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), led a discussion on ‘How to engage with the opposition and with manifesto development in the run up to the 2010 election?’

CaSE has canvassed major and minor political parties alike in the run up to the European Elections on 4 June, asking them to provide details of their science and technology policies. The organisation plan to do the same over the next few months, trying to ensure that science, engineering and technology are a key part of each party’s manifesto in the run-up to the general election expected in spring 2010.

Nick urged the learned societies and academies represented around the table to work together to influence the development of party manifestos, creating a clear statement about what science and technology policy should aim to deliver over the coming years. The election offers an opportunity to engage new people with science policy: and one which the scientific community can sieze adequately only by working together.

Hustings featuring the spokespeople for the major political parties could offer one means for the scientific community to openly question politicians about their parties’ policies on research and development, science education and skills needs. Nick singled out the ‘Science ‘08” debate, called for by the science academies and universities in America during the US Presidential Election, as an effective way to raise the profile of science, engineering and technology and to encourage candidates to make their positions clear.

Overall, Nick encouraged the science community to work together – and work with CaSE – to make sure that whichever party is called on to form a new Government in 2010 demonstrates a strong commitment to science, engineering and technology.

Policy Lunchbox is an informal network of individuals working in science policy. Find out more about the network and future events we have planned.

The British Ecological Society and the Biochemical Society are working together to run a series of meetings aimed at bringing together those working in science policy. ‘Policy Lunchbox’ will begin on 27 May with a meeting with Nick Dusic, Director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, aiming to explore ‘How to work with the opposition and influence manifesto development in the run-up to the 2010 election’. This will be followed, on 8 July, by a meeting with Jack Stilgoe, Senior Policy Advisor at the Royal Society, to answer the question: ‘How can Learned Societies forge greater links with the Royal Society?’

Both events will be held at the Biochemical Society, Holborn, London. The meetings are free to attend but you must register for a place in advance: please contact rebecca.smith@biochemistry.org to do so.

Further information at: Biochemical Society and British Ecological Society websites

In a speech he is due to deliver today, the leader of the Conservatives, David Cameron, will reaffirm his party’s commitment to green policies, stressing that the global credit crunch has not led to a watering down of his commitment to this agenda. He is expected to say that he recognises that it is harder for the public to go green when economic times are hard, but that the world “can not afford” to do more to save the planet.

Mr Cameron is expected to say that the only way to “realistic environmentalism”, harmonising social, economic and environmental concerns, is to ” develop a strategy… not ignoring economic realities and just pressing on regardless, but understanding economic realities and using them as a spur to innovation and imagination. Although fighting climate change may seem like a step too far to cash-strapped families, Mr Cameron will insist that;”The truth is it’s not that we can’t afford to go green – it’s that we can’t afford not to go green.”

See original media articles (16 June 2008)

The Conservative Party’s Quality of Life Policy Group has published its report ‘Blueprint for a Green Economy.’ The report covers a range of environmental issues (climate change, marine, farming). Recommendations in the report will be considered by the Shadow Cabinet in drawing up new policies.

The Welsh Assembly elections are on 3 May. The following pledges from the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru manifestos may be of interest to ecologists:

Science funding and education: The Conservatives pledge a general increase in higher education funding. The Liberal Democrats want to make Wales a world leader in “eco-technology and research”. Plaid Cymru wants to focus research money on renewables. Labour pledges more outdoor education and eco-schools.

Environment: All four parties pledge to cut CO2 emissions. The Liberal Democrat’s have a target of 100% renewable energy by 2050. Plaid Cymru propose the creation of a national forest of native trees and a Marine Bill. Labour supports action to halt the decline in biodiversity and to look at marine reserves. The Liberal Democrats promise to support marine spatial planning, halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010 and promote biodiversity through agri-environment schemes. The Conservatives offer similar promises on agri-environment schemes and halting biodiversity loss by 2010.

The Scottish Parliament elections are on 3 May. Issues raised in the Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Scottish Socialist Party and Scottish National Party manifesto pledges relevant to ecology are:

Science funding and education: Labour and the SNP pledge measures to boost the life sciences and offer measures to promote science in schools. The Greens specifically support outdoor education and funding to promote it.

Environment: Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have promised 60% reductions in CO2 by 2050, the SNP and Scottish Socialists have pledged 3% cuts per annum and the Greens want an annual cut of 4.5%. The Liberal Democrats promise to stop the loss of biodiversity by 2010, preserve peatlands and create a marine park. Labour also favour a marine park and moot reintroductions, giving beaver as an example. The Greens pledge more funding for biodiversity conservation, a program of ecological restoration and marine parks. The SNP and the Conservatives have pledged to place fishermen’s interests at the centre of their marine strategy.