by Henry Lovett, Policy & Public Affairs Officer
Politics does not only happen in Westminster. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has a complex system of internal devolution, with Parliaments or Assemblies in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, as well as London. The Physiological Society is always keen to engage with the devolved administrations to discuss local industries and university research specialities, as well as the impact of their unique local political situation on UK-wide concerns such as the Industrial Strategy. Our policy team has just come back from Edinburgh, where Science and the Parliament 2017 was taking place in the city’s impressive science centre, Dynamic Earth.
The theme of Science and the Parliament was “Science, Innovation and the Economy”, but of course this was broadened in everyone’s mind to include Brexit. The UK government has claimed that science, technology, and innovation will be at the heart of our post-Brexit economy, and the discussion centred on what this means for Scotland (an area that voted to remain in the EU, which was also a big issue in the Scottish Independence referendum). Despite being a hotbed of commercialisation of university-derived research, there was much discussion about how to improve the progress of start-up companies in Scotland. They take longer to reach a turnover of £1m than anywhere else in the UK or most of Europe. It was felt that the new structures around research and innovation funding, UK Research and Innovation, need to include significant representation from Scotland (and the other devolved nations) not to become too England-centric. There was also general concern that fundamentals such as infrastructure and connectivity affect start-up companies, so investment has to be made to make areas of Scotland attractive places to base a company.
Earlier in the year we also attended Science and the Assembly in Cardiff, and Science and Stormont in Belfast. Each of these events has a slightly different take on how to explore science in the local area. Cardiff focused on antimicrobial research, while Belfast titled their event “Skills for Science and Innovation”. The research discussed in Cardiff was very impressive, both from local universities and companies based in the area. The talks in Belfast had a much more political focus, with concerns being raised about the effects of the ongoing suspension of the Northern Irish Assembly. This was halting new initiatives, including those designed to address the serious problem of the supply of science teachers in Northern Ireland.
At each of these events we were delighted to have an exhibition stand to raise the profile of physiology and increase recognition of the policy work we are undertaking. These events present great opportunities to mingle with people involved locally in scientific research and outreach, in order to discuss everyone’s projects and initiatives. We were pleased to also welcome Physiological Society members based locally to discuss our policy work with them, find out their views and concerns for The Society to address, and generally catch up about the exciting physiology research being done across the UK.
Thanks are due to all the Members who visited us, all the politicians who attended and spoke at the events, and the Royal Society of Chemistry for arranging these valuable opportunities to connect with politicians and scientists across the UK.