Fiona Hatch
University of Surrey, UK

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.100.13

To ensure professional societies have their voice heard, they need to be able to interact with parliamentarians. One such way was the Parliamentary Links Day organised by Stephen Benn from the Royal Society of Biology, hosted at the Houses of Parliament on 23 June 2015 with special guests Stephen Metcalfe MP and Chi Onwurah MP. This day was packed with professional Society staff members and committees to find out the thoughts of MPs themselves and to make their opinions known regarding science, research, funding and teaching.

The opening was provided by Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, as well as Chi Onwurah MP and Jo Johnson MP, Minister for Universities and Science. All three spoke about the importance of science and saw it as an integral part of the UK’s future. Chi Onwurah MP, who was previously an electrical engineer for 20 years, held a particular interest in women in science and also the rewards and importance of transitioning from science to parliament.

The opening panel session was the first opportunity for the professional society bodies to answer questions and provide their opinions to the congregation of scientists, societies and MPs. The overarching title was ‘The National Value of Science’. This included Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP who is the Shadow Minister for Universities, Science and Skills, Sarah Hartwell-Naguib  who runs the House of Commons Library, Clare Viney from Royal Society of Chemistry, and Naomi Weir from the Campaign for Science and Engineering. Funding was a key issue across the panel, especially for science research; it was noted by all that the UK does punch well above its weight for relatively little revenue input, but this will certainly begin to fall behind when compared with China’s science spending.

A keynote address was provided by Nicola Blackwood MP, who was recently elected the Chair for the House of Commons Science & Technology Select Committee. She was the first woman to be elected Chair of the Science & Technology Select Committee, which was a triumph in itself. Her speech echoed many sentiments previously expressed and vowed to ensure progressive change within the committee she now chaired. This was followed by the next panel session entitled ‘The International Value of Science’, which included Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell from the Royal Society of Edinburgh.  She echoed previous sentiments, but in particular she valued women in science and, more importantly, diversity. This, she found, was increasingly difficult with immigration being poorly managed and visas being near-impossible to obtain for scientists and students, resulting in very little input from non-UK citizens into science. Additional panel members included Dr James Larkin from the Royal Marsden Hospital, Hetan Shah from the Royal Statistical Society, Dr Chris Ryler from the Parliamentary office of Science & Technology and finally Chris Whitty from the Department of International Development.

Sir Venki Ramakrishnan, President Elect of the Royal Society, gave the closing talk for the day. He was a prime example of the many aspects that both panels had brought to light: the importance of funding into science education and research, as well as the ability to create a diverse work place so that skills from across the globe could be put to good use in the aims of furthering modern science. Overall it was an insightful day, which hopefully will provide the fuel needed for change.

Fiona Hatch would like to give special thanks to Stephen Benn for providing an invitation to the event.