Alf Young: We need more than slogans to keep tech superpower dream alive
In early March, Rishi Sunak unveiled his government’s “plan to cement the UK’s place as a science and technology superpower by 2030”. He went further. “Trailblazing science and innovation have been in our DNA for decades,” the PM declared. A new Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) led by secretary of state Michelle Donelan is already in place, although she is currently on maternity leave. Now “over £370 million in new government funding to boost infrastructure, investment and skills” will follow, Sunak promises.
On Saturday, Sir James Dyson wrote to The Times letters page accusing the UK government of “woeful policies” that diminish such prime ministerial rhetoric to “a mere political slogan”. The trigger for Dyson’s scornful onslaught was a column here last Thursday
