Budget 2021: Rishi Sunak announces disguised £2bn science funding cut

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has promised to make Britain a “science and technology superpower”, despite imposing a £2 billion cut on research and development funding.

Addressing the House of Commons, Mr Sunak identified “two issues” to solve, firstly expanding the scope of tax relief for UK businesses conducting research, while also cutting relief for R&D happening abroad.

“We are subsidising billions of pounds of R&D that isn’t even happening here in the United Kingdom. That’s unfair on the British taxpayers,” he said.

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