Tony Blair: We must take science seriously

From a speech given by the Prime Minister to the Royal Society in London

We need to ensure our bright young people share our excitement about the potential of science and the role they can play. We particularly need to reverse the decline in maths, physics and engineering, and make science a career to aspire to, for girls as well as boys.

We need to deepen school specialisation in science, in particular by seeking new forms of collaboration involving colleges and higher education institutions. I would like to see many more universities sharing their facilities and teaching expertise with secondary schools, as well as linking up with the private sector to maximise our national scientific capability.

I am concerned about the findings of the Roberts report on skills shortages in the sciences and engineering. We will be looking very carefully at his recommendations as part of the Spending Review 2002.

I want to make sure the UK is one of the best places in the world to do science. For that we need our people, equipment and infrastructure to be properly funded. And we should continue to promote British science abroad.

We need to continue our improvements in government handling of science, where public trust is low. All departments need strong systems for managing research and handling advice. Scientific information and advice to the Government should be freely available. Open and informed public debate on key scientific issues will be an integral part of our approach.

We need to go further in our drive for successful knowledge transfer. Our goal is prosperity for all through successful business using excellent science. We need to ensure that the Government, scientists and the public are engaged in establishing the central role of science in building the world we want.

If we can produce a confident relationship between scientists and the public, the promise is that Britain can be as much of a powerhouse of innovation – and its spin-offs – in the 21st century as we were in the 19th and early 20th century. The benefits in industry, jobs of quality, healthcare, education, and the environment can transform our future. We must exercise the care and judgement to make scientific discovery a liberating, civilising force, not a leap into the unknown.