PARLIAMENT DEBATES EFFECTS OF LEAVING THE EU ON EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Carol Monaghan MP has said the UK government is jeopardising the future of education and science by failing to provide any certainty for the future of the sector.
In a debate in Parliament on 19th December, the SNP’s Education spokesperson said that the UK’s decision to leave the European Union threatens research and development which relies heavily on EU funding and long-term stability to secure investments.
Earlier today, Andrew Scott, Chief Executive of Scotrenewables Tidal Power Ltd, told Parliament’s Brexit Committee in Aberdeen that if European funding for Research and Development was not replaced, “we’d have a serious problem.” When responding to a questions by SNP MP Joanna Cherry QC on Scottish renewables projects, Mr Scott said, “if we cannot raise inward investment into R&D (research and development) to help bridge that commercialisation gap at this stage the sector may well just fail.”
Commenting ahead of the debate, Carol Monaghan MP said:
“Research in Scotland is world renowned and the UK Government must give clarity on how funding for research and development will be replaced.
“The UK compares poorly with its competitors on innovation and the UK Government has failed to support businesses and the scientific community to help reverse this trend. Instead, the former Chancellor’s decision to change innovation grants into loans sent out all the wrong signals and only perpetuates these failures.
“The UK’s decision to leave the EU is only going to exacerbate the UK Government’s failures in the fields of science and innovation by plunging the economy into uncertainty and damaging its potential. This threatens these sectors in particular as they rely strongly both on EU funding and long-term stability to secure investments.
“The SNP Scottish Government is strongly committed to fostering innovation, investment, inclusiveness and internationalisation and we have a strong and coherent long-term economic strategy to help Scotland become a fairer and more competitive economy.”
You can watch Carol’s speech in Parliament here:
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