Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ

The lobby group Save British Science got short shrift when it wrote
to the Prime Minister last week.

A letter asking John Major to set out the Conservative policy on science
was backed by a newspaper advertisement pointing out that both Labour
and the Liberal Democrats have made unambiguous commitments to try to increase
Britain’s investment in research. But Downing Street said this week that
officials had not yet been able to draft a reply-and they could not guarantee
a response before the general election.

‘This is a last chance for John Major,’ said Denis Noble, secretary
of SBS. ‘If he says ‘look at our existing policy’ the comparison will not
be very favourable for the Conservatives.’