L

Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 24 February 2026

Debate

Quantum Technology

Contribution

I absolutely acknowledge the concern of a particular branch of physics—particle physics and astronomy—which has historically been placed under the Science and Technology Facilities Council. That is a bit of an odd situation, because it means its funding is traded off against facilities. That is exactly what is being looked at, at the moment. My number one priority for UKRI is to protect and grow investigator-led, curiosity-driven research, because that is the very thing that will give us the advantage in 10, 20 or 30 years. There is a very clear instruction that we are going to protect that. At the moment, UKRI is looking at the impacts of potential changes to funding, but no decisions have been made on that yet. I recognise the problem.

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