The Science is Vital Campaign has caught the grim mood of the scientific community and focused the energy of opposition to light a fire of protest.
The campaign petition was gathering about 1,000 signatures a day just after the launch two weeks ago but that rate has more than doubled in the past couple of days so that — astonishingly — the tally now stands at over 20,700 signatures. Temporarily at least, the law of conservation of momentum has been broken.
Many of the people who have signed up in support will be gathering in King Charles Street opposite Her Majesty’s Treasury at 2 pm on Saturday to register their protest in person. We had our penultimate planning meeting tonight, just across the road in the Red Lion pub. The mood was buoyant — for now. All the pieces seem to be falling into place. We had to finalise the list of speakers, sort out stewards to marshal the crowds and make arrangements to put placards together.
Despite the smiles around the table, the purpose remains serious. The risk of substantial damage to the UK science base is palpable, not just from budget cuts, but also from the Government’s immigration cap. The case for science as a solution — not a contributor — to the country’s economic woes has been made again and again.
But words will not be enough. It will take people.
Scientists and engineers, and those who believe in them, need to stand up to mark their opposition to the folly of cuts that can only injure the reputation of the UK as a centre of excellence and reduce our capacity to recover from the economic downturn. We need to show our passion and our commitment to the enterprise of investigation and innovation.
I will be there. Will you?
Many thanks to Della Thomas for the photo.
Wishing I could be there tomorrow, but have to attend a wedding up north. I’ll be there in spirit, though. I’m in awe at the amount of work you’ve all put into this and hope that it pays off.
Cheers Matt – sorry you won’t be with us. I think it’s going to be pretty special…
oh I wish… wrong side of the pond.. (and nationality althought in this case I don’t really think it matters… but maybe?)
On a side note, there was a similar surprise when the Swedish parliament opened Tuesday since all of a sudden the Minister of Higher Education/Research (or whatever it would’ve been in translation) didn’t exist in the newly formed Goverment…. doesn’t take a genius to realise that science/research isn’t going to be on the agenda [as much or even at all]. The immigration thing, yes – let’s make it super hard for people to move somewhere and work and being science forward. Let’s. (if the bitterness is seeming strange, just look at the small party that just got 5.7% in the Swedish parliament and it will all be clear.)
..and I missed the obvious, football players are excepted? Are they excepted from paying taxes too??? I simply don’t get it.
If you look at US and the impact of cutting back the numbers of H1B visas (skilled immigrant workers) the obvious impact was that several computer coorperations in Silicon Valley and CA moved to Toronto (Canada) since their immigration rules were easier to pass when it came to "skilled worker in this setting" . It’s not always easy to replace with "nationals" …. I mean, how many skilled people in [research area A] are there really??
Asa wrote:
" .and I missed the obvious, football players are excepted? Are they excepted from paying taxes too??? I simply don’t get it."
Well, as my other half is fond of saying on such apparent daftness, Asa:
“Bread and Circuses”
(I think it sounds better in German, actually: "Das is Brot und Zirkusen"}
I’m still wondering why half our ‘war cabinet’ meetings took place in pubs. At least there was pizza tonight.
Thanks for the comments Åsa and Austin. The last couple of days have been such a blur that I haven’t had time to check in here. Yes the folly of national governments who fail to see what is in the national interest is not confined to the UK.
As for Richard wondering why half the meetings took place in pubs, well – isn’t it obvious? Though, truth be told, we always got more done when we met in the CaSE offices.