Rishi Sunak’s plan for Brexit freedoms could help Britain unleash an £80billion science funding boom, a news report has claimed. A new bill aiming at removing all retained EU law still on the statute book was announced as part of the Queen’s Speech of May 2022.
In September 2022, then Business Secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg, introduced the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the REUL Bill).
The Government plans to seize on City reforms to unlock huge reserves of cash for new research and development projects across the country.
According to the reports, once post-Brexit reforms are passed, it is understood that the Government hopes to attract three times that amount in private investment.
The Telegraph reported that alongside freeing up pension funds to put money into UK science projects, Number 10 is also keen to bring in more business funding from overseas.
The report stated that ministers believe the move could help reignite the levelling up agenda, with much of the cash set to go to the post-industrial North and the Midlands.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that he will scrap swathes of Brussels red tape that restricts how much money pension firms can invest.
Science Minister George Freeman has drawn up a plan that would focus more on Britain’s strengths and ties with other countries across the globe.
He recently secured significant science collaboration deals with Switzerland and Japan, and is currently in talks with Israel.
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During his bid for the Tory leadership last summer, Mr Sunak pledged to “deliver a better UK alternative to Horizon Europe”.
He said that research institutions would be guaranteed the same amount of cash under the new domestic scheme as they would have got in the EU.
Mr Sunak pledged: “We will move away from the system of just focusing on what countries like France think we should focus on, instead creating a streamlined approach that will deliver agile innovation funding that focuses on our strategic strengths such as life sciences and net zero technology.”
