cc: "NGP List" , "UEA Green Party List" date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 12:10:01 -0000 from: "Rob Tinch" subject: [norwichgreenparty] Save British Science meetings to: Hi -- this is a draft of the 5-minute speech I'll be giving tonight at the Save British Science meeting in Norwich. I'm sending it here firstly because it might be useful to others speaking at one of the SBS meetings, and secondly because any quick comments you might have would be very welcome. (Copy to Norwich lists -- any comments? Hope to see some of you tonight, 5.30pm, LT4!) Cheers, Rob Perhaps because of the name, many people have the misconception that The Green Party is a single issue party focused entirely on environmental protection. This is simply untrue. We are however different from the other main parties in that we place equity and sustainability at the heart of our policy making, rather than aiming primarily for economic growth. Ours is essentially a humanist philosophy. In our "Core Values" we state "Progress should be measured in terms of quality of life for all the world's peoples: personal freedom, human fulfilment and spiritual growth rather than centralised power, uniformity and material wealth." Around our basic philosophy, we have a full suite of integrated policies which would achieve these goals. So where does science fit in to this? The Green Party is NOT anti-science or Luddite: quite the opposite. Our policy on science and technology states in its principles firstly that "research is a worthwhile cultural activity in its own right" and secondly that "science and technology are deeply integrated into our society and will play an important role in a Green society" Our policy then sets out that fundamental research in science should be funded from central and regional resources -- through Universities, research councils, and the technology and environmental commissions which we will establish. These bodies will be encouraged to ensure that a wide range of projects were funded, and that unconventional ideas were given fair consideration. Special emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinary research, flexibility in funding, and funding of individuals as well as projects. We will reduce the funding for military research to a low level, sufficient to sustain the country's defensive conventional forces. The substantial research resources released would be converted to civilian use. We will substantially increase funding for fundamental and applied ecological and environmental research, in particular to facilitate the long-term and multi-disciplinary research required for understanding human-environment interactions. We will also target research funding on improving technology for renewable energy, waste recovery and disposal, integrated pest management, organic agriculture, forestry ecosystem management and many other essential components of a sustainable socio-economic system. By funding research from tax revenues, we will ensure that the research conducted is serving the wider community. The other parties are placing increasing emphasis on funding from private industry. Business funds research which leads to a saleable product, leading to a situation in which the balance of research is seriously skewed towards marketability and increasing use of resources. This balance must be redressed. I think a good example is given by our policy on genetic engineering. While we are opposed to the patenting of living matter, we are not intractably anti-GM. Rather, our policy states: "The Green Party accepts that certain aspects of genetic engineering may be benign and may lead to enhanced quality of life, but feels that there is an urgent need for informed public debate on the issues raised because of the economic, environmental and social control aspects of this technology. Pending research into the effects of the release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment, the Green Party seeks a moratorium on such releases through agreement between industry, research establishments and government, as well as a ban on importation of such organisms into the UK." This is a sensible approach to a complex issue which fully incorporates the Precautionary Principle, a principle enshrined in European Law. There are so many more examples of an urgent need for focused basic research into our production systems: for example, BSE, Listeria, Salmonella, antibiotic resistance. But, according to Save British Science, the Ministry of Agriculture has cut its research budget year on year for at least 13 years. Research into health is dominated by drug companies, holding the NHS to ransom, and willing to fight in the courts to stop developing world governments using affordable generics to save lives. They claim they need their huge profits for reinvestment in research. And yet they spend twice as much on marketing as on R&D. The new Science Research Investment Fund will require Universities to find 25 per cent of project costs from external sources: in most cases this means industrial sponsorship. Save British Science have said that "the research community will need to be vigilant in ensuring that this does not prevent fundamental, blue-skies research from receiving its fair share of the new investment." But how is this vigilance to be used? Universities and researchers are increasingly turning to industry for funds, because they have been given little choice. I am sure that the vast majority of researchers would far rather have access to adequate public funds and the freedom to conduct research for society rather than for industrial paymasters. The Green Party will not stand by while UK research is privatised. Neither will we stand by while education is set back a century or more to become again the preserve of the elite. It is bad enough that a Conservative government started the impoverishment of students by cutting grants, removing housing benefit and introducing loans. That a Labour government has presided over the continuation of this process with the expansion of loans and the introduction of tuition fees is nothing short of shameful. The Green Party will reinstate grants, abolish tuition fees and once again allow students access to housing benefit. When we introduce our Citizen's Income scheme, students will be fully integrated within it, with additional consideration for the special requirements of studying. Research continues to be a male-dominated and in many cases inflexible career. The Green Party has a commitment to facilitating non-standard career structures, including movement across disciplines and re-entry into research from other activities, without artificial constraints on age. Professional bodies will be encouraged to avoid domination by male hierarchies and closed sub-cultures, facilitating equal participation of women in science and technology. Another oft-cited problem for the UK research community is that of low wages and "brain drain". Yes, wages are low compared to the private sector, and this is particularly true for research students, support staff and junior research staff. Clearly a better deal is essential here to attract people into science careers. For starters, Green party taxation and welfare policy will benefit these people: for example, the 47 year-old technician who wrote to Save British Science about the problems of providing for his wife and family on £18,500 pa will be at least £3000 pa better off under our Citizens Income scheme. We will also push for a fundamental review of these lower salaries, aiming to cut the gap between these and private sector equivalents. We must recognise, however, that academics, certainly at senior lecturer level and above, are well paid compared with average incomes. And as academics we have the great privilege of following challenging, interesting careers, teaching motivated students, researching subjects about which we are passionate. I don't think we can solve the problem of brain drain by throwing more money into the higher academic salaries. We will solve it by an holistic approach to creating a better society - a green society - in which public services and financial security are provided for all, in which workers' rights are respected, in which parents do not need to worry for the future standard of living of their children or their own retirement. In short, we will solve this problem if we build a Britain in which people want to live. Research, science and technology have a vital role and a healthy future in a Green Britain. ------------------------------------------------------- Rob Tinch Lecturer in Ecological Economics School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ tel 01603 593174 fax 01603 507719 mail R.Tinch@uea.ac.uk ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~> eGroups is now Yahoo! Groups Click here for more details http://us.click.yahoo.com/kWP7PD/pYNCAA/4ihDAA/6GJWlB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/