Cancer Research UK joins leading organisations in calling for Government to back R&D

The Letter 

Dear Chancellor, 

It has been positive to hear the Government recognise the value of UK Research & Development (R&D) in growing the economy and tackling many of the big challenges facing society, including in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper published this week. 

What we have heard from Lord Vallance and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology in recent weeks is cause for optimism about the future for UK research. It is exciting to see the direction R&D is headed in the planned spending review next year. However, it’s important that the Government doesn’t undermine the long-term ability of R&D to contribute to economic growth and improving public services through decisions made in the short term. 

This month’s budget is a critical moment. We recognise that there are difficult decisions to be made with the public finances, but it is vital that our long-term ability to grow the economy isn’t undermined by the false economy of short-term cuts. 

Reports of a re-profiling of investment leading to additional costs in DSIT’s 2025/26 budget, with no extra financing provided to cover a shortfall, are very concerning. It would mean deep cuts across other parts of R&D investment, with significant negative consequences for the UK’s world-leading R&D sector, putting the brakes on growth and undermining confidence. Cutting UK R&D now would be a false economy, the sector would lose stability, lose expertise, and lose momentum. 

We urge you to use the budget and spending review to commit to continued investment in R&D and signal, at home and abroad, that the UK is serious about R&D’s role in contributing to sustained economic growth. 

Doing so will fuel economic growth and boost productivity, enabling researchers and innovators to continue driving the high-skill sectors and cutting-edge technologies that will help shape the UK’s future. 

Crucially, certainty around stable public investment will also help leverage the private investment needed to achieve the Government’s ambitions for growth. 

Signatories 

Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE)
Association of Medical Research Charities
ARC (Advanced Research Clusters)
Babraham Institute
Biochemical Society
British Ecological Society
British Heart Foundation
Brunel University of London
Bruntwood SciTech
Cancer Research UK (CRUK)
Earlham Institute
Engineering Professors’ Council
Fraunhofer UK Research Limited
GW4
Institute of Acoustics
Institute of Physics (IOP)
John Innes Centre
LifeArc
London Mathematical Society (LMS)
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Newcastle University
Quadram Institute
Royal Astronomical Society
Royal Society of Biology
Royal Society of Chemistry
Russell Group
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
The Geological Society
The Physiological Society
The Sainsbury Laboratory
UK Bioindustry Association (BIA)
UK Dementia Research Institute
Universities UK
University of Glasgow
University of Sussex
Wellcome
Wellcome Sanger Institute
Zoological Society of London (ZSL)