UK fudge on Horizon Brexit deal risks killing new research

LONDON — Rejoining the Horizon Europe program was meant to pump billions of pounds into British research post-Brexit. It hasn’t quite turned out that way.

As Britain prepares for a painful autumn budget, finance ministers are looking to pass on a sizable chunk of the costs for membership of the EU research program to the science and tech department.

The Treasury agreed to cover the fees when the U.K. rejoined Horizon in 2023 under the Conservative government, but the latest move could see an effective cut to the country’s domestic research spending of up to £1 billion as the squeezed department instead foots the bill.

Two people familiar with discussions, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said there were real concerns within the research and development community that this would effectively prevent UK Research and Innovation funding new projects next year.

“The Horizon money was given by the Treasury to get the deal done and to prevent pressure on existing research budgets,” said Andrew Griffith, a Treasury and science minister in the last Conservative government.

“The issue now sounds like the Treasury is looking to offload the Horizon money at the spending review against a flat-cash settlement. That would be a huge issue for the research sector and be an example of the Labour Treasury emasculating the department.”

The plans, first reported by Research Professional News, sparked a letter on Friday from leading U.K. universities and research groups to the chancellor, warning of “deep cuts” to R&D budgets if the changes went ahead.

“It is vital that our long-term ability to grow the economy isn’t undermined by the false economy of short-term cuts,” they wrote. “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.”

A second letter was also sent by the National Centre for Universities and Business, signed by the leaders of some of the biggest U.K. companies including Diageo, Anglo American and Johnson Matthey.

A government spokesperson said: “We do not comment on speculation outside of fiscal events.”

It wasn’t meant to be this way

When the U.K. rejoined Horizon last December, after an acrimonious exit during the Brexit negotiations, researchers celebrated. Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, described it as a “momentous day,” giving British researchers access to bid from a €95 billion funding pot.

Former Science Minister George Freeman, who was involved in securing the deal in 2023, said there was never any suggestion from the Treasury that the costs would come from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) budget.

“The new government has rightly made a commitment to back U.K. R&D.,” he said. “But if true, the rumours of a Treasury clawback of Horizon money and below inflation settlement in the budget will totally undermine the credibility of this mission.”

A former DSIT official, who was also involved in negotiating Britain’s access to Horizon, said: “The conclusion we came to was the costs couldn’t come out of the domestic R&D budget as then we wouldn’t have money to do anything else. The Treasury was 100 percent involved. We were negotiating on the policy of the deal but on the numbers, that was the Treasury.”

Handle with care

Science Minister Patrick Vallance was repeatedly asked about cuts to the R&D budget by a House of Lords committee this week. With a one-year spending review and budget imminent on Oct. 30 he only said DSIT would “get the best outcome we can.”

But he also warned against cutting government R&D budgets, particularly for “curiosity-driven” research, warning they must be protected “carefully.”

“As a country that has been highly dependent on the knowledge-based economy and which is very good at science and technology, we must, as the economy allows, protect and grow­­ the basic curiosity-driven science that we do in this country,” he added. “I make that statement, because that work is ultimately the goose that lays the golden egg.”

On targeting R&D to drive economic growth he said: “We need to show politicians how you can use that to get growth. I have been in global companies and seen what they do. They often cut the R&D budget in times of stress, but those that do tend to go in one direction only — and not a good one.”