Scotland Should Decide… by telescoper There being less than two weeks to go before the forthcoming referendum on Scottish independence, a subject on which I have so far refrained from commenting, I thought I would write something on it from the point of view of an English academic. I was finally persuaded to take the plunge because of incoming traffic to this blog from pro-independence pieces here and here and a piece in Nature News on similar matters. Ill say at the outset that this is an issue for the Scots themselves to decide. Im a believer in democracy and think that the wishes of the Scottish people as expressed through a referendum should be respected. Im not qualified to express an opinion on the wider financial and political implications so Ill just comment on the implications of science research, which is basically the only issue of direct relevance to this blog. What would happen to UK research if Scotland were to vote yes? Before going on Ill just point out that the latest opinion poll by Yougov puts the Yes (i.e. pro-independence) vote ahead of No at 51%-49%. As the sample size for this survey was only just over a thousand, it has a margin of error of ±3%. On that basis Id call the race neck-and-neck to within the resolution of the survey statistics. Thats a lot closer than it looked just a month ago, which is interesting in itself, as it is not clear to me as an outsider why it has changed so dramatically and so quickly. Anyway, according to a Guardian piece not long ago. Scientists and academics in Scotland would lose access to billions of pounds in grants and the UKs world-leading research programmes if it became independent, the Westminster government has warned. David Willetts, the UK science minister, said Scottish universities were thriving because of the UKs generous and highly integrated system for funding scientific research, winning far more funding per head than the UK average. Unveiling a new UK government paper on the impact of independence on scientific research, Willetts said that despite its size the UK was second only to the United States for the quality of its research. We do great things as a single, integrated system and a single integrated brings with it great strengths, he said. Overall spending on scientific research and development in Scottish universities from government, charitable and industry sources was more than £950m in 2011, giving a per capita spend of £180 compared to just £112 per head across the UK as a whole. It is indeed notable that Scottish universities outperform those in the rest of the United Kingdom when it comes to research, but it always struck me that using this as an argument against independence is difficult to sustain. In fact its rather similar to the argument that the UK does well out of European funding schemes so that is a good argument for remaining in the European Union. The point is that, whether or not a given country benefits from the funding system, it still has to do so by following an agenda that isnt necessarily its own. Scotland benefits from UK Research Council funding, but their priorities are set by the Westminster government, just as the European Research Council sets (sometimes rather bizarre) policies for its schemes. Whos to say that Scotland wouldnt do even better than it does currently by taking control of its own research funding rather than forcing its institutions to pander to Whitehall? Its also interesting to look at the flipside of this argument. If Scotland were to become independent, would the billions of research funding it would lose (according to Willetts, who is no longer the Minister in charge) benefit science in whats left of the United Kingdom? There are many in England and Wales who think the existing research budget is already spread far too thinly and who would welcome an increase south of the border. If this did happen you could argue that, from a very narrow perspective, Scottish independence would be good for science in the rest of what is now the United Kingdom... This all depends on how research funding would be redistributed if and when Scotland secedes from the Union, which could be done in various ways. The simplest would be for Scotland to withdraw from RCUK entirely. Because of the greater effectiveness of Scottish universities at winning funding compared to the rest of the UK, Scotland would have to spend more per capita to maintain its current level of resource, which is why many academics will be voting no. On the other hand, it has been suggested (by the yes campaign) that Scotland could buy back into RCUK at the same per capita rate and thus maintain its current infrastructure and research expenditure at no extra cost. This, to me, sounds like wanting to have your cake and eat it and its by no means obvious that Westminster could or should agree to such a deal. All the soundings I have taken suggest that an independent Scotland should expect no such generosity, and will get zilch from the RCUK. If full separation is the way head, science in Scotland would be heading into uncharted waters. Among the questions that would need to be answered are: what will happen to RCUK funded facilities and staff currently situated in Scotland, such as those at the UKATC? would Scottish researchers lose access to facilities located in England, Wales or Northern Ireland? would Scotland have to pay its own subscriptions to CERN, ESA and ESO? These are complicated issues to resolve and theres no question that a lengthy process of negotiation would be needed to resolved them. In the meantime, why should RCUK risk investing further funds in programmes and facilities that may end up outside the UK (or what remains of it)? This is a recipe for planning blight on an enormous scale. And then theres the issue of EU membership. Would Scotland be allowed to join the EU immediately on independence? If not, what would happen to EU funded research? Im not saying these things will necessarily work out badly in the long run for Scotland, but they are certainly questions Id want to have answered before I were convinced to vote yes. I dont have a vote so my opinion shouldnt count for very much, but I wonder if there are any readers of this blog from across the Border who feel like expressing an opinion?
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 00:12:47 +0000
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