Royal Society response to Article 50 being triggered

Speaking in response to today’s decision to trigger Article 50 as part of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, says:

“The UK is a world leader in research and maintaining that has rightly been identified by the Government as a priority in the Brexit negotiations. Ensuring we have the people and ideas from at home and abroad, the funding and the right regulatory frameworks will be essential to our ongoing success.

“Whilst there will be much to sort out during the negotiations of the UK’s terms of exit, we hope that the Government will make it an immediate priority to ensure that EU researchers who are already working and living in the UK and their dependents have the right to remain here. Science and innovation have a key role to play in shaping the UK’s future and it is in our national interest to retain and attract the world’s best science talent.”

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The Royal Society, The Academy of Medical Science, British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering, The Royal Society of Edinburgh, Royal Irish Academy and The Learned Society of Wales have published a joint statement in response to Article 50 being triggered in Parliament today (29 March 2017).

Find out more about the Royal Society’s work on Brexit and UK science.