Royal Society response to the Foreign Secretary’s cross-government review of Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations

A Royal Society spokesperson said, “Cuts to the ODA funded R&D budget are a devastating blow to global research. We are urgently seeking clarity from Government about what this means for R&D investment and our own ODA funded programmes. 

“What we do know, is that cuts of this scale will jeopardise research programmes in vital areas.

“These are programmes, and relationships, that have taken years to build, and such deep cuts send a message that the UK is a not a reliable partner in long-term science advancement across the globe.

“While we battle a once in a generation pandemic, and with the UK at the helm of the G7 and COP 26 climate summit, now is not the time for the government to row back from its ambitions to be a world leading science superpower.”