DRD Partnership was pleased to host Labour MP Chi Onwurah, Shadow Minister for Science, Research & Innovation, at a private business breakfast roundtable this morning at the Labour conference.  The breakfast was a good opportunity to bring together those in business and civil society with an interest in how science, data and technology more generally can power the UK’s economic revival.  As the only chartered engineer in Parliament, Onwurah is well-placed to bring together policy ideas with practical experience, and in answering our participants’ many and varied questions she demonstrated the importance of placing science at the heart of policymaking.

The breakfast was timely, coming just a day after Labour released its Industrial Strategy, which included a pledge to target 3% of GDP spending on research and development in order to create knowledge across the UK and grow the economy.  Starting from a base of 1.7% at present, there is a long way to go – but attendees and Onwurah explored ideas on how government, business and universities can partner to ramp up the UK’s commitment to this vital opportunity for growth.  As part of that discussion, the breakfast explored the relationship between a strong intellectual property system that rewards innovation, while at the same time having a system that ensures that knowledge and insights can be shared to benefit us all.

Onwurah was eager to point out that today’s Labour Party is “proudly pro-business and pro-worker”, which are two sides of the same coin.  One area for further policy work is around how government can support smaller businesses to collaborate and drive up the UK’s skills base.

Many thanks to all attendees, and Chi Onwurah MP, for their time and contribution to a valuable policy discussion.  DRD is proud of the initiatives its clients put forward on vital issues in the science, research and innovation space, and looks forward to developing these alongside key politicians of all parties.