As part of the Brexit deal, Britain was granted continued membership in the Horizon Europe innovation fund, but the EU has blocked the UK from the project until disputes are settled over the Northern Ireland Protocol and French fishing licences. The Horizon Europe project brings together scientists from all over the world to fight disease, prevent climate change, and develop space technology.
The delay in an agreement is creating problems for the UK, which was due to contribute 15 billion to the project with a rolling total of 7 billion more each year. Funding can't be released to UK collaborators until there is a formal agreement, and if it takes many more months for an agreement to be made, EU researchers won't include UK scientists in their projects. Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, told the BBC News that exclusion from Horizon Europe would be a significant blow to efforts to combat cancer.
She added that it will put at serious risk the UK's position of being at the forefront of the global effort to improve the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of cancer. The Government must strike a deal urgently for continued membership of Horizon Europe or the UK to weaken its position to collaborate and use science to address global challenges we face. In response to the EU decision to use Horizon Europe as a bargaining chip in the Brexit negotiations, Science Minister George Freeman said the UK is ready to set up its own scheme. On December 21, a staggering 93 percent of voters said Liz Truss should back out of the Horizon Europe deal that her predecessor Lord David Frost had pushed for.
Many readers felt that the money for Horizon Europe should instead be spent on launching a similar scheme here in the UK. One reader suggested that we could do it better by putting the money into UK medicine and research and showing them how we can do it better. Sam, another reader, said: Forget the Horizon project and create your own. Anything to do with the EU should be stopped because they will use it as a threat against the UK at the end of the day. Another voter nicknamed Honest Broker said you just can't trust the EU. Who truly believes that we will be treated fairly based on their track record? They smile to our face and stab us in the back. READ MORE: Truss in furious Brexit showdown as EU threatens 80 billion betrayal
Scientists from across the nation stressed that the UK will be disadvantaged by being disadvantaged by being unable to join the Horizon scheme, and a UK-only scheme would not yield the same results. Archaeologists stunned shipwreck '' in time.
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