My nomination for what makes Britain great

Full transcript of World at One interview.

Now you asked for my view of one of the 50 things that make Britain great. Such a wide choice but my nomination is science and the British universities and institutes that enable us to be a world leader.

It is an area where we are still genuinely world class. Scientific endeavour of course is inherently worthwhile. As it expands the frontiers of human understanding but it’s also so worthwhile because it can lead to real and sustained economic success.

For me, a practical man, it is an area which not only has the potential to solve the great problems we face from curing infectious diseases or cancer, to feeding a planet of 7 billion people, but science also has the potential to fuel our growth and make our country as successful in the 21st century as we have been in previous times.

Whether exploring the first moments of the universe, or the power of the genetic code, Britain is great at it.

The UK’s science base is extraordinary:

• our cutting edge research base is world leading
• our universities are world-class
• we develop and attract the world’s brightest minds

We have a track-record to be very proud of:

• from the discovery of penicillin
• to the principles of modern computing developed by Alan Turing
• from advanced materials such as Graphene
• to research in new fields such as Quantum technologies
• And it was at the University of Cambridge that James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA – the now famous double helix.

Medical research in the UK is now at the cutting edge in fields like cancer, dementia and regenerative medicine. And despite having less than 1% of the world’s population the UK is the 4th largest global producer of PhDs, of great scientist. And we are second in the world when we’re ranked by Nobel prizes.

In terms of the number of citations and publications per pound invested we are currently the most efficient and productive in the G8, that’s great testament to those working, teaching and inspiring in our universities.

So the UK is great at so many things and I struggled to reach my conclusion. We could have gone

• from the quality of our Armed Forces
• to the leading role we play in humanitarian rescue missions
• I could have talked about the excellence of our arts and creative sector
• I could have talked about the resilience we show in difficult times…

but for this 50th birthday series my submission is UK science, universities and the businesses involved. They have the ability to change lives for the better and they really are one of the 50 things that make our country so great.