Vince Cable

The jobs of 50 to 60 Teddington based scientists are on the line at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) following cuts demanded by Lord Mandelson's department.

Vincent Cable is seeking an urgent meeting with Lord Mandelson and a parliamentary debate over what he calls "foolish, panic cuts which will undermine Britain's long term science capability at the NPL."

"There is a big public borrowing problem and cuts will have to be made in public spending. But the process has to be carefully planned. What seems to have happened is a junior civil servant putting a red line through key bits of science research without any thought being given as to the options or the implications".

The NPL is one of the world's leading centres for the science of measurement and standard setting in physics. Its work is regarded as essential not just for science but for British industry.

Vincent Cable said:

"the Teddington laboratories are key building blocks for British science as a whole. Only a bureaucrat totally unfamiliar with science would have embarked on a programme of panic cuts without doing a preliminary assessment of the risks and costs. This must be stopped. "