Wellcome responds to UK autumn budget 2024
Wellcome commends Chancellor’s commitment to R&D but cuts to official development assistance jeopardise the UK’s leadership on global health challenges
2-minute read
2-minute read
Beth Thompson, Chief Strategy Officer at Wellcome, said:
"We welcome the Chancellor's support for the role of research and development (R&D), and the underlining of the importance of science as a driver for growth and to improve health. Protecting R&D spending, even when times are tough, is the right thing to do.
"As the chancellor stated in her speech, the way to drive economic growth is to invest. This is particularly true for R&D – every pound of public support stimulates over £4 of private investment. Creating this cycle of long-term, strategic and ambitious investment means businesses and universities can continue to flourish, cementing the UK’s reputation for science, and making new discoveries that transform physical and mental health in the UK and around the world.
“We recognise that this has been a budget of trade-offs with tricky decisions to be made. However, the reduction of the proportion of national income spent on official development assistance is concerning and will diminish the UK’s leadership to tackle the urgent global health challenges the whole world faces, including infectious diseases and the effects of climate change.”
