Meeting of the Parliament 10 September 2019
Only the Scottish Conservative party could say that there is no chaos in Westminster; it is there for everyone to see within the member’s divided party.
I doubt that any member in this chamber has ever experienced anything like what we are seeing in Westminster. While members of the new Prime Minister’s Cabinet recline on the benches of the House of Commons and shut down Parliament, staff, students and researchers at our institutions are crying out in concern for their livelihoods and futures. Meanwhile, I am met with a revolving door of UK counterparts—I am now on my third, despite having been in office for only one year, and I have not even got to speak to my third UK counterpart. They nod in agreement with what the sector says, but their ability to implement decisions appears to be being throttled by those above their pay grade.
In contrast, I hope that a different example from that which we see in Westminster will be set here today—one of respect, trust and consensus. What is needed, and what the sector needs, is a calm and open consideration of the facts. The fact is that Brexit, and the UK Government’s view on what its future migration policy should look like, will be like a wrecking ball to our institutions in Scotland.
In fact, as I am sure many members are aware, the damage has already taken shape. Last week, at a dinner in Glasgow with the Government of Lower Saxony, I was told that its universities are seeing an unprecedented increase in the number of German academics who are based in the UK applying for positions back home. Similarly, the Russell group has reported an on-going decline in the number of European Union academics working at UK institutions. There are a lot of anecdotes about, and evidence of, that loss of talent, and although it might be a trickle now it could become a tsunami if we leave the EU and lose access to freedom of movement.
As has been said many times, scientists and researchers rely on freedom of movement to allow them to move quickly and easily between projects. Some international academics come to Scotland for only a few months at a time to help to deliver vital life-changing research, before moving on; others stay for a lot longer. Anything that puts up barriers to that flow of people and ideas—for example, a restrictive UK Government migration environment—would make the UK a far less attractive place for globally mobile researchers.
That is intrinsically linked with issues to do with research funding. Along with the movement of staff and ideas, the movement of funding in the form of international competitive research grants is the bedrock of the modern scientific research sector that we are lucky enough to have in Scotland.
Research income leveraged through international funding streams is a mark of excellence and can often attract research income from elsewhere. The third sector, for example, invests significant amounts of money in Scottish research, and one of the world’s largest research funding charities has raised concerns about the impact of Brexit on its potential investments.