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The ‘shadow’ science minister in Britain's opposition Conservative party has expressed regret for cuts to science funding while the Conservatives were in power.

In a speech last week to the pressure group Save British Science, John Redwood, the opposition spokesman for trade and industry, said he welcomed the current government's increase in the science budget (see Nature 394, 209; 1998).

But Redwood conceded that the previous Conservative government had not left science in as good a state as it should have done. “We accept we have made mistakes in the past. We have changed,” he said. New Conservative science policies would emphasize factors such as the need to provide generous tax incentives for investment in research by private investors.

Redwood added that the Conservative party was attempting to learn from its mistakes following its disastrous failure in the last election, and was listening directly to public opinion about its policies.

He also criticized the government for “dressing up” the value of the increase in spending on science. Under the terms of the comprehensive spending review a further £700 million (US$1,157 million) will go to science. But the 15 per cent real terms increase over 1998-99 baseline funding will be spread over three years.