Mr Brown said, “Faced with the challenge from America, Japan and the euro area, and witnessing the rise of India and China, we in Britain, cannot afford not to invest.”

Sir Tom McKillop, chief executive of global pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, agreed that the UK does lag behind the US with an estimated half a million of European scientists working in the US. AstraZeneca along with number of major companies, including GlaxoSmithkline, Shell, Vodafone, Amersham International and Rolls Royce, are already in discussions with the government on how their commercial investment in R&D and innovation can partner public investment in the UK science base. GlaxoSmithkline and AstraZeneca have announced over £100m of investment in individual research, science and technology projects.

Mr Brown is focusing particularly on how to improve the commercialisation process in the UK by promoting the collaboration of business and academic institutions and the government’s role within this. Although the UK Treasury is looking at how to increase funding in science by revising tax credits, it is largely acknowledged that the extra money will have to come from public funds. Mr Brown’s commitment to increased funding comes as R&D expenditure in, for example, the US has fallen with only a small increase in funds for science outlined in the 2005 budget.