Monday 14 April 2014

Stephen Metcalfe MP speaks on Science in Parliament

Stephen Metcalfe, local MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock and member of the Science and Technology Committee, came together with young scientists to speak about the work of the committee and the science policy interface.

The event was organised by Newton’s Apple, a charitable non-partisan science policy foundation which aims to act as a neutral bridge between the science and policy communities. It saw Mr Metcalfe, Dr Michael Elves, Chairman of Newton’s Apple, former chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, Dr Ian Gibson, and Dr Sarah Main, Director of the Campaign for Science and Technology come together to form a distinguished panel.

The local MP spoke to the group about how the committee functions, explained some of their achievements, and most importantly he stressed how keen they are for scientists to get involved with their work and influence policy.

He commented: “This was a fantastic opportunity for the world of policy to engage with the world of science. This interface should sit at the heart of policy making and it is therefore vital that organisations such as Newton’s Apple provide a bridge between the two.” 

“They asked some fantastic questions and I have no doubt that we will see some of them giving evidence to the Science and Technology Committee in the future.”