Sadiq Khan has urged the government to re-enter the Horizon research programme after three years of being locked out following a tit-for-tat dispute over Brexit.
The UK has reportedly drawn up a draft agreement with the European Union on securing Britain’s re-entry to the £81bn science research scheme.
The UK was locked out of Horizon after leaving the EU in 2020, which sparked a bitter dispute over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland.
But talks restarted in March, when the Windsor Framework deal ended the post-Brexit impasse between London and Brussels.
Mr Khan, the Mayor of London, has said it is “crucial” for London as a “home to some of the world’s leading scientific institutions” to be part of the programme.
“Our withdrawal is yet another example of London being damaged by our departure from the EU, and means we have lost out on huge benefits to the capital including access to funding and collaborations on projects,” he said.
“The government must not delay its decision to re-join the scheme if we are to restore our role as a leader in European science.”
Horizon is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. It allows scientists to apply for research grants and link up with other innovators across Europe to collaborate on research projects.
Senior UK science and industry leaders have called for a swift resolution to the stalemate, warning that further delays could damage Britain’s aspirations to be a science superpower.
