SCOTLAND could be cut out of the biggest scientific research programme in the world due to an ongoing dispute between the UK and EU, according to reports.
The UK Government is set to walk away from the EU’s €95bn Horizon fund amid ongoing contentions around the Northern Irish protocol.
The UK has been blocked by the EU from participating in the scheme as the two sides continue to disagree over the trade deal.
Boris Johnson has refused to back down with his ministers now finalising legislation to unilaterally override parts of the agreement.
The bill, expected to be published this month, would rip up a key element of the PM’s Brexit deal.
Scientists have warned that the ongoing dispute could mean they are cut off from working on huge, collaborative projects with their colleagues in the EU.
The Financial Times reports that allies of the UK Business Secretary have said he is “keen to press ahead with plan B”.
Kwasi Kwarteng’s alternative to the EU scheme would see the UK Government set up its own programme of global scientific research co-operation.
If the EU continues to block the UK from the programme, the minister could spend around £6bn over the next three years on a separate global science fund.
The Cabinet minister accused the EU of “politicising science and research co-operation” over disagreements around trade in Northern Ireland.
The EU ambassador to the UK, Joao Vale de Almeida, had earlier warned that science in the UK would become “collateral damage” over the protocol disputes.
He said the UK’s place in the scheme was at risk of falling “victim of the political impasse”, saying it was “very regrettable.”
Professor Paul Boyle of Universities UK wrote to European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, pleading for him to stop the UK from abandoning the programme.
He said: “We believe we are close to the precipice, based on the information we have recently received from the UK government.”
He added that the UK was “at an advanced stage of planning large-scale, comprehensive domestic alternatives to Horizon Europe, making use of the billions of pounds of funding that have been set aside for association”.
Professor Boyle warned that once the UK left the scheme it would “not be possible” to join it again.
It comes as UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss looks set to go ahead with her plans to override parts of the protocol.
She said the treaty is not working for Northern Ireland and is causing tensions within the country and the wider region.
Truss is hoping to scrap the burden of border checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, prevent the European Court of Justice from having authority over the protocol and regain full control over state subsidies and VAT in the country.
Reports suggest Truss’s plans have had little to no push back from her Cabinet colleagues.
