By Martin Deighton
The UK has benefited from over £8 Billion of direct EU funding for Research and Development projects in recent years here in the UK.
The UK has also benefited from 120,000 collaborative projects with our European Neighbours in the Horizon 2020 initiative.
The EU Horizon 2020 is the largest research and development funding initiative ever, with funds of 80 Billion Euros.
These projects involve collaboration between scientists, technicians, engineers, and post-grad students from all of our 28 Nations.
The EU Research grants, provided to UK Universities, accounts for more than 12% of University income.
The University of East Anglia is currently the EU Joint Research Centre for non-nuclear research and other collaborative projects.
It receives funding of almost two Billion Euros from the EU.
The Norwich centre employs scientists, research students and technicians from the UK and many EU Nations.
In light of the UK withdrawal the UEA is preparing to pass this Centre from Norwich to a University within the EU.
The EU funded and collaborative projects have made and are making enormous contributions to humankind.
They vary from the Mapping of the Human Genome at the Sanger Centre in Cambridge to the development of the Airbus in Bristol.
The UK could not do them alone. These projects require funding and vital scientific staff from the EU. The UK does not have adequate funds nor sufficient qualified people.
The UK withdrawal from the EU will probably result in the loss of over two thousand projects, the loss of between 100,000 to 200,00 jobs and the loss of a scientific skill base that will be irreplaceable.
The long term damage to UK Universities and Research Establishments will be devastating and permanent.
The UK will never recover from its withdrawal from a United Europe.