LONDON—Prime Minister Thatcher's landslide victory in Britain's general election June 11 means that U.K. science is unlikely to receive more money from her Conservative government. Instead, the scientific community is bracing for changes designed to make better use of existing funds.
The state of British science rarely surfaced in a campaign pre occupied with welfare and defense. Although both main opposition parties—Labour and the alliance of the Liberals and Social Demo crats—made promises to increase R&D spending, their poor showing puts little pressure on the Thatcher government to heed their advice.
The ruling Conservatives responded to warnings that basic re search in the United Kingdom is in decline with a statement that "a country our size cannot afford to do everything." The only public meeting of the campaign on science, arranged by the lobby group Save British Science, drew 100 people.
At the same time, there are plans to reform...
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