Wielding the axe on easy targets

FRIDAY afternoon of a bank holiday weekend is perfect timing if you want to bury news.

So it was that a press release was sent out from the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment on the cusp of the October bank holiday weekend, announcing the abolition of the stand alone post of chief scientific adviser.

The post had been created in 2005, at a time when the importance of science, and the rapid pace of advancement, was dawning on the powers that be. A trend had been set across the developed world in which an independent voice advises government on matters to do with science, which in turn feeds into policy in formulating legislation and attracting foreign direct investment.