§ 45. Mr. T. Dribergasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement showing what priorities on finance and on scientific manpower and equipment are allocated to the various kinds of research undertaken at the public expense under the authority of various Departments, such as cancer research, research into foot-and-mouth disease, atomic research, and research in connection with chemical and bacteriological warfare
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Winston Churchill)It is the Government's policy to provide funds for scientific research likely to extend our knowledge and bring about advances in industry and agriculture, or to secure improved methods of combating disease. I am assured that no important line of research is being neglected for lack of resources.
§ Mr. DribergCan the Prime Minister not answer this Question a little more precisely? He has really not answered it at all. Are there no priorities at all as between these different kinds of research? If a foot-and-mouth disease institute wants some scarce equipment or manpower, does it have to compete with an atomic research institution, and, if so, which wins?
§ The Prime MinisterI do not think that the particular resources and materials required for combating foot-and-mouth disease or cancer necessarily clash with those which are used in the manufacture of the atomic bomb