§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Prime Minister what factors led him to decide that the new synchrotron should be built at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. [115138]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 17 March 2000]: The Government's position is that the scientific case was marginally in favour of Rutherford and site issues were neutral.
Both partners expressed the view that they favoured the Rutherford site. The French Education Ministry stated publicly that
This site was strongly supported by the French partners in the project and we are delighted with this choice.The Wellcome Trust stated that they would withdraw from the partnership if the decision was taken to locate the project at Daresbury.