Chemistry labs 'need £2bn boost'

A small report in the Daily Telegraph today says that plans to upgrade chemistry laboratories in schools will fall a quarter of a century behind a government target unless extra money is earmarked.

According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, almost £2 billion is needed to achieve the right standard and keep the country competitive.

Richard Pike, the RSC chief executive said, "Without something being done to address this slippage, Britain could drift to the margins of world science as potential young talent goes unexploited."

MPs intending to vote three times this amount to be paid to the EU every year until 2013 need to decide who they are elected to represent. Co-operating with other European countries and supporting economic development abroad does not need a vast central EU budget - especially one that auditors cannot sign off as accurate, and which is beset by reports of waste, maladministration and fraud.