A new science agency is part of plans to transform research in Britain

“I want the UK to continue to be a global science superpower,” said Boris Johnson last year. On the basis of current R&D spending around the world (see chart) that seems unlikely to happen. Whereas the share of GDP devoted to R&D in many fast-growing countries is rising, Britain’s is flat. At $50bn, its annual R&D spending is 40% smaller than South Korea’s, even though its economy is three-quarters larger.

The government’s first step towards improving Britain’s dismal performance is the announcement that Kwasi Kwarteng, the new business secretary, is creating an agency to foster fundamental research. Its working title, the “Advanced Research Projects Agency’’, is a clue to the model. Copying the American agency of the same name set up in 1958, which continues to sponsor programmes such as a competition to design robots that can help in natural disasters (contestant pictured above), was one of the priorities of Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser.