The other has dropped (or another in the): Research Professional - Dominic Raab cuts foreign office R&D spending by £144m https://shar.es/aoRRh6  (it's behind a paywall, so if you can't access it read on....)

'The foreign secretary has announced a £144 million cut in spending on research paid for by the FCDO compared with 2019 levels. The reduction represents a drop of 36 per cent:' @ResearchProfes

Combined with other #odacuts the loss amounts to well over 1/2 a billion pounds, plus over £300mil in charity-funded research, taking total loss to around £1 billion in research funding. ONE BILLION POUNDS!

Apparently seeking to divert attention from the empty purse, Raab told @CommonsIDC today that there's “a very exciting piece of work that we are doing around science and research to bolster the productivity of our ODA budget and our development policies”: @ResearchProfes

“I do think there is something rather different and innovative though in bringing in the trade and the science and research piece,” Raab told the committee. Yes, Dom, it's called instrumentalisation/co-opting of research for political ends.

This part really gets me. After cuts that have decimated the #gcrf Raab told @CommonsIDC that he is “putting our aid budget to work alongside our diplomatic network, our science & technology expertise & our economic partnerships in tackling GLOBAL CHALLENGES” (emphasis mine)