The Prime Minister has opened the new Launchpad gallery at the Science Museum in London.
Read the transcript for the film below:
Gordon Brown:
Can I say first of all, I’m so excited to be here to see what is happening in this great place, to have been introduced to some of the children who you can already hear are enjoying so much of the exhibition. And I remember the quote of George Bernard Shaw, “I have seen the future and it works.” And I think this is what this exhibition is showing us. So I’m delighted to be here today to formally launch the Science Museum’s new Launchpad gallery.
So much has changed, as has just been said to you, since the first Launchpad opened in the 1930s. All the technology we now take for granted, space travel, the internet, satellite navigation, thermal imaging, that was science fiction in the 1930s, and the astonishing revolution in technology since then is due, in large part, to the great tradition of scientific inventiveness in this country. And over these last few decades, children have grown up to become great scientists, great physicists, great mathematicians and inventors, have had their talent nurtured here, their aspirations raised by the opportunity to explore science at first hand here in this museum.
And as James Purnell and I have been seeing this morning, the opportunities that this Launchpad gallery embodies are not just a noble idea - the search for knowledge, the pursuit of wisdom, the fulfilment of hidden potential - but they’re an economic imperative, too. And the children who are learning here today I know will be the scientists and inventors of tomorrow, and they will ensure that we as a nation can continue to leap as a result of what is being done here.
I know, as a parent, how hard it can be to answer what may seem to some people, the scientists, some of the most simple questions you’re asked about the world. Why people don’t fall off the earth when it’s round. Why oranges are orange. Where rain comes from. Exhibitions like this help children find out the answers to those questions themselves and help parents be able to answer their children. I know if I was a boy now, I would be thrilled to have the chance to launch a hydrogen rocket or an air cannon or control a magnetic cloud, so I’m delighted to have been invited to formally open the new Launchpad exhibition.
I strongly believe in the new global economy no country can take its prosperity for granted, and as global restructuring continues apace, the environmental issues become more important, technology becomes more central to our wealth. Britain will only have the competitive edge if we develop the talents that are being developed here and we leap in science. Now, we’ve set out a ten-year plan for science, doubling the government funding, but I want to make a number of announcements today about how we will go further, particularly in the education of young people. James Purnell will be providing 13 million over the next three years to the National Museum of Science and Industry towards the cost of refurbishing yet more of its galleries and exhibition spaces and building a new storage facility. We’ve recently also launched a drive to improve the teaching of science and the learning of it in our schools, and we’re offering an incentive of £500 to every teacher who completes an accredited physics, chemistry or mathematics specialist course. To encourage more children to believe in and experience the excitement of science, we’ll invest £8 million more over the next three years to double the number of science and engineering clubs in our schools that will draw on the website that is so important to what happens here. And our ambition is a science and technology club in every school within the next five years. And, also, to celebrate young people’s achievement in science, we’re going to raise the profile of National Science and Engineering Week, establishing a new national science competition that can showcase young people’s achievements. And this is the exciting result of a partnership between the Science Museum, the Launchpad funders, all the companies - Shell, Nintendo, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Zochonis Charitable Trust - that have been mentioned today.
This is a valuable and accessible window into the world of science. It’s going to provide, even more so than in the past, children from all over Britain and indeed around the world inspiration. It’s going to stimulate the excitement of exploring the possibilities that stand before us in the 20th century. It’s going to make a huge difference to the aspirations of children and their chances to realise their potential. And I am delighted to be here with James Purnell to declare this open. Thank you very much.
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