Britain is a crucible for technological inventiveness and scientific creativity, and some of its industries know how to profit from it. Yet it has provided some dreadful examples of the interplay of science, media and the public in addressing controversial technologies. So it matters to sometimes-beleaguered researchers and technologists when its prime minister celebrates science as a key national activity and positions himself firmly in its favour against what he characterizes as the timidity that overshadows public debates. Such public angst is notorious enough, he said last week, for industrialists in Bangalore to tell him that they would leapfrog British technology because of it. (A full text of the speech is at http://www.nature.com/nature/blair.html)

Tony Blair's speech may herald a renewed government campaign in support of commercialization of genetically modified crops and animal experimentation, and comes ahead of the outcome of a review of public spending, due in the summer. Researchers should applaud Blair for his sustained support, and reiterate their wish-list for public funds, but with higher expectations. More money for science teachers and facilities in schools, rebuilding of university infrastructure, further improvements to pay and conditions for postdocs, ensuring that government and its agencies can commission independent research to sustain regulatory standards, and enhancing the resources available to independent agencies for providing public information and conducting public consultation in topics of significant social concern — such commitments are priorities if Blair's committed rhetoric is to yield substance.