Just hours before a landmark debate in Parliament on cuts to Kew Gardens funding, secured by Zac Goldsmith MP, the Government has rushed out an announcement that a further £2.3million is going to be awarded during the 2015/2016 financial year.
Commenting, Zac Goldsmith said; “What this shows is that the Government knows it badly miscalculated the public reaction to its plans for Kew Gardens. But it also demonstrates that public campaigning can work. The petition we delivered to Number 10 Downing Street provoked Nick Clegg to grant the first reprieve of £1.5m, and my debate today has provoked a second reprieve. This is obviously good news for Kew, but it cannot stop here. Kew needs long term certainty so it can restructure itself for a sustainable future.”
He added: “Kew is one of the most amazing things we have in the country. It’s a national treasure, it has seven million plant specimens, two million visitors a year and it’s impossible to exaggerate its importance to the world’s scientific community. It is at the very cutting edge of research into food security and climate change, and it is hard to square that work with the steepness and depth of the proposed cuts.”
Kew Gardens has been a world class centre for botanic research for more than 250 years. The Unesco world heritage site draws two million visitors a year to its historic buildings and spectacular plant collection, which ranks as the largest in the world.
zacgoldsmith.com: Parliamentary debate on Kew Gardens cuts spurs Government to increase funding
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