Day 22 | Proposal 21
21
Britain’s Technology Mission
A National Technology Investment Fund
Current policy — Manifesto 1.1
Proposal 21 would establish a National Technology Investment Fund supporting eleven priority technologies through grants, low-interest loans, equity investment, matched funding and research partnerships, with a £15 billion annual target at maturity.
Published Manifesto 1.1 policy. The sections below set out the proposal as published. Questions and challenges are open questions, not settled answers.
Key figures
- Indicative annual envelope at maturity
- £15 BILLION
- The master manifesto’s funding framework lists a £15 billion annual target for the Technology Investment Fund.
1. The core idea
Britain must not be left lagging behind as other nations invest in the technologies that will shape future prosperity, security and productive capacity.
Under Proposal 21, government will establish a large-scale technology funding programme directing public backing towards eleven priority fields:
- Artificial intelligence
- Robotics
- Automation
- Nuclear fusion
- Hydrogen
- Biotechnology
- Advanced manufacturing
- Quantum computing
- Space
- Energy storage
- Advanced materials
Portfolio approach
Britain would invest across digital, industrial, scientific, energy and space technologies rather than relying on progress in a single field.
2. How the fund would invest
- Grants: Direct support for eligible technology and research activity.
- Low-interest loans: Repayable finance offered on supportive terms.
- Equity investment: Public investment in exchange for an ownership stake.
- Matched funding: Government capital provided alongside other investment.
- Research partnerships: Collaborative backing for research and development.
3. Who would be eligible?
- Universities
- Start-ups
- Established companies
- Research institutes
- Consortia working across organisations or sectors
4. Funding target
The master manifesto’s funding framework lists a £15 billion annual target for the Technology Investment Fund.
5. Why Britain needs a technology mission
Future technologies will influence how countries produce energy, manufacture goods, deliver services, protect infrastructure, conduct research and compete internationally.
Countries that develop capability early will be better placed to capture the jobs, investment and strategic advantages that follow.
The purpose of this proposal is straightforward: Britain should be an active participant in the next technological era, not a country forced to purchase every critical capability after others have developed it.
- Keep pace
- Build British capability
- Connect research and industry
- Share the risks of long-term innovation
- Support productivity
- Protect Britain’s economic, energy and security resilience
6. A mission, not a prediction
The proposal does not claim every funded technology, organisation or project will succeed.
It does not yet prescribe how individual awards would be selected. It establishes a strategic direction, an investment target, a range of funding mechanisms and the types of organisations that may participate.
Mission
Britain should help shape the technologies of the future — and share in the prosperity, capability and security they create.
7. Core commitment
Core commitment
Government will establish a large-scale National Technology Investment Fund supporting eleven priority technologies through grants, low-interest loans, equity investment, matched funding and research partnerships, with a £15 billion annual target at maturity.
Questions for scrutiny
Nothing in Manifesto 1.1 is presented as settled fact. These are open questions the proposal must be able to answer — they are not answered here.
- 01How should the £15 billion annual target be phased and funded?
- 02What independent tests should determine which projects receive support?
- 03How should government balance high-risk research with technologies closer to commercial deployment?
- 04What safeguards should protect public money while recognising that innovation carries risk?
- 05When the state takes equity, how should ownership, returns and exits be managed transparently?
- 06How should investment benefit regions across Britain rather than concentrating in established clusters?
- 07How should productivity, jobs, intellectual property, supply-chain resilience and public value be assessed?
- 08How should national security, research openness and international collaboration be balanced?
- 09How frequently should the priority technology list be reviewed?
Source basis: Manifesto 1.1, Part IX, Policy 24 / Major Promise 21. The £15 billion figure is an indicative annual envelope at maturity.
Download the Manifesto 1.1 Complete Working Master (PDF)Read. Question. Challenge. Improve.
This is a public-scrutiny working proposal. Questions, evidence, objections and alternatives are welcome.
Have Your Say
What is your view on this proposal?
Scrutiny, not endorsement. Disagreement is as useful here as support.
Responses are counted anonymously and the running totals are shown publicly beside each option. One response per device, changeable at any time.
Have an objection, question or better alternative?
Set out your argument. Serious challenges shape later versions of the manifesto.