Recently, Michael Brooks, a journalist and author with a background in quantum physics, announced he will stand against David Tredinnick in the Bosworth constituency in the general election. This is because David Tredinnick has such famously irrational beliefs.
This has caused some controversy, as it may split the vote and so on, and Brooks is not a man local to Bosworth.
Now, I don't wish to tell people how to vote anywhere. I'd far rather everyone thought about how they wanted to vote than have me tell them how, even if you reach the wrong conclusion. Having people think about things is a much more efficient strategy in the long term for getting them to make the right decisions.
On Twitter, the local Liberal Democrat activist @mathewhulbert has made clear he's not entirely happy with the situation. I've tried to indicate that a good strategy might be if the candidate he supports were to clearly support science and hence help to ensure he doesn't lose the science vote, but I had some difficulty doing that.
What I want to do here though, is explain a bit about why I think science is an important enough issue to consider when voting. There are indications that Mr Hulbert might not see things that way. When I quote in italics, it's something Hulbert has said. I may remove adjoining ellipses between tweets however.
"I'm sure it's all very worthy, Sir...but it is not top of the priorities for people of Hinckley and Bosworth. I don't know how to make it any clearer."
First off, I want to make clear that considering science as a voting issue does not mean it has to be the only voting issue, or a top priority voting issue. Just something you should think about. Hulbert frequently argued about issues important to local people, and its only right that there are a number of things people will prioritise above an explicit pro-science agenda. That doesn't exclude it from consideration at all however.
"It's all very good having pie in the sky, intellectual discussions...but people here in Hinckley and Bosworth are more concerned with jobs, local services, etc. Than some high moral debate, thanks all the same."
Amongst the terrible things Tredinnick does is support homeopathy on the NHS. The NHS provides a service to people. I don't think people want that service's resources squandered. It's a very practical matter, and not pie in the sky, intellectual discussion. He also wasted parliamentary resources on, famously, astrology software. He shows a lack of ability to make reasonable judgements on government spending at any level. I think that's a down-to-earth practical issue.
What about other local services? Education? Science feeds into education. Healthcare? I've already mentioned - science feeds into new healthcare developments that the people of Bosworth will benefit from. Jobs and industry? As Professor Brian Cox likes to point out, physics alone is reportedly responsible for 6.4% of GDP. Supporting science helps the economy.
But most importantly, the problem with Tredinnick and his cohorts who sign his EDM is that they are displaying an inability to use evidence well in their decision making, and this is a vital skill an MP should have in order to decide what policies to enact.
"Yeah, that plays big on the priority list of the people of Hinckley and Bosworth...over and above jobs, the economy, andti-social behaviour. I can't tell you how often I'm stopped in the street in Barwell and asked about quantum physics."
I'm disturbed by the suggestion that if you're not stopped on the street to discuss something, it can't be important. Quantum physics then. Not important I guess, it's just that airy-fairy intellectual thing where mad scientists in lab coats try to kill cats and make an electron do two things at once, right?
Well, it's also that thing that is behind all modern computing, telecommunications, just about anything electronic in your home and on the street. It's the thing that means that when a policeman has to call for support to deal with antisocial behaviour he can get his police radio out of his pocket or off his belt rather than having to walk several streets to find a big blue box, or so that he doesn't have to pull around a large trolley of batteries and vacuum tubes to get in touch with his colleagues.
Quantum mechanics is behind research that led to medical imaging, radiological health treatments and more.
It's behind the IT technology that improves education in your schools. It's in the electronics in your car, and it's behind a huge variety of products bought and sold in Bosworth on a daily basis.
There's fundamentally two major reasons why we need to know our MPs understand science.
1 - we need to know that our MPs understand the basic principles behind looking at evidence and using evidence to formulate models of the world and make decisions based on them.
2 - science and research are what lead to new innovations, new economic growth, make us a high technology country with a superb standard of living, with superb education, and incredible healthcare that would seem like magic 200 years ago.
There's also the minor point that even science research that doesn't lead to new technology that improves our lifestyle is still important. We improve ourselves by understanding the world better, and by stimulating our curiosity. I think our society is better for having invested in pure research for no direct benefit, just as it is better for having invested in art that has no direct benefit.
If you're in Bosworth, I'm not going to tell you to vote for Brooks. But I am going to ask you, wherever you are, to think hard about what opinions your candidate has, and whether you know if they're behind investing in the science that led us to live in the society we do today, and will lead us to live in an even better one tomorrow, and not squander our money on irrationality.
If you think that jobs and services in Bosworth don't depend on science, you're frankly an idiot. And if you think that anti-social behaviour isn't kept in check partly by the use of quantum mechanics then you might also want to have a second thought about that too.
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