10 examples of Woke Waste under Labour

Stiff drink at the ready!

This week Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science Innovation and Technology, has been making all sorts of bold promises about the UK's future as a technology leader.

Speaking at London Tech Week 2025, he announced there would be “a record £86 billion in funding for R&D” to spur our country as it “enters the digital economic age”. 

He also said the Government would be working in partnership with Imperial College and the World Economic Forum, including the delivery of “the first World Economic Forum Global Centre to be based… in Britain”, which is a whole new rabbit hole.

But this piece isn’t really about that. I wanted to contrast Kyle’s bold promises - that Labour will “build a faster, fairer economy” - with the reality of what’s actually being funded.

Kyle is responsible for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) which funds the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a quango that oversees nine research councils (some more ghastly than others).

UK Research and Innovation: An explainer

Although the UKRI claims to “invest in research and innovation to enrich lives, drive economic growth, and create jobs and high-quality public public services across the UK”, it is one of the worst offenders when I investigate Woke Waste, particularly the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Examples of taxpayer-funded AHRC studies

In the past, only Conservatives could be blamed for the UKRI’s failings, but today I will show a series of studies that began in 2025 (in other words, ones that Labour can very much be blamed for). I have pasted their funding amounts, title and abstracts.

Do any of these “build a faster, fairer economy” for the UK, I wonder? (That’s if they’re even taking place on UK soil). I will leave it to you, dear reader, to decide!