Knockin Telescope and the e-MERLIN Network

That this House expresses deep concern at the cuts to UKRI funding projected to lead to the closure of the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank and the e-MERLIN Network, including North Shropshire’s Knockin telescope; notes the extraordinary resolution capabilities that Knockin’s position in the array enables, as well as the key role that the e-MERLIN Network’s radar detections play in national security and defence, reaching back to Jodrell Bank’s role in the Cold War; believes that the planned transfer to the new Square Kilometre Array Observatory is a short-sighted move when compared with the loss of existing capabilities of Jodrell Bank and with it sovereign capability through the e-MERLIN Network, noting that Jodrell Bank was specifically chosen to be the international headquarters of the SKAO due to the role of the Lovell telescope; and urges intervention to protect the future of Knockin telescope, the wider e-MERLIN Network and the research of thousands of scientists.