asked the Lord President of the Council and Minister for Science whether he will now work out a national strategy of applied research to guide the allocation of public funds to research.

No, Sir. I would refer the hon. Member to Chapters III IV and V of the Report of the Zuckerman Committee on the Management and Control of Research and Development, and to paragraphs 103 to 107 of the Report of the Trend Committee, which suggest a somewhat different approach.

Is the Minister aware that the lack of sense of direction which he shows in his attitude to medical research is such as to cause dismay and confusion in the world of technology, and that the abject state of the country's aviation industry results directly from his lack of giving any sense of direction to industry as a whole on matters of technology?

I am grateful to the hon. Member for his courteous supplementary question. It enables me to say that I thought his original Question was a particularly silly one.