Angry chemists and prime ministers

In recent days a group of high-profile chemists wrote to the UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

They're angry at plans to cut funding for organic synthetic chemistry.

Professor Poliakoff explains the problem in our latest video on The Periodic Table of Videos.



(A number of Professor Poliakoff's colleagues at the University of Nottingham have signed the letter)

Not an organic chemist himself, Professor Poliakoff was not a signatory.

But he did write a letter to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (who was a chemist herself!)

His letter, from 1987, has a similar theme to the more recent one.

Below is his missive and the replies he received. You can click on the images to see bigger versions on Flickr.