In one sense, Boris Johnson has lived up to the promise of bringing energy to his UK premiership. One of the most eye-catching announcements at the Conservative party conference was a £220m investment in nuclear fusion, the same atom-melding process that powers the sun. Fusion, a high-risk gamble, promises almost unlimited amounts of clean energy.
Perhaps it hardly matters that no scientist believes a commercial nuclear fusion reactor to be possible by 2040, as proposed; nor that a more realistic price tag is tens of billions. What matters is that science and technology are being marketed as a key pillar of a thriving post-Brexit Britain. Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s adviser, reportedly ranks science and technology as 10 Downing Street’s highest priority after Brexit, and has been conv