Just mad about the monkey business

Despite flak from anti-vivisectionists, Lord Sainsbury believes new research is critical to the UK economy

Ask most men what their dream job would be and their answer is likely to be something like professional wine-taster, golf-club tester, perhaps even page-three photographer.

But Lord Sainsbury of Turville, Britain's third richest person, Labour Party donor and a man who could probably have the pick of most vocations, is having none of this. "I would love to be doing brain research at this time. Neuroscience is going to be immensely exciting," he says.

Lord Sainsbury's number two job would be science and innovation minister at the Department of Trade and Industry. That's handy because this is a post the self-confessed science nut has held for five years, after quitting as chairman of the supermarket chain that bears his name. "When you get an opportunity to do what you've always wanted to do, then you shouldn't turn it down," he says.

From the evidence to be found in his small Westminster office, his science credentials are not in doubt. On his bookshelf is a model of a double helix, the structure of DNA. Next to it is a framed photo of astronauts from a space shuttle mission. And stacked on his desk are copies of New Scientist, Nature – and the current edition of Private Eye. "Well, you've got to keep up with the gossip, haven't you?" says the minister.

Lord Sainsbury has indeed been the subject of much Westminster tittle-tattle. There's his enthusiasm for genetically modified crops, the £9m he has given to the Labour Party and the millions he has pumped into the pro-Europe campaign. In the eyes of his critics, this makes him one of Tony's cronies.

Refusing to comment on these issues because they are outside his ministerial brief, Lord Sainsbury demands to be judged on his performance at the DTI. He points to the big increases in government research budgets (from £1.6bn when he started in the job to around £3bn in a couple of years' time) and his success in helping British universities spin out new science-based businesses.

Nevertheless, the UK still trails behind many other countries when it comes to spending on research and development (R&D). According to OECD figures, Sweden's spend on research as a proportion of gross domestic product is double that of the UK. Japan, Finland, the US, Switzerland, South Korea, Germany and France all have better records than us. "We do lag in terms of business research," concedes Lord Sainsbury. But, he says, figures due out in a few weeks will show an increase in investment.

Critics argue that the Government has also scrimped on research grants. For example, only £60m of new money was committed for research into renewable energy in last month's White Paper. This was despite warnings from the Government's chief scientific adviser, Professor David King, that Britain was "significantly underspending" on research in this area.

Lord Sainsbury says: "I think David was absolutely right. The fact is that in the 1980s and 1990s, research on energy was run down. The feeling was that because we had large energy resources coming out of the North Sea, we didn't need any research. That was a great mistake."

While research spend has increased across most sectors under Lord Sainsbury's tenure, he has not escaped criticism. The Centre for Policy Studies, the right-wing think-tank, has published one critique of DTI spending on scientific research. Next month, it will follow it up with an attack on the Government's six research councils. Written by Stuart Lyons, an industrialist and former member of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, the report is expected to condemn the councils as outmoded and lacking in transparency.

But Lord Sainsbury disagrees: "They all have business representation. We're doing a lot to encourage multi-disciplinary programmes, so I think we're getting them working very well." He wants to promote new clusters of hi-tech industries across the UK, particularly in the biotechnology sector. "When you have clusters of industry, it is no good saying that we will constrain the growth in the hope that it [new development] will go where you want it to. If you stop it in Cambridge, for example, then it won't go to another part of East Anglia. It will go to Munich or Boston or wherever."

This view is sometimes at odds with that of local planners. In Cambridge, Lord Sainsbury has controversially backed a planning application for a £24m university medical research centre against the advice of the district council. But the case, which is being considered by a government inspector, is about more than just development. The centre would research neurological disorders by conducting research on primates, such as marmosets and macaques. The plans have sparked outcry from anti-vivisectionists, who claim that other Cambridge University labs inflict excessive cruelty on animals.

Lord Sainsbury has little time for animal rights protesters partly because of the campaign – which has on occasions been violent – against Huntingdon Life Sciences. "It is unacceptable that people are being harassed for working in a perfectly legitimate business. We have to make certain that as a government we give these companies all the help we can, in terms of legislation and police support," he says.

The DTI and the Home Office are working on new laws to curb aggressive tactics by animal rights protesters, he reveals, and he rejects claims that there has been insufficient public debate on animal testing. "There have been debates in the House of Parliament and a House of Lords select committee on this," he says. "[Anti-vivisection groups] have had every opportunity to put forward their views."

All this is far removed from the minister's days as chairman of Sainsbury's. He concedes that he sometimes misses the supermarket business, especially around Christmas. "Right up to late on Christmas Eve is a hugely exciting time in retailing," says the minister. In his first year in government his advisers had to persuade him to leave the office and go shopping in the week before Christmas. This, says Lord Sainsbury, "was a real shock".

As a minister, he says, "the quality of life is awful, but it does mean you can do things you care about, which you can never do as a private citizen". And, short of carrying out neurological research, at least Lord Sainsbury can claim that it's his dream job.