During the day, the Committee will meet with Cancer Research UK, at its Cambridge University headquarters, as well as visit the Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
The visit is one of many to take place across the country as the Committee seeks to fulfil its investigation into the impact of Brexit on the UK. The Committee will be visiting all the regions and nations of the UK to get a greater insight and understanding of how the country views Brexit, and what a future relationship should look like.
Mr Zeichner says: “I am extremely pleased that the Brexit Committee has felt that it is vital to visit Cambridge to understand what the impact of the UK leaving the EU will be for the city, and wider region. Of course, Brexit is an incredibly important issue for the city because we see a great number of benefits from our membership of the EU.
“Take pharma for instance; protecting the industry through Brexit isn’t just vital for Cambridge, or to the East of England, where there were reportedly 34,000 life science jobs in 2015, and likely more since the AstraZeneca move, but for the whole UK economy. In 2015, the UK life sciences sector contributed an estimated £30.4 billion to the UK economy according to PwC, and supported nearly half a million jobs. These are at risk in the event of a hard Brexit as medicines need to be regulated and licensed across Europe.
“I have no doubt that the Committee will agree that ensuring our medical research institutes, life science industries and tech companies have continued access to EU funding, talent and collaboration is critical for the wider UK economy.
“Week in and week out, I meet with companies and institutions across this city that tell me Brexit is one of the biggest challenges they face. Much of the research and innovation that comes out of this city is dependent on EU researchers coming here to work, collaboration with other institutes across Europe, and of course funding from the EU. I will be sure to echo those concerns to the Committee members for their consideration during this process.”
Cambridge voted to remain in the European Union by 74% in June 2016 and many industries in the city have spoken out about the benefits they gain from the UK being a member of the EU.