Earlier today, Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said he intends to introduce a 10% corporation tax rate on income which stems from patents in the UK with the intention of encouraging R&D in the pharmaceuticals and biotech industries.
"We have the leading medical biotechnology sector in Europe," said the Chancellor, "our aerospace industry is the second largest in the world; Our creative sector has increased exports by 60% since 2000. We've won more Nobel prizes than any country of our size. We need to do more to support this ingenuity and ensure this creativity is harnessed in this country."
The Chancellor intends to 'establish the largest institute in Europe for research into long-term medical challenges.' To that end he is working with the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and University College London.
See also: Mannerisms, the blog of David Manners
Darling also announced the investment of £160m in low carbon projects through the Innovation Investment Fund and the Carbon Trust's Venture Capital scheme.
An additional £90m will go to the European Investment Bank's 2020 fund, which will enable €6.5bn to go to green infrastructure projects.
Another £100m will go to finance four Carbon Capture and Storage demonstration projects.
From April, people with a home wind turbine or solar panels who plug their excess power into the national grid, will receive on average £900 a year. "I intend to make this payment tax-free", said Darling.
Financial support is to be offered for up to 10,000 undergraduates from low-income backgrounds to take up short internships in industry, business and the professions.
'Super-fast' broadband to 90% per cent of the population by the end of 2017. This is to be funded through a duty of 50 pence a month on landlines which will be included in the Finance Bill.
Darling stated that the roll-out of smart meters will be completed by 2020