Land of Hope and Technology February 2016 | Page 3

ISSUE 1

Something has
changed in Britain
It has many advantages, but in recent
decades it has often felt as if Britain is a
country in terminal decline. The best it can
hope for, is to manage that decline, limit the
pain, and come out the other end, a shadow
of its former self, but without descending into
total obscurity.
I am happy to announce that this defeatist
narrative is wrong.
To illustrate my point, let me refer to the most
important discovery of the 21st century so
far, to occur anywhere in the world. It took
place on a Friday night in Manchester.

As the beginning of something special, this
breakthrough ranks along-side an early
1960s band learning its trade in the Cavern
Club, Liverpool; it ranks alongside the origin
of a certain theory developed by a bearded
Victorian gentleman, evolving in his home in
Kent; it ranks alongside the scribblings of a
certain playwright from Stratford upon Avon.

The breakthrough to which I refer is the
isolation of graphene, a one atom thick
carbon based super material that could
change the world.
The story of that discovery illustrates
why the UK can lead the world into a
new technological revolution. Alas, it also
illustrates how wonderful opportunity could
turn to dust.