Column: We could ask the Government to commission some research into all this money it's wasting on research

The Taxpayers’ Alliance claims that £6 billion were wasted on pointless research projects.

UK Research and Innovation, a government quango, has distributed that money to help universities answer various questions.

Without research, we wouldn’t know vital information that could be the foundation of Government policy. It sounds worthy until you read about some of the research projects our tax has bankrolled.

£200,000 of taxpayers’ cash was spent on a study into the environmental impact of Star Wars. I know there’s a scene in the original film that takes place in a trash compactor but it’s not the biggest issue. If you add to that the fact that Star Wars is fictional it seems like a waste of money.

Maybe they’re thinking about all the plastic that went into making the merchandise and after the prequels came out many fans would have thrown their collections away. That would have ended up in landfill.

It pales into insignificance when compared to £1.7 million spent on a research project called Decolonisation, Appropriation and the Materials of Literature in Africa and its Diaspora.

Whoever commissioned that will need to spend a few more thousand to find out what that title even means.

£811,000 went on research into how the sustainable lifestyle of Romani Gypsy communities can help combat the environmental crisis. Even when the results are in, what can you do with that information? Recruit more?

If you want to test if research is worth doing, simply ask yourself, “Would a local radio DJ read this out on air?” From my years in broadcast, I have found loads of pointless research in the newspapers to turn into a phone in. I can already imagine me saying, “Which recycling bin would you put C-3PO in?”

I happened to discuss this topic with Kirsty Buchanan, a former adviser to Theresa May, when we were both guests on a current affairs show. She is someone who was active in Government when this kind of research would have been commissioned.

She said that while some research projects sound spurious much of what is looked into is important and useful when making policy. She also questioned whether the figure of £6 billion is accurate.

How will we ever find out? I suppose we could ask the Government to commission some research into it. I’m sure they have some money to waste on it.

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