How academic research makes impact, but not always in the way the Minister wanted… the story of the LSE Identity Project

The last Labour government policy insisted that henceforward 25 per cent of all government aid to university R & D should be determined by how much ‘impact’ university research has on the economy and public policy. Academics from LSE’s ‘Identity Project’ have been heavily involved in the debates about the now scrapped government identity cards scheme. LSE published a critical report in 2005 only for some of the leading researchers to be singled out for attacks by Labour government ministers. Here Simon Davies, Edgar A. Whitley and Gus Hosein reflect on their experiences and discuss the perils for academic freedom in seeking to influence public policy. A more tolerant and broad-ranging consideration of university research can bring great benefits in building better policies from the outset.