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>>Isn't it really more of a tale of the UK Science Minister being better at saving public face rather than following empirical evidence?

Saving face how? It seemed to me he received a ton of criticism for not going with the name the majority voted for.

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He would have received public criticism either way. However, he's going for the safer strategy, which is to mitigate attack rather than expand upon opportunity. Think about politicians like Sarah Palin who attack scientists for studying fruit flies, and then her tons of followers agreeing with her and lobbying to cut science funding because it, "sounds bad." The same effect could occur in the UK, although on a lesser scale.

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