LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed to make the UK "the best place in the world" to carry out stem cell research, attracting scientists from overseas to join UK researchers to develop therapies for brain and spinal cord repair and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

The promise came in a speech in London last week in which Blair outlined the economic importance of science, and warned that growing anti-science attitudes could be profoundly damaging.

The prime minister said he was prompted to make the speech after meeting a group of biotechnology entrepreneurs in Bangalore, India, in January who told him: "Europe has gone soft on science. We are going to leapfrog you, and you will miss out."

They were astonished by the debate on GM foods in Europe. "They saw us as completely overrun by protesters and pressure groups, who used emotion to drive out reason," Blair said. "And they didn't think we had the political will to stand up for science."

Blair said he wanted the way in which the regulatory regime for stem cell research was established with the participation of all interested groups to become the model for engaging the public in other areas of controversial scientific research. After commissioning a report from the chief medical officer, there was time for all interested parties to make their views known, leading to an informed debate in Parliament, and carefully framed legislation, he said.

"As a result we have an intelligent, stable regulatory regime for this crucial field," he said. The legislation reinforces an earlier ban on human reproductive cloning, but allows therapeutic cloning under license.

A current example of where Blair would like to apply this model is Cambridge University's plans to build a center for neurological research, where primates would be used for testing. Planning permission was refused initially because the local authority and the police were concerned about disruption from animal rights' protestors. "We cannot have vital work stifled, simply because it's controversial," he said.

Another example is GM crops, where protesters have destroyed crops being tested to assess their environmental impact. Blair said there is no serious evidence of health risks of GM crops, but there are concerns over biodiversity and gene transfer. "I don't know what that research would have concluded. Neither do the protesters. But I want to reach my judgments after I have the facts and not before."

Blair concluded, "I want to prove those entrepreneurs in Bangalore wrong. It's no exaggeration to say that in some areas we're at a crossroads. We could choose a path of timidity in the face of the unknown. Or we could choose to be a nation at ease with radical knowledge."