A science superpower in the wings?

Declaring oneself-or aspiring to become-a global superpower sits uneasily with a British tendency towards self-deprecation. Rather, in this post-Elizabethan, post-Brexit chapter of the United Kingdom's story, public debate is undercut by fear of decline. References to Britain's imperial past are often sidestepped or accompanied by apologies. The exception is in political discussions of science, where assertions of national supremacy and manifest global destiny are now commonplace. Ministers and prime ministers past and present insist that the UK is already-or is well on the way to becoming-a "science superpower." Whether this goal is sensible or even feasible is barely discussed.