The UK coalition government does not yet have a growth strategy worth the name but they have invested plenty of capital in the idea of a Patent Box. This involves a lower corporation tax on profits drawn from patented products) and is a supply-side policy to make UK an attractive location for innovative industries. One proposal is that royalties and other profits from patented products and technologies would be taxed at just 10 per cent.

But many economists argue that this is at best an ineffective way of lifting the amount of research and development in the British economy. They look instead to the Netherlands where an Innovation Box has had a significant impact - it reflects the view that patents are only a small part of the innovation process - you dont necessarily have to patent an idea to make small scale innovations commercially viable.

Channel 4 news tonight visited Sandwich in Kent where the Pfizer research and development facility is set to close.