Not content with his plans to make everyones internet 20 quid more expensive per month and thereby kick a load of poor people off the internet and then a load more for 3 strikes violations, Mandelson is now planning to ruin science funding by removing money for basic research and only funding things with "commercial applications" unfortunately as any one that knows anything about science knows it's almost impossible to guess what line or research will lead to the next big discovery.
A lot of the amazing breakthroughs that have revolutionised the world an led to very lucrative commercial applications have come out of basic research that no one thought would go anywhere. As the article states the laser is a fantastic example of that.
I guess not content with putting britains internet inferstructure back into the dark ages he's intent on doing the same for our science.