Business Secretary Vince Cable has unveiled plans for a squeeze on public funding for scientific research.

He urged universities to do "more for less" and said taxpayers should only back research that has a commercial use or was academically outstanding.

Mr Cable said in a speech in London that the government "values" UK science and research and spends £4.3bn a year.

However, Lord Rees, president of the Royal Society, said cutting science funding would be a false economy.

Mr Cable's speech came ahead of next month's Comprehensive Spending Review, which is likely to squeeze resources.

The business secretary urged universities to find ways of earning money from their research, especially from the business sector, in order to make up for limits on public spending.

He told an audience of academics at the University of London: "There is a school of thought which says that government commitment to science and technology is measured by how much money it spends.

"Money is important both for the quantity and quality. But it is an input - not an output - measure. We could do more for less."

Mr Cable added that he supported top-class "blue skies" research, but "there is no justification for taxpayers' money being used to support research which is neither commercially useful nor theoretically outstanding".