Lord Sainsbury: Lara Croft is a great success story

The Uzi-toting cyberbabe from the Tomb Raider computer games is so tough, cool and go-ahead that ministers want her to be an ambassador for UK science and technology.

Lara: Image of achievement

Science Minister Lord Sainsbury of Turville said it was time Britain showed the world that it was at the cutting edge of new developments and stopped harking back to old achievements.

Britain needed to show it was the home of people like Professor Stephen Hawking and vacuum cleaner pioneer Dyson, and discoveries including Dolly the cloned sheep and optical fibres, he told the Social Market Foundation in London.

"I want people when they think of this country to think of such scientific achievements as Thrust, the first supersonic car, and the Psion palmtop computer rather than Stephenson or Faraday.

"I want Lara Croft to be an ambassador for British scientific excellence."

Scantily-clad

The minister recognised that some people might have a problem with a scantily-clad, violent, young woman as a front for the best in British research and development.

Jeremy Smith: She was the first computer character people could relate to

But he said the government was not about to start putting her picture on all products and embassies around the world.

"I use her as an example of one of the great success stories in this country. We have a quarter of the world's market for computer games produced in this country, and I think we should be proud of that."

Core Design, the company behind Tomb Raider, are delighted by Ms Croft's new status.

Managing director Jeremy Smith said they were consulted by the government before the minister's announcement.

Tremendous popularity

"It's just another tremendous move in the popularity of Lara Croft," he said. Mr Smith predicted that she would be around for many years to come.

Jeremy Smith: She has staying power

"Go back 25 years when they made the first James Bond movie, do you think they honestly thought they'd have done 15 further Bond movies and the next one that came out would be even more popular than the last one.

"Currently, she is almost part of the establishment as is 007, and providing we, as a company, don't decimate her character, there is no reason why she shouldn't go on for a long time."

Lord Sainsbury also rejected arguments that the government should establish a Ministry of Science, or move science policy into an Office of Science and Technology based in the Cabinet Office to co-ordinate science across Whitehall.