Today the UK arm of the Gemini Project, based in Oxford, swung into action, sending an updating email to most professional UK astronomers, and stressing that the decision to pull out of Gemini is not yet final. Tomorrow (Nov 21st) there is a meeting of STFC Council and they are carefully declining comment until after that meeting. Watch this space.
The Oxford Gemini team have a News Page, and this has collected links to the various press reports, letters that people have written, and so forth. Pat Roche’s letter to Oxford MPs puts it pretty much how I would. Astronomy is suffering because of problems in other parts of the science programme that STFC has absorbed.
There is also a nice letter from Jim Emerson, leader of the VISTA consortium, which I trust will appear there soon.
Posted by andyxl 
The e-Astronomer 