Hidden Agendas

The latest gimmick in the campaign to endorse vivisection is to commandeer the signature of none other than the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair himself. Never one to pass up an opportunity to spread good will, Tony's at it again.

Ironically, Blair's very public endorsement of animal research should come as welcome news to the anti vivisection movement. It's quite some time since the public have trusted that smile - and with good reason. Indeed, we should not forget that Blair may very well be the most disliked and mistrusted Prime Minister of modern times. Having taken the country to war in Iraq against the wishes of the majority of the British people, he has followed it up with increasingly ill-thought out legislation in many areas, ridden rough-shod over party members who have failed to tow the party line, and reneged on pre-election promises made when Labour first came into power nearly a decade ago, and which he has had ample time to act upon since the first election.

Supported by 'yes men' in the cabinet, he has faced little opposition in his thinking, which has bordered on the puritanical at times; his reformation plans for the face of British politics have damaged not only the political landscape, but also the judicial system, as well as infringing on the civil rights arena, where he now threatens the democratic principles therein. His latest foray into playing god, announced this weekend, may very well prove to be yet another blustering blunder by the Prime Minister. In lending his helping hand in support of abusing animals in research laboratories, he has drawn attention to the fact that the vivisection community are looking for landmark names that will help encourage the public to put their trust in them. Adding Tony Blair's name to the petition is hardly likely to foster trust in the vivisection industry or act as an effective rallying cry. The truth is, that this is nothing more than part of the frantic activity we have recently seen as the pharmaceutical lobby try to recruit public backing for animal research. The anti-vivisection message is a powerful one, and it is only out on the streets that one can see how much support there is amongst the public for our work. Those sitting in their ivory towers may well think that having Blair on board will act as a salve for their problems, but the addition of his signature to a petition is simply window dressing - everyone already knows he supports vivisection, and his public endorsement of it, given that the public have no trust in him, will only make even more people doubt that it works!

We shouldn't forget what Tony Blair actually represents: when he came to power in 1997, it was on the back of a wave of euphoria. Labour offered promises of a new beginning, free from the sleaze and corruption of the previous Conservative Government. Yet what we got was a Labour government that has subsequently shown that it lied in order to get into power, and that - under Tony Blair - it has sunk even lower than its predecessors; we now have a government so discredited that no one actually listens to a word they say, not even their own backbench MPs. The Government is in a shambles, and most members of the public now believe that if Tony Blair actually makes a statement, then there is a very good chance that the opposite is true!

Just before Blair came to power, he promised a 'new life for animals' under Labour - among other things a Royal Commission to look at whether vivisection works, which would, one imagine, suggest that he had been led to believe there was some room for doubt. However according to Caroline Flint of the Home Office, Labour has absolutely no intention of holding an independent enquiry. Blair has come out and said that vivisection has saved millions of lives, so the question remains, what has changed his mind in the interim years, if ever he actually believed in the necessity for a Royal Commission? Is he now in possession of information that has cast aside any doubts he may have had? If so, maybe he should share this information with the rest of us? Actually, that would be very helpful, as thus far, what we've had from the pro-vivisectionist lobby is a great deal of hyperbole, and sound bites, which they offer as PROOF that they have saved countless lives, and that the only way they have achieved this is through animal experiments. What they have actually consistently failed to deliver is hard facts, and a moral justification for this barbaric practice. Perhaps Blair is privy to information we have yet not been heard.

One fact is certain: exponents for vivisection simply are unable to explain why at every turn they sabotage any chance of an independent scientific evaluation of the benefits of vivisection. It would seem to be the easiest thing in the world for a scientist to argue his or her case based on empirical data, yet rather than do so, they use publicity stunts to prop up their profession. Odd, that. Hard scientific evidence should speak for itself, so what are they afraid of?

The recent media onslaught against the animal rights movement has been conveyor-belt journalism at its worst, suited to the lazy journalist who aims for sensationalism. Were it not for their shoddy methods, both sides of the argument would have had a fair hearing, and vivisection would have been long outlawed for its barbarism and unscientific methodology. But sensationalism sells, and the sensation is that it took a bunch of teenagers to lead the vivisection industry's counter arguments - and this despite all the money paid into the coffers of Research Defence Fund, the Coalition for Medical Progress and Animals in Medicines Research Information Centre (AMRIC). All these groups are front organisations for the big multi national pharmaceutical companies. There is no effective opposition to the anti vivisection message, and clearly they don't have an adequate answer.

Or at least, they think they do - in the form of an on-line petition…

The truth is, the petition has been a dismal failure. Three weeks ago, the media publicised the online petition everywhere - on the TV, in most newspapers - actually, pretty much wherever one went, there were links to it - even from all the major internet media outlets, so it couldn't have been made easier for people to sign it. A one-stop shop, if you like. The glaring fact is that despite the massive exposure it received, it has only collected a paltry 14.000 signatures. It has questionably been a PR disaster for the pro-vivisectionists and in order to give it another shot of publicity, the PM has signed it. Well that should be a winner!

Tony Blair has also called for everyone to support the pro-vivisection march planned for early June in Oxford. No doubt, this will be given massive exposure in the media. But the irony of Tony Blair calling for people to take to the streets of Oxford has not been lost on us. Just before the second Iraq War, over a million people took to the streets of London to voice their objections, but Blair took us into a war no one wanted regardless of the opposition under the pretext that Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) existed, when he knew full well they didn't. It's a bit like him saying: "Vivisection has saved many lives". He lied then and he's lying now and the bulk of the British public know it. The fact that Tony Blair is now so actively encouraging support for vivisection can only work in our favour and is likely to ultimately have more people questioning whether vivisection works and Blair's motives in speaking out, rather than convincing them it does.

It has been clear for a number of years that despite all their pre-election promises, the Labour government are under the thrall of the Pharmaceutical companies! We should not forget the announcement this week that the number of animals used in warfare experiments has doubled since Labour got into power - and this despite the fact that before gaining power they talked about possibly banning such experiments. Seems like yet another lie, in a long line of them. But of course, it's not that surprising that the government dances to the tune of the drug industry barons - Lord Sainsbury is Science Minister, after all.

When SPEAK first started our successful campaign against Cambridge University to prevent them from building plans Europe's largest primate research centre, we highlighted the fact that Lord Sainsbury - with all his shares and vested interests in bio-technology - was the prime mover behind the lab and would directly benefit from it being built. That was in 2003. As is their way, the press has only recently caught up with the 'money for peerages' scandal. We were detailing this fact years ago and not only did Lord Sainsbury get a peerage for the £11 million he has donated to the Labour party, but because of his generosity, he got a ministerial position thrown in as well. With powerful allies in Government, there is no doubt that we are going to be having a rough ride for a while - it's to be expected. Meanwhile, the media will eventually tire of their repetative and often innacurate reporting.

Until then, we just have to ride the storm of controversy. Now more than ever it's important that despite the negative publicity, the anti vivisectionists come out fighting. That's exactly what SPEAK will be doing over the coming months. We need to be going on the offensive. The tide has been turning and we must ensure that it continues to do so; we are, after all, fighting a hundred years of false propaganda and that takes some counter-arguing.

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