Hey chaps

I certainly did say that outside court, but not, I believe, in any interview with the press. Let's just get this straight: where did you hear me say this? On the radio? On TV? Please do correct me if I'm wrong, but my recollection is it was a private, off the record conversation with a print journalist, which I guess you were close enough to eavesdrop on? If I said it in an interview, then I will take a moment to give myself a good slap for being so stupid. But if not, I rather think I am free to say whatever I like in private conversations. Had I expected to be quoted on Indymedia or anywhere else I would have been a hell of a lot more circumspect, and definitely wouldn't have used the words 'animal rights nuts'.

Who are you 'niemoller'? In what way did you think that posting my comment on Indymedia would help with anything? Surely you ought to have discussed it with me personally if you had some sort of problem with my comments, rather than sneaking off to write it up on Indymedia? You'd better stay a long way away from me in future if you're going to behave like an undercover Sun journalist and not a normal human being like the rest of us. I am myself an animal rights give-a-shit and turned veggie aged 7 because of my deeply felt disgust that animals seemed to be treated like objects and commodities rather than the thinking, feeling, living beings that they plainly are.

So, why did I say it?

My sympathies for the vanguard of the animal rights movement got used up with the granny-exhuming episode, which did actually happen, lest we forget. At the time I couldn't believe anyone could think that this was a good way to further the cause; as it was, it simply tarred everyone who has concerns about this issue with the same filthy brush, and made the general public side with the freaks who are cutting the heads off monkeys and attaching electrodes to their brains. We've never really recovered from that incident. The people who did that ARE animal rights nuts, as is anyone who thinks vivisectionists warrant car bombing. That shit happened too, and don't say it didn't. If you think media bias is to blame here, think again - it should have been obvious to anyone sane what the press would make of stunts like these. They practically obliterated popular support for animal rights.

In this instance my feelings about the sharp end of the animal rights movement are at a particularly low ebb because of the explanation of the legal history and trajectory of the Protection from Harrassment Act given to us by our lawyers. TLC's - or anyone's - first use of the PfHA to protect a corporate interest rather than a vulnerable individual (as intended) was in defence of Huntingdon Life Sciences. The reason the courts looked so favourably on the injunction he sought was because there was a well documented history of actual harrassment of the company's staff - home visits, threatening phone calls, etc. This set the precedent for the courts to agree in a fairly unquestioning way to grant injunctions against activists who were proving to be a bit of a bother to large corporations, and this is the reason TLC has been able to make such a lucrative business out of conducting this type of legal action.

So basically, certain fanatical animal rights activists back at the end of the 90s queered the pitch for the rest of us by using some HIGHLY questionable tactics in their campaign - things I find abhorrent and would never do or condone. Making death threats and stuff like that is not only immoral, it's seriously bloody stupid if you really care about achieving your campaign aims. If it hadn't been for the genuine harrassment tactics used by this very small number of people, TLC would never have been able to set up a business on the back of persecuting normal, peaceful protestors who would never harrass anyone, and so I hold them as much to blame as the mercenary, opportunist and deeply crooked old c*nt that is Timothy Lawson-Cruttenden himself. Our lawyers have explained that this whole scenario has meant that to stand any chance of beating the injunction against us and the Climate Camp we have been obliged to put miles of clear blue water between us and the animal rights lot, because of bias against this genre of activism.

Anyway, I don't want solidarity with people who dig up grannies or make death threats, any more than I want solidarity with TLC. None of these people are my friends or allies. I reserve the right to refer to anyone who behaves unconscionably as nuts, especially when their insane antics have primed the legal canvas for corporate interests looking to paint me (and the rest of the people of integrity targeted by TLC) in the same nasty colours. Niemoller, you had better email me asap and get this straight, otherwise I may get an injunction against you for pointless shit stirring on the internet.

Or maybe you'd prefer me to dig up your nan instead?

Leo