This week the government announced that there are "no plans to test on cats, dogs or primates" [including humans] at the lab.
The petition is still live on the government website  http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/BLISS-Lab.

Attempts have been made to create friction within the community in Camden and against political movements. The Camden New Journal for example described animal rights activists as "Animal Rights Extremist Terrorists". Persons "from the Wellcome Trust / MRC " also gave us information that "Muslim communities are going to be tested on as a result of high incidence of TB in the area"....a Tory councillor enraged Somali and Bengali people with uneducated comments about this. The BNP also used this as a way of stirring trouble.

None of this is working and the community remains UNITED in fighting to have council homes and community facilities built on the site instead of an animal testing lab and virus containment facility.


As a result of the government's announcement this week it has been decided that Stop The Camden Animal Lab will from this week be run by London Animal Rights...who will however remain linked in with the community. The reason for this is that reality shows that most people are appalled by the use of cats, dogs and primates in experiments but do not have the same sentiments towards smaller animals such as rabbits, mice and guinea pigs etc and that most people on the estates nearby have housing issues and the lack of community facilties such as youth clubs and centers for the elderly as their priority - the campaign will therefore be run by smaller groups who will prioritise accordingly. All of these groups do however remain linked in with each other and get on fine.

The threat of virus leak is the number one concern for most people. The lab is likely to be a level 3 facility meaning that it could contain anthrax and bird flu. Foot and Mouth disease was leaked into the water supply form Pirbright in Surrey with devasting results for the whole country. Such a leak so close to major transport hubs and residential areas would be catastrophic. The government has said that personnel / security is an issue and will be priority for them in regards to the lab....our concern is that no matter how well vetted the personnel are, accidents or human error occur. Any leak or accident will be blamed on "terrorists" as happened at Pirbright when the leak was a result of faulty equipment and human error at the labs.

We will be contacting top notch people with military / bio hazard experience to get answers as to how safe this lab will actually be and whether or not the consortium can guarantee 100% that an accident or equipment breakdown could never occur. A 1% mistake is enough for an accident that could devastae not just the immediate area but could result in deadly viruses being spread throughout London Underground and the Channel Tunnel into Europe.

We get the feeling that the consortium and the government seem to be stumbling along with this and don't really know themselves just what this lab will be working on or what it intends to be. This doesn't bode well.

The community needs council homes and community facilties. We want the Lib
Dem run council to demand a compulsory purchase order from the Labour government on the land so that council homes and community facilities can be built in accordance with the council's own planning brief calling for 50% social housing on the site. There is also the question of the site on Hampstead Road about which the consortium have been disturbingly quiet.

Mandy Ford