Press releases
Battle of Ideas committee members support Pro-Test demo
publication date: 28 February 2006
Several members of the Battle of Ideas organising committee joined the Pro-Test demonstration in Oxford on Saturday 25 February 2006 in support of the planned biomedical facilities and animal testing.
Battle of Ideas committee members Philip Cunliffe and Shirley Dent stand up for science in Oxford
James Panton, one of the Battle of Ideas convenors and a politics lecturer at Oxford University addressed the 800 strong crowd. James emphasised the point that this protest was not about preventing animal rights groups from demonstrating but a positive protest in support of animal testing. Commenting on BBC online, James said:
"Animal experimentation is not something we should be ashamed or embarrassed about. The use of animals in research to develop medicines that save human lives is a moral good. The government has been far too half-hearted in its support for the laboratory. So too have some at Oxford University. Rather than developing a positive public policy on why the lab is important, members of the university have avoided speaking out. As a result, a minority of animal rights activists have been able to dominate the debate. Now we must turn the tide."