Biotechs target activists 

Andrew Clark
Guardian 
Friday April 27, 2001 

The biotechnology industry last night published an "election manifesto"
calling for sweeping new restrictions on the right to protest, in an attempt 
to subdue violent animal rights activists. 

The BioIndustry Association demanded the creation of a new law making it an
offence to "organise a campaign purely to attempt to cause the demise of a
legitimate business".

Other suggestions include the creation of a "soft loans scheme" to aid
start-up businesses and liberal patent law to avoid "discrimination" against 
genetic research.

Paul Drayson, chairman of the association, said: "Britain started this
industry in the early 1980s. My vision for 2005 is for the UK to be the life 
sciences hub of Europe, and the bridge between the European and US healthcare markets."
The association's call for a further crackdown on animal rights activists is a
direct response to the continuing campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences,
which has lost clients, shareholders and bankers as a result of sometimes
violent protests.

But the scope of the suggested law is sure to be controversial, as it appears
to rule out almost any boycott or protest against a law-abiding corporation.
Greg Avery of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, which says it opposes violence,
said: "The way the Human Rights Act stands, they haven't got a chance of this.
The industry is always saying they don't oppose legitimate protests - this
shows that they obviously do."

The government has promised extensions to harassment legislation to target
animal rights groups, which are accused of provoking violence by posting the
home addresses of Huntingdon Life Science's staff and shareholders on the
internet.

A spokeswoman for the BioIndustry Association said: "Companies like Huntingdon
are mandated by the government to conduct animal testing work.

"The fact that a small group of people can target them, and jeopardise that
work, is something that should be stopped."