Vegetable Rights and Peace

I'm not one to give our esteemed Prime Minister a break in the normal course of affairs, but yesterday I have to say I could have kissed him. His promise to sign a petition in support of medical research anial testing is both timely and welcome.

I'll nail my colours to the mast right here: I believe that animal testing is both necessary and beneficial within strict, well-defined limits. I don't agree with needless suffering to make sure that someone's masscara is just the right shade of blue, but testing cancer treatemnts or using pig insulin, for example, is far more justifiable and should actually be encouraged. But perhaps I'm biased becasue I come from a science background. I don't know.

I can understand the arguments of the more reasonable end of the animal rights sector, even if I don't agree with them. What I can't stomach is the sort of filth who'd dig up someone's remains and torture their relatives by taunting them with it. This is terrorism. no ifs, no buts and cannot be tolerated.

Notice how the nutter branches of the animial rights lobby never seem to protest about testing fruit flies or animals that aren't cute and fluffy (like warthogs, for example). If they can't easily anthropomorphise it, they don't really care. Well, that said people, go and crawl back under your rock because you're giving those reasonable people who oppose testing a harder time in the argument.

So, good for you Mr Bliar. Maybe the tide is turning.