Animal scientist challenges Government

The head of the Medical Research Council today dramatically threatened to quit his post in a row with the Government over vivisection and the honours system.

Professor Colin Blakemore accused ministers of not doing enough to back his animal research and challenged them to make a public statement of support.

If they did not, he suggested, he was ready to leave his job as chief executive of the MRC, which has 3,500 employees and a budget of £500million a year.

His comments followed a row over a leaked Cabinet Office document which showed he was bounced off the New Year Honours List because of fears of a backlash from the animal rights lobby.

The Honours Committee memo claimed he was "unlikely" to be recommended for his scientific work, particularly in view of his "controversial work on vivisection".

The document claimed it was "possible" that his reputation "would be improved" by his work on the MRC, and that he should be looked at for an honour again in the future.

The leak bitterly upset Professor Blakemore, 59, who in the

Evening Standard last week said that finding out he had been shunned was deeply demoralising. He has revealed that for 15 years he has suffered parcel bombs and death threats from animal rights activists.

Today he said the honours system was "debased" - and claimed he had been deliberately not put forward on at least four occasions. He called for a full-scale review of the system.

The professor believes the row will hamper his work at the MRC which depends on encouraging scientists to be more open about their research on animals.

He accused the Government of putting forward mixed messages, even though science minister Lord Sainsbury has backed the use of animals for research in strictly controlled conditions.

Last week Professor Blakemore said that finding out that he had been "shunned" by the Government despite being one of the few leading figures prepared to stand up for its policies had been "deeply demoralising".

In an interview with the Evening Standard, he said Britain "desperately needed" scientists who were prepared to come forward in public and stand by their work.

He said his appointment as head of the MRC, which takes the lead in contentious issues such as stem cell research, cloning and animal testing, had been the "crowning glory" of his career. Professor Blakemore's comments came the day after further honours-related leaks, this time revealing the names of about 300 figures who have turned down knighthoods, CBEs and other awards.

They include novelist Michael Frayn, actress Honor Blackman, comedian Jennifer Saunders, cook Nigella Lawson, author JG Ballard and musician David Bowie, all of whom refused to accept honours under Tony Blair's government.

Others who have turned their back on the system - stretching back a number of decades - include writers Evelyn Waugh, Philip Larkin, Roald Dahl, Aldous Huxley, Graham Greene and Alan Bennett, as well as artists David Hockney, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon and actress Vanessa Redgrave.

Peter Oborne: Page 13