Plans to build the World's largest ever Bio Lab including the World Flu Centre alongside St Panrcas International behind the British Library will cost the UK £300 million from public funds. Already the govt and the MRC have argued over this. A parliamentary report says of funding the lab : "We are at a loss to understand the rationale behind this behaviour" and "It is hardly redolent of good faith".
There are plans to build a high level [3+] virus containment facility and animal testing lab in Camden behind the British Library, alongside St Pancras International.
This has been criticised by MI5, MPs, councillors, businesses, tourists and residents.
Letters and emails from residents and councillors have been ignore completely.
The seriousness of the issues were made a mockery of when the UKCMRI consortium chose a Peter Pan photo to represent themselves as part of the presentation.
£300 million is a lot of money. The UKCMRI have said "The project will use £300 million of public money so it is not appropriate that this money is used for housing".
We need housing. There are 20,000 people on a housing waiting list in Camden.
This has been criticised by MI5, MPs, councillors, businesses, tourists and residents.
Letters and emails from residents and councillors have been ignore completely.
The seriousness of the issues were made a mockery of when the UKCMRI consortium chose a Peter Pan photo to represent themselves as part of the presentation.
£300 million is a lot of money. The UKCMRI have said "The project will use £300 million of public money so it is not appropriate that this money is used for housing".
We need housing. There are 20,000 people on a housing waiting list in Camden.
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Misleading and incorrect
16.02.2010 14:26
OK - yet more misleading stuff from the campaign.
The Government didn't criticise the lab in the quotes above. Those quotes are MPs criticising the Government, specifically the Treasury, for not supporting the lab enough. So the opposite of what you suggested.
The MPs' report had a go at the Treasury for trying to claw back money off MRC. The full quotes were:
"Recently the Treasury decided to invoke previously unused rules to claw back £92m of these savings [...] We are at a loss to understand the rationale for this behaviour by the Treasury and request an explanation. Encouraging the MRC to be self-financing to a degree and then appropriating its savings, thus forcing the MRC to come cap in hand for funding, is hardly redolent of good faith."
That's not to say there's not lots of useful stuff in that report for the campaign. This quote, say, would have been better:
"We remain concerned that the sponsors and proponents of this scheme have not seriously evaluated other options outside London, particularly as the proposed location has planning considerations which may prove fatal to the project."
But I'd be careful of bandying this report around as proof that MPs don't like the lab. It's also full of stuff like this:
"We can see the immense benefits that should result from the realisation of this exciting vision."
Norvello
To Novello : The article qoutes an argument within the government
16.02.2010 17:31
anon
To Novello : The article qoutes an argument within the government
16.02.2010 17:31
anon
To Novello : The article qoutes an argument within the government
16.02.2010 17:31
anon
Actually £300 million of public funds IS to be used for lab.
16.02.2010 17:41
Camden
No, read more closely
16.02.2010 18:47
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'A parliamentary report says of funding the lab : "We are at a loss to understand the rationale behind this behaviour" and "It is hardly redolent of good faith".'
--
There's a vast difference between "funding the lab" and "the way the lab is funded". There's a massive difference between "funding the lab at all is a bad idea"; and "the specific way the lab is funded needs to be improved because they should get more cash from the Treasury". That's not splitting hairs - that's crucial. The MPs weren't saying the Treasury shouldn't give the lab cash in that section; they were attacking them for being stingy (the MPs aren't a government department, incidentally).
And I've never said it wouldn't cost taxpayers £300 million. Of course it will - it's in the report. The whole thing will cost £500 million, at the very least.
Hmm. Let's look what else those critical MPs said. Oh yes - "We should very much like to see the project succeed. We believe that a centre of such ambition would place the UK firmly at the forefront of world-class medical research, with substantial benefits for the public as well as for British science."
Norvello
£300 million will come from public funds and the rest from charities.
16.02.2010 19:07
We are residents who do not want this lab. Norvello is clearly working for the MRC and seems to be against Camden residents requests that housing is built in place of the lab.
Some of these residents support vivisection but are against the lab.
Mandy Ford
to norvello
16.02.2010 20:05
indepenedent anon
Who the bloody hell is "Norvello"? SHACWATCH?
16.02.2010 20:50
anon
Who the bloody hell is "Norvello"? SHACWATCH?
16.02.2010 20:50
anon
Our priority is our community. There is an emergency meeting this week.
16.02.2010 22:51
We are concerned that questions from resident communities regarding a possible link between the UKCMRI project and the UK Border Agency have still not been answered.
These issues are more important to most people living here rather than an argument about vivisection. We do of recognise that animal cruelty and possible reprisals because of this will affect the community and that this too is another reason not to build the lab here.
It is important that these serious issues are addressed rather than get into pointless point scoring with an agent from a government department about a newspaper article who hasn't even looked at the article regarding 28 Days Later on our FB webpage then makes false statements as to whether it exists when it clearly does. A newspaper article isn't going to get the lab built nor stop it from being built, it is simply news.
Stop Camden Bio Hazard and Animal Lab [Mandy Ford]
e-mail:
stopcamdenanimallab@yahoo.co.uk
Homepage:
http://www.myspace.com/stopcamdenanimallab
Try this link
17.02.2010 23:31
anon
Homepage:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10876&id=175834579&1=5ad709d3bf