UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation

Written evidence submitted by Action for our Planet
(UKCMRI 14)

Action for our Planet (AFOP) is a UK based website and organisation which helps contribute to a better planet. Below is our contribution to the Science and Technology Committees inquiry.

Declaration of interests: We have no financial interests in the project. We only seek to express our concerns over the research facility.

Term of reference 3- Is the financing of the UKCMRI robust and justified, with particular reference to the public support for the project and the knock-on effect on budgets for other research?

1: While the four founding organisations involved in creating the UK Centre for Medical Research & Innovation plan to invest £600 million in the new project, the government plans to invest a large financial sum of £220 million over four years. Investments by the four founding organisations; the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust and the University College London come from non-governmental sources including donations and patrons. In contrast, the coalition government’s investments into the project uses public money which could be invested elsewhere.

2: While welfare funding will be cut by a projected £11 billion by 2014/2015 and unemployment is to peak at around 8.1 % in 2011, this large investment seeks to contradict the rest of the government’s spending. While many departments such as education and defence are faced with making billions in spending cuts, the UK cannot afford to invest £220 million into a project that may produce less than desired results. While creating new medical facilities is important, this particular facility aims to conduct tests on animals. Animals have been used in experiments for years and often yield unreliable results. This unreliability of using animals for experimentation is exemplified by the fact that many animals have completely different reactions to drugs in comparison with humans. For example, rats have different gene repair systems to humans which makes them highly susceptible to cancer. In other cases the use of certain drugs like penicillin has killed animals whereas it has the opposite effect on humans. The use of animal experimentation, is just one example of misapplying investments as the research itself has a chance of producing unreliable results.

3: The planned UKCMRI will be located by St Pancreas station in amongst public places including shops and housing. There is a chronic shortage of housing in Camden with overcrowding becoming a more serious problem every day. With this overcrowding comes poverty and people become susceptible to bad health and may suffer from a downgraded quality of life. Before the building plot for the new research facility was purchased for an undisclosed sum, Camden City Council had plans to use the plot of land for community facilities. These facilities included community spaces like parks and housing (both private and rented housing). If these plans were adopted originally then Camden’s overcrowding problem could have been resolved.

4: This project could also cause a knock-on effect as there would be more focus on this particular research facility and less focus on others. This could lead to a lack of funding for other vital research programmes. With all government investments, money has to be taken from one project, institution or facility and applied to another project. This means the money could have been taken from the education or welfare where the money would have been so vitally needed.

5: While the facility plans to offer 1250 scientific jobs, 250 supporting role jobs as well as employment for hundreds of construction workers, the government investment of £220 million could easily be applied to more cost effective projects. For example, the £220 million could be invested in dozens of different programmes including creating new businesses, community facilities and expanding existing business sectors including the energy sector thereby, creating thousands of jobs. Alternatively the money could be used to help stop thousands of individuals from becoming unemployed. Whether by providing additional funding to hospitals and schools or by supporting workplaces and encouraging them to keep their staff.

We hope you will consider our concerns over the UKCMRI.

Oli Dillon Squire

Action for our Planet

12 January 2011