Recently plans to build a huge primate research lab at Cambridge University in England were cancelled. The plan to build the lab which would have focused on brain research, were opposed by a large coalition including groups such as The Dr. Hadwen Trust and doctors such as Dr. Jerry Vlasak.

Local authorities, the South Cambridgeshire District Council, had twice rejected the proposal to build the site but the university appealed the decision. This led to a public inquiry to determine whether building the lab was in the public interest. Scientists such as Dr. Ray Greek, president of Europeans for Medical Advancement, testified that the research proposed was fundamentally flawed and would not produce anything of value to human patients. After testimony was given by both sides, the inspector overseeing the inquiry decided that the university had failed to make their case that the proposed research was in the national interest. Although the recommendation of the committee was overturned without justification by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, the plans were cancelled by the university because the expense of building the lab was going to be more than anticipated.

The battle over the Cambridge lab shows that when there is an opportunity to have a real public hearing where both sides present scientific evidence, the animal researchers cannot substantiate their claims.

X-CAPE (Cambridge Against Primate Experiments) submitted a substantial body of evidence to the public inquiry summarized here: PROOF OF EVIDENCE - Scientific Critique of Primate Research and available in full in PDF Format.