§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give an indication of all work undertaken by Porton Down involving anthrax in the last five years; what was the purpose of such activity and the locations involved; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. SainsburyThe United Kingdom is a signatory to the 1972 convention on biological warfare and does not undertake any work on the development of biological weapons. The chemical defence establishment at Porton Down is charged with the responsibility of research into the application of up-to-date technology leading to the provision of the best possible equipment to the armed services for the detection, decontamination and treatment of such agents as well as protective systems against them. CDE's work on anthrax conforms to these criteria. Some of the work has potential to benefit the civil population and therefore involves interaction with other agencies and publication in open literature. CDE's scientists carry out their studies at Porton Down and one of the useful consequences has been the recent successful clean-up operation on Gruinard island, which has been contaminated since being used for wartime tests.