Arkangel is the magazine of the extreme animal rights movement. Its first edition was 18 years ago. Ronnie Lee, infamous founder of the Animal Liberation Front, set out his thinking on the movement in this way:

“our movement has largely the wrong attitude towards the struggle for animal liberation. We would do far better to consider it as a war”

If bluster and bravado were the only weapons in this self-declared war, there is little doubt about who the winners would be. In an email a few days ago to supporters around country, the campaigning group SPEAK, opposing the new research centre at Oxford University, claimed that:

"the support we receive from the public is at an all time high - we are winning this battle and just as importantly we are winning the arguments against vivisection."

Who are they trying to kid? On the same day as the SPEAK rally in Oxford, RDS revealed that over 100 leading research organisations have posted statements on their websites explaining their ethical policies towards animal research. This is a sign of the growing confidence of the scientific community in making its case for the humane use of animals in medical research.