The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection has paid tribute to Tony Banks, highlighting an article he wrote a year before his death. It is certainly sad to see someone with so much personality pass away. But his view of animal research was deeply misguided.

In claiming that animal research “appears to be torture”, Mr Banks lost touch with reality. Even the virulent National Anti Vivisection Society (NAVS) gave a more reasonable version to the House of Lords Select Committee. The NAVS said about “torturing the animals” that they “have not encountered that sort of thing”.

Mr Banks also claims that Ray Greek, medical director of the now discredited animal rights organisation Europeans for Medical Progress, “is one of our most respected scientists”. In fact Greek is a non-practising American anaesthesiologist. He claims to be “widely published”, but is not - at least not in respectable journals.

BUAV describe Mr Bank’s views as ‘trenchant’. We think ‘entrenched’ might have been a better description. Like other antivivisectionists, Tony Banks would have done well to check his facts from time to time.