On December 17, 2002, the British government stepped in and became Huntingdon Life Science’s insurer.
UK Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said of the decision,
Both these actions have been taken to secure Huntingdon from the harm caused by the criminal intimidation and assault being directed at its employees, including their families and friends, and those of its suppliers, customers and other companies.
Not surprisingly, HLS and Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty offered completely different versions of why the British government decided to become HLS’ insurance provider.
SHAC spokesperson Greg Avery said of the government’s action,
This is a massive victory. Over the last 12 months SHAC has gone global. This has served as a training ground for our next target. What we are interested in is impacting Huntingdon’s bottom line.
Of course, HLS’ bottom line keeps improving as the company continues to drum up news business despite SHAC’s “massive victor[ies].”
HLS claimed in statement that Marsh Insurance had not threatened to withdraw as its insurer and that its insurance premiums had not been effected by the SHAC protests,
It [the UK government’s action] is a pre-emptive move. The government thought there could be problems and acted proactively to support us.
Sources:
Lifeline for Huntingdon. Jill Treanor, The Guardian (UK), December 18, 2002.
Activists claim victory as state insures HLS. David Firn and Andrew Bolger, The Financial Times (London), December 17, 2002.