Oxfordshire MP Dr Evan Harris is pressing the Government to protect Oxford University against the cost of animal rights campaigns and demonstrations.
The Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon was responding to threats from the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) to try to scupper the university's plans for a primate research neurology building.
Dr Harris, who sits on the Science and Technology Select Committee, was expected today to press the Government Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury, to protect research institutions from being driven out of business by protesters.
"It should not fall to the research community or the University to pay for the cost of policing the protests," he said.
The new building, planned for the science area off South Parks Road, will bring animals from several sites under one roof.
Protesters recently prevented Cambridge University from building a research laboratory using monkeys, and NAVS says it is considering doing the same at Oxford.
Dr Harris added: "What happened in Cambridge was a disaster. The Government must make it clear that it will underwrite any additional costs of security involved in ensuring the safety of those who do this work.
"This will ensure the continuation of legal, tightly regulated and important research."
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