Consultation ?? Oh Really??

I have a warm and fuzzy feeling each time I hear that I'm being consulted. I'm a trusting soul, and believe everything I read and hear. Oh, yeah... and the moon is made of Green Cheese...

Despite my cynical demeanour, when I heard on the radio that the HFEA has decided that we ought to allow the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos for the purposes of experimentation, I thought I must have mis-heard it. After all, I'd seen that they were running a consultation exercise, and the period of consultation wasn't over... And then I heard the report again.

My next thought was that, in my haste to get a blog post up, I had mis-read the HFEA consultation document... the one that said that the period of consultation was going to run until 20th July... maybe I'd seen an old post, and had seen something for 2006...

...so I went to have a look. No, the website still claims to be "consulting" the public. And will continue consulting until 20th July 2007. However, in the meantime, they have apparently made up their minds already: the experimentation will be allowed, because the scientists said that they need to do the research. Hello people. Scientists always need to do research. They will always push the boundaries to see "what will happen if..." It's in the job description. Just because something can be done, doesn't mean that it should be done.

A great deal was made (on the radio) of the fact that the scientists will need to apply for a licence in order to carry out their research. Another little fact for you to consider: scientists have to apply for a licence to do anything... even just to run a rat on a harmless maze. It is not difficult to obtain a licence. I used to do animal research. Getting the licence was pretty standard. You fill in a form. You send it in. They give you a licence...

The Public Meeting is still scheduled for the 26th June. The place and time have not been made public. And two emails I sent indicating my interest in attending this meeting have not merited a response... On Monday I think I shall try to phone (maybe their email system doesn't work...)

In case anyone else is interested, the person to phone is Helen Coath, Policy Manager. Tel: 020 7291 8238 Email: hybrids@hfea.gov.uk Let me know if anyone bothers to reply.

UPDATE 1: Ms Coath (according to her answerphone) is out of the office until May 31st. I've emailed, and will have another go at phoning when I get back from Lourdes.