How hypocritical of the Government to make Brian Cass, the managing director of Huntingdon Life Sciences, a CBE for services to medical research.

There was an outcry in January 2000 over Labour holding 75,000 shares in the company when it was accused by Home Office inspectors of abusing animals and, later, mistreating dogs in its laboratories.

This generated a furious reaction from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which had given the party £1.1 million over three years.

It said the investment was appalling.

The Shadow Home Secretary of the time, Ann Widdecombe, said: "This is hypocrisy of the worst kind. In opposition, Labour talked tough on outlawing vivisection and accepted large sums of money from animal welfare groups.

"Now we discover Labour is alleged to have used money from its superannuation fund to buy shares in a condemned vivisection laboratory."

Recently, the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection released footage taken during a secret ten-month investigation which, it claims, shows horrific procedures carried out on monkeys by Cambridge University without proper authorisation.

Cambridge has Tony Blair's support in a campaign to set up a new animal research centre to study brain diseases.

Awarding Mr Cass an honour is an outright statement of the Government's support for the UK vivisection industry and a distasteful exploitation of the honours list.

-Judy Way, Overhill, Southwick