Public Perceptions

Abstract

For much of their life, the Porton establishments have had a peripeteial relationship with the media, particularly the national press, being portrayed as either pernicious or working ineluctably for medical advances. This was particularly so for MRE in the 1960s, a period which saw a large number of public demonstrations directed against the work of the Establishment. Many of these were based on misconception and misinformation — never was the saying ‘a little learning is a dangerous thing’ more commonly applied to Porton’s scientific research. Organizations such as the Committee of 100, active in that period, managed to solicit considerable support on some occasions, organizing protests on a nationwide scale which sometimes culminated in a convoy of vehicles from London to bring protesters to hold marches in Salisbury. The ‘peace movement’ continues to protest about the campus to this day, although on a much smaller scale and on a very much better informed basis.