THE European Commission has recently put before the European Parliament a proposal that will sicken the animal-loving people of Britain.

This is the REACH directive and it says that all chemicals and metals in general use have to comply to an EU standard for safety.

Many of these substances have been around for years, some for hundreds of years, and have a track record for safety and comply to a British Standard.

However, to our masters in Brussels this is not good enough - these substances, in order to comply to the EU standard, must be tested on animals.

An estimate for the number of animals needed for this testing given by a British civil servant is 12.8 million.

RICHARD CHAMINGS,

UK Independence Party.