UK Authorities Tested Germ Warfare Repeatedly on Tube Commuters
New research published by University of Kent history professor Ulf Schmidt has revealed that authorities secretly pumped vast quantities of toxic bacteria into the London underground tube system in the 50s, carrying out at least 750 covert operations during the Cold War.
Unveiling his new findings in new book Secret Science, professor Schmidt said that one particular bacteria released on the tubes- Bacillus globigii- was considered harmless at the time though has since been connected to food poisoning and septicaemia. He also revealed that live plague bacteria were released by authorities off the coast of Scotland in 1952. (Independent)
The latest revelations emerged 12 years after an official Government report first confirmed that over 100 covert germ warfare operations involving the unwitting public were carried out between 1940 and 1979 including the release of deadly anthrax, also off the Scottish coast in the 1950s.
Following the report’s publication in 2002, Porton Down spokesperson Sue Ellison was unapologetic.
‘Independent reports by eminent scientists have shown there was no danger to public health from these releases which were carried out to protect the public,” she told the Guardian.
“The results from these trials will save lives, should the country or our forces face an attack by chemical and biological weapons.” (Guardian)
