Secrecy, Transparency and Public Relations: Opening Up Porton Down in the ‘Year of the Barricades'

This chapter describes how secrecy at Porton Down was replaced with a measure of transparency, culminating in a series of open days at the Microbiological Research Establishment (MRE) in October 1968. Within the Ministry of Defence and Porton Down, the unwanted spotlight on biological and chemical warfare was starting to create anxiety. This anxiety was further animated by talk within Whitehall and beyond of transferring the MRE to a civil authority. Public protests against the Vietnam war were frequent in London, and in March 1968 anti-war protest spilled over from Trafalgar Square into violence at the US Embassy in Grovesnor Square. The Ministry of Defence itself was starting to organise itself in response to public criticism and protest. Quantitative research using content analysis has shown how science coverage in the UK print media shifted quite dramatically in the late 1960s from a deferential reporting to more critical styles of journalism.