NOW Tony Blair has won a third term in office will he continue to ignore the wishes of his people as he has done in the past?

Not just with the obvious example of the war in Iraq, but over other issues that people care about, such as animal experimentation.

More than three quarters of the UK population think that the government should prohibit experiments on any live animals which cause them pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm -- which all experiments by definition are liable to do.

And when Labour came into power in 1997, they said they would support a Royal Commission into the use of animal experiments.

However, no Royal Commission ever emerged and the number of animals used in experiments in the UK has actually increased by 66,000, the highest number in 10 years.

In addition, most women (88 per cent) want a complete ban on animal testing for cosmetics, which the Labour Government also promised.

In 1998 they introduced a UK voluntary ban, stating that the suffering caused to animals could not be justified for such trivial purposes.

However, they also opposed a proposed EU sales ban on new animal tested cosmetics in Europe which means that cosmetics tested on animals are still sold in UK shops today.

We at the BUAV (British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection) hope the government will listen this time around.

ADOLFO SANSOLINI, Chief Executive, BUAV, Crane Grove, London.