The government is to rush through a measure to protect British companies from vociferous animal rights extremists, a new criminal offence relating to "economic sabotage".
Ministers are expected to announce the measure, to be introduced as an amendment to the organised crime bill going through parliament, within weeks.
The bill already gives the police extra powers to deal with harassment, but ministers believe such activism requires a more sophisticated response.
Aegis Defence Services has predicted that up to £16bn a year of investment in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries could be lost unless the government takes action to protect companies.
The activists have widened their range of targets, attacking not just companies engaged in or commissioning animal research but also those who invest in or sell goods to them. Construction of Oxford University's £18m biomedical research laboratory has been halted by the contractors pulling out after "intimidation".
Research published this week by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said 113 suppliers had pulled out of deals with companies involved in animal research because of intimidation. Its report listed 177 cases of damage to company and private property, and 108 threatening phone calls and text messages to employees of companies involved in animal research.
"The UK leads the world in a lot of medical research and the activities ... by animal rights extremists are endangering that," a DTI spokesman said yesterday. "Not only is the development of new drugs being affected, but investment may go elsewhere if investors see that intimidation."
It is not yet clear how the amendment will cover acts which are not currently illegal without endangering such rights of protest as economic boycott. Nor is it clear whether the measure will be extended to other "extremists".
An amendment tabled by Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, would allow minor offences to attract higher penalties if they were committed as part of a wider, "vicious" campaign.
Dr Harris said the government's amendment would need to be carefully worded to ensure that consumer boycotts and industrial disputes were excluded.
Philip Wright, the ABPI's director of science and technology, said that increased police activity had not curbed the problem, and that it was "essential" to get an amendment protecting regulated companies.
