Irene Campbell

Irene Campbell

Labour — North Ayrshire and Arran

Speaking in the House of Commons on 27 April 2026

Debate

Animal Testing

Contribution

I absolutely support Herbie’s law and, as I mentioned, the APPG is supported by Animal Free Research, which hopes to implement it. I agree 100% with the hon. Member. Another extremely cruel test is the forced swim test, for which there are still three licences granted in the UK, lasting until 2028. The Government’s “Replacing animals in science” strategy states specifically: “The test has limited scientific validity, particularly its translational relevance to human mental health disorders. Animal behaviour in the FST also lacks information on treatment latency and varies across strains and protocols. Therefore, we would expect the Home Office Regulator’s default position to be that the FST does not pass the harm-benefit test required under” the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. To me and many others, it would make complete sense to cancel those licences immediately.

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