Irene Campbell

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this important debate and setting out the arguments so well. I declare my interest as chair of the APPG on phasing out animal experiments in medical research. As some Members may already know, I have been a vegan since 1993, and this is a topic that I feel very passionate about. I have spoken on this issue several times and it does not get any easier. In a previous debate on testing on dogs, I quoted a debate from 1927, in which it was said: “Experiments on dogs may now be discontinued. All that can be found out by physiological experiments for application to human beings has long since been discovered, and repetitions are unnecessary and cruel.”—[Official Report, 29 April 1927; Vol. 205, c. 1237.] It is sad to think that we are still debating this topic almost 100 years later. As a Scottish MP, I was particularly concerned to see that in 2024 over 200,000 experiments were carried out on animals in Scotland. That was an 8.2% decrease from the previous year. However, it compares to Wales, which had a 16.7% decrease in experiments from 2023. Although I welcome the decreases, they must definitely be much quicker. As we have heard today, the Animals in Science Regulation Unit report from 2024, showed that 189 animals experienced adverse welfare outcomes; 54 of those cases were due to failure to provide adequate care, and nine were due to failure to provide food and water, sometimes for up to five days. Those cases of non-compliance are particularly concerning, and we also need to look at how well standards are being enforced in testing facilities—as we have heard already today. Given that almost 70% of cases were self-reported, this just is not good enough. We must look at another way of doing this. I was glad to see the Government’s strategy on replacing animals in science come out last November. In particular, I welcome the £75 million of funding for new testing methods and the establishment of a UK centre for the validation of alternative methods. However, I was disappointed to see missed opportunities around, for example, the forced swim test and the LD50 test. It is vital that timelines are introduced to enable a true phasing out of animals in medical research. I am looking forward to hearing the Minister’s response.