We are a nation of animal lovers, and animal welfare has been a key priority since my election to parliament so I completely understand the continued use of animals in science, including toxicity testing, is a highly controversial and emotive topic. I do appreciate how strongly campaigners feel about this issue.
As you may already know, animal research in the UK is regulated by the Home Office under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Under that legislation, the use of animals in research is prohibited if there is a non-animal method available that could be used instead. Put simply, animals can only be used in research when no alternative methods are available.
The Home Office has assured MPs that, in every research proposal, animals are replaced with non-animal alternatives wherever possible, the number of animals is reduced to the minimum necessary to achieve the desired result, and that, for those animals which must be used, procedures are refined as much as possible to minimise their suffering.
I am proud the UK is one of the world's leading nations in the development of non-animal methods; we need to ensure these are utilised wherever possible and I will support work which aims to accelerate the point at which animal research and testing is no longer necessary, having been fully replaced by effective alternatives. Sadly, however, technology is not yet at a point to wholly replace animal testing for important applications tackling some of the most significant human health condition so, while I share the Government’s ambition to phase out the use of animals in the testing process, I do not think it is realistic to do so in the timeframe requested by campaigners.
Therefore, I believe it is critical we continue to invest in research into the 3Rs: replacing the use of animals in research where unnecessary, reducing the use of animals, and refinement to eliminate or reduce distress to the animals involved in research. Through the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), the last Government invested £90 million in research and a further £27 million in contracts through its CRACK IT Challenges innovation scheme for UK and EU-based institutions.
In 2024, the then Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, Andrew Griffith MP, announced that UK Research and Innovation would double its investment in research to £20 million per annum in fiscal year 2024/25 to achieve the 3Rs and develop non-animal alternatives. As the Spending Review concludes, I urge the Government to provide clarity about what funding it will provide for research into non-animal methods in scientific research over the next few years.
I strongly advocate for these methods and believe they will greatly improve our animal welfare standards, the economy and the safety of chemical products in the UK. Such technologies have the potential to reduce the reliance on the use of animals, improve the efficiency of drug research and development, and deliver safer, cheaper and more effective medicines to patients.
The law already requires that animals are only used in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used, and potential harm is the minimum needed to achieve scientific benefit. Again, let me stress that I, along with my colleagues in Opposition, am keen to work with the Government on reaching a point at which testing on animals is no longer necessary.
I understand that the Government intends to publish its roadmap to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing before the end of the year and is engaging with stakeholders to that end. I am aware you are supportive of a letter from PETA requesting Ministers make sepsis treatments a priority area and I am told the Government met with PETA in the process of developing their roadmap and would have heard that call.
I look forward to scrutinising this roadmap when it is published and will continue to hold this Labour Government to account over its manifesto commitment to phase out animal testing.
