Thank you to those constituents who have approached me regarding animal testing. May I share my thoughts on this with you.
We are a nation of animal lovers, and animal welfare has been a key priority during my time in Parliament as the previous MP for Mid Sussex, so I completely understand that the use of animals in science, including toxicity testing, is a sensitive issue.
I very much welcome that the UK is one of the world's leading nations in the development of non-animal methods. I know that the previous Government was keen to ensure that these are utilised wherever is possible I also shared their ambition to reach 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 and I therefore welcomed their approach to support and accelerate advances in biomedical science and technology to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research. This support took the form of actively supporting and funding the development and dissemination of the three Rs which aim to replace the use of animals not necessary for research; to reduce the use of animals in the meantime; and to refine to eliminate or reduce distress to those animals already involved. This is primarily delivered through the National Centre for 3Rs (the NC3Rs), which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Since it was established, the NC3Rs has invested £89.3 million in research and £27 million in contracts through its CRACK IT Challenges innovation scheme for UK and EU based institutions, with that funding mainly focused on approaches for safer assessment of pharmaceuticals. Further funding has been committed.
The previous Government’s decision to ban cosmetic testing on animals was also extremely welcome and I understand that, since the ban of 17 May 2023, no animal testing is being conducted, nor will any testing be authorised, of chemicals that are exclusively intended to be used as ingredients in cosmetics products.
I strongly advocate for these alternative technologies and believe they will greatly improve our animal welfare standards, the economy and the safety of chemical products in the UK and truly hope that any future Government continues on this vital path.
You may also be interested in my more general statement on animal welfare on my website here: Mims Davies GE2024 - Statement on Animal Welfare Topics | Mims Davies
