Cross-party letter on phasing out animal experiments

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  Lord Vallance

  Minister of State for Science, Innovation & Technology

  Department for Science, Innovation & Technology

  100 Parliament Street

  London SW1A 2BQ

  Dear Lord Vallance, Lord Hanson and Baroness Hayman,

  We are writing to you as the Ministers responsible for producing the Government’s forthcoming strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of non-animal methods.

  We support the Government’s commitment to phasing out animal experiments. As well as improving animal welfare, focusing on modern, human-specific methods will accelerate medical breakthroughs and unlock the economic opportunities presented by this growing global market. The non-animal alternatives testing market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 12% to reach $4.08 billion in 2029.

  Around the world, policymakers are taking bold steps to support the transition to human-specific science. This includes the US FDA’s Roadmap that seeks to make animal testing ‘the exception rather than the norm’ over the next 3-5 years in preclinical safety testing, while the European Union has committed to a roadmap to phase out chemical testing on animals. If we are to keep pace, and position Britain as a global leader in human-specific life sciences, the forthcoming alternatives strategy must be bold and transformative.

  As well as measures to increase funding and practical support to enable scientists to transition to non-animal methods, it should commit to:

  1.  Introduce Herbie’s Law to provide a clear timeline for the phase-out. Recommended by Animal Free Research UK, Herbie’s Law would set a goal of phasing out animal experiments in medical research over the next decade, working closely with the scientific community to support them with the transition.

  2. As a first step, stop issuing licences for experiments using dogs and cats, as well as non-human primates. It is crucial that these are replaced with non-animal methods, not other species of animal,  which would fail to address the scientific and ethical problems.

  3. Institute a thorough overhaul of the licensing of animal experiments to ensure that basic legal requirements to use non-animal methods wherever possible are being properly enforced.

  Including these measures will ensure that the strategy has real impact in driving the phase-out of animal experiments. As a nation of animal lovers, we must harness our long-established scientific excellence to lead the transition to future-focused, human- specific medical research, which will transform the lives of people around the world.

  Yours sincerely,

  Irene Campbell MP (Labour)

  Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Phasing Out Animal Experiments in Medical

  Research

  Parliamentarian signatures

  The Rt Hon John McDonnell MP (Independent)

  The Lord Clement-Jones CBE (Liberal Democrat)

  Neil Duncan-Jordan MP (Independent)

  Louie French MP (Conservative)

  Sammy Wilson MP (Democratic Unionist Party)

  The Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party)

  The Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party)

  Sam Rushworth MP (Labour)

  Lillian Jones MP (Labour)

  Seamus Logan MP (Scottish National Party)

  Ruth Jones MP (Labour)

  Johanna Baxter MP (Labour)

  Michael Wheeler MP (Labour)

  Douglas McAllister MP (Labour)

  The Lord Gascoigne (Conservative)

  Ellie Chowns MP (Green Party)

  Daniel Francis MP (Labour)

  Maureen Burke MP (Labour)

  Siân Berry MP (Green Party)

  Sarah Champion MP (Labour)Dame Caroline Dinenage MP (Conservative)

  The Rt Hon. the Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative)

  Alex Mayer MP (Labour)

  Gurinder Singh Josan MP (Labour)

  Sorcha Eastwood MP (Alliance)

  The Rt Hon. the Lord West of Spithead GCB DSC. (Labour)

  Brian Leishman MP (Independent)

  Manuela Perteghella MP (Liberal Democrat)

  Anna Gelderd MP (Labour)

  Bob Blackman MP (Conservative)

  Carla Denyer MP (Green Party)

  Elaine Stewart MP (Labour)

  Tony Vaughan MP (Labour)

  The Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative)

  Andrew Ranger MP (Labour)

  Iqbal Mohamed MP (Independent)

  Andrew George MP (Liberal Democrat)

  Patricia Ferguson MP (Labour)

  Kim Johnson MP (Labour)

  Liz Jarvis MP (Liberal Democrat)

  Mary Kelly Foy MP (Labour)

  Peter Swallow MP (Labour)

  Gregory Campbell MP (Democratic Unionist Party)

  Kenneth Stevenson MP (Labour)

  Matt Bishop MP (Labour)

  Adrian Ramsay MP (Green)

  Alex Sobel MP (Labour)

  The Rt Hon. Lord McNally (Liberal Democrat)Alex Easton MP (Independent)

  Lee Pitcher MP (Labour)

  The Baroness Cass OBE FRCP FRCPCH (Crossbench)

  The Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party)

  Christine Jardine MP (Liberal Democrat)

  The Earl of Courtown (Conservative)

  Tan Dhesi MP (Labour)

  Terry Jermy MP (Labour)

  Celebrit y endorsement

  Carol Royle

  Dame Joanna Lumley

  Diane Morgan

  Alan Cumming

  Deborah Meaden

  Will Young

  Kirsty Gallacher