On Monday 7 February, MPs will e-petition 591775, relating to laboratory animals and the Animal Welfare Act. Martyn Day MP, a member of the Petitions Committee, has been asked by the Committee to open the debate. Kit Malthouse MP, Minister of State at the Home Office, will respond.
‘Change the law to include laboratory animals in the Animal Welfare Act’
The petition, which has more than 110,000 signatures, states: “The Government needs to change the law so laboratory animals are included in the Animal Welfare Act. Laboratory animals are currently not protected by the Act and are therefore victims of ‘unnecessary suffering’”
In its response to the petition, provided on 20 August 2021, the Government said: “The Government believes animal use for research remains important and The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides specific protection for these animals.”
The debate will last up to three hours, and will provide opportunities for MPs to question the Government directly on this issue. The debate will take place in Westminster Hall from 16:30, and will be available to view on Parliament TV and on YouTube.
Petition details
- ‘Change the law to include laboratory animals in the Animal Welfare Act’- view on petition signature map.
- Any Library Briefing Papers for this debate will be available here.
Follow the debate
- Watch the debate live online: https://parliamentlive.tv/Commons or YouTube.
- Read the debate transcript: House of Commons – Hansard – UK Parliament
- Follow the Committee on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hocpetitions
- You can also follow the debate with the hashtags: #AnimalTestingDebate
Where in the country were these petitions signed?
The top 10 parliamentary constituencies that supported the ‘Change the law to include laboratory animals in the Animal Welfare Act’ are as follows:
| Constituency | MP | Signature Count |
| Huntingdon | Mr Jonathan Djanogly MP | 493 |
| North West Cambridgeshire | Shailesh Vara MP | 467 |
| North East Cambridgeshire | Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP | 434 |
| West Suffolk | Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP | 294 |
| Isle of Wight | Bob Seely MP | 292 |
| South East Cambridgeshire | Lucy Frazer MP | 283 |
| Rochford and Southend East | James Duddridge MP | 281 |
| Wealden | Ms Nusrat Ghani MP | 279 |
| Surrey Heath | Rt Hon Michael Gove MP | 279 |
| Weston-super-Mare | John Penrose MP | 277 |
Editors Notes:
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