Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove, and Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, have called for the open publication of licences granted for animal experiments.
They have signed a House of Commons motion which highlights the lack of transparency around animal testing licences.
The motion – Early Day Motion (EDM) 716 – urges the government to require inspectors to publish experiment project licences that they approve.
Mr Weatherley said: “Animal welfare is an important issue for me and a large number of my constituents.
“I welcome an open and transparent system for licensing animal experiments that will help to get a clearer picture of how widespread these kinds of experiments are.”
The EDM, which is headed “Transparency in Scientific Procedures”, says: “That this House notes the publication of the MORI poll ‘Views on the use of animals in scientific research’ which found that only 43 per cent of respondents ‘expect that the rules in Britain on animal experimentation are well enforced’ and 33 per cent had a ‘lack of trust in the regulatory system in the UK’; welcomes the emerging consensus that animal experiments should be open to transparent and informed debate, as called for by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection and a number of leading universities; and calls on the government to publish routinely the experiment project licences that its inspectors approve, after removal of personal or commercially confidential information, so as to facilitate such a debate.”
And what exactly will the public do with this information?
• Most will ignore it.
• Some will take heart that experiments are done to improve their health.
• And some, a minority, will use it as a ‘hit list’ to cause trouble.