Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to end the use of LD50 testing on animals.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK supports work to develop New Approach Methodologies which can provide information on chemical hazards and risk assessment without the use of animals.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is the UK regulatory authority for veterinary medicines. The VMD assesses applications submitted by the veterinary pharmaceutical industry in line with national and international regulations and guidance to ensure safe and effective veterinary medicines of good quality are marketed. These requirements may therefore necessitate animal testing either to develop and register new veterinary medicines or for routine product quality control, to ensure the continued quality, safety and efficacy batch to batch. Non-animal tests are not always available. The VMD is committed to phasing out the use of animals for testing purposes where possible, in accordance with the principles of 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). Furthermore, the UK is a signatory to the European Pharmacopoeia (which sets minimum quality standards of medicines) and the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes. This commitment to the 3Rs is also enshrined in the UK’s Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 under which scientific procedures in animals are regulated.
For veterinary medicines significant progress in non-animal testing has been made in recent years, including the possibility of replacing animals by in vitro suitable cell cultures in LD50-type testing methods, and the relevant regulatory quality standards and testing requirements have been revised accordingly for these specific medicines. Many Marketing Authorisation Holders for these specific medicines have already, and more recently, introduced these changes to their authorised medicines, which will reduce the number of animals used. Implementation of new tests for existing products can be a complicated process, requiring extensive validation and it is not always possible to replace all of the existing animal tests with in vitro non-animal replacements for each existing authorised product. The relevant UK Competent Authority for regulation of these medicines will continue to monitor the use of animals in these tests and to recommend use of non-animal tests where possible.
The Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation (the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs, Andrew Griffith) recently announced that the Government will publish a plan to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of technologies and methods to reduce reliance on the use of animals in science, which will be published in the summer. He also requested that we double our investment in research to achieve these approaches next year to £20 million across the system in 2024/25.
LD50 testing is not required for preclinical development of novel medicines. Quality control testing of some authorised medicines relies on LD50 testing to ensure each batch meets expected quality standards. UK regulators follow the principles of the 3Rs. Significant progress has been made on validating alternative methods which do not use animals, including the possibility of replacing mice by in vitro suitable cell cultures in LD50-type testing methods, and the relevant regulatory quality standards and testing requirements have been revised accordingly for these specific medicines.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's consultation entitled Fur market in Great Britain, published in May 2021, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on the publication of the results of that consultation.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has regular discussions with the Devolved Administrations about a range of animal welfare topics. This includes our work to build the evidence base on the fur sector.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with the Government of (a) Germany and (b) France on the refusal of entry to their country of Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah, Rector of Glasgow University; and if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of such refusals.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
I have not made representations on this matter to either the French or German Authorities.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether arms exported from the United Kingdom were used in the attack by Israeli Defence Forces on the Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza on 16 April 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The British Government has underlined the need for Israel to ensure effective deconfliction in Gaza and ensure effective systems to guarantee the safety of humanitarian operations. We continue to raise this with Israel at the highest levels.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential (a) environmental and (b) commercial impact of proposals for a high voltage direct current transmission line from Morocco to the UK.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is interested in the Xlinks UK-Morocco Power Project which is a proposed large scale onshore wind, solar and battery storage site in Morocco that would exclusively supply power to the GB grid via high voltage direct current subsea cables.
The Government is currently evaluating – without commitment – how this complex project could contribute to the UK’s energy security. Our evaluation is considering a range of issues, including environmental and commercial impacts, to ensure we are comprehensively assessing the viability and merits of the proposal.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment his Department has made of the situation of Hindus in Sri Lanka after the recent arrest and assault of Tamil Hindu worshippers.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is a UK priority in Sri Lanka. The UK Government regularly raises human rights, including the importance of religious tolerance and protecting the rights of all Sri Lankans to practise their faith. Through UK funded programmes, we support Sri Lankan youth to advocate for FoRB and improve religious harmony.
We continue to be concerned by increasing tensions around land in Sri Lanka, including at the Vedukkunaari Aadhi Sivan temple in Vavuniya. We welcome the release of the eight arrested Hindu worshippers but note that this incident has troubling implications for FoRB.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2024 to Question 12714 on Western Sahara: Natural Resources, whether it is his policy that commercial activity in Western Sahara requires the agreement of recognised representatives of the Saharawi people to be compliant with international law.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not consider commercial activity to be illegal in Western Sahara, providing it respects the interests of the Sahrawi people. The UK continues to support the UN-led efforts and the work of Staffan de Mistura as Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Western Sahara and we continue to encourage constructive engagement with the political process and monitor progress.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to the UK-Morocco Strategic Framework for Cooperation on Climate Action, Clean Energy and Green Growth, signed on 9 May 2023, whether co-operation with Morocco on clean energy will include activity within Western Sahara.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK-Morocco Strategic Framework for Cooperation on Climate Action, Clean Energy and Green Growth is a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding which sets the basis on which bilateral cooperation can be built in the Climate Action, Clean Energy, and Green Growth sectors between the UK and Morocco. It builds on existing cooperation between the UK and Morocco in these sectors, such as through the Energy Transition Council and Agricultural Breakthrough Agenda. There are no activities within Western Sahara covered by the Framework currently. All activities are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions he has had with counterparts in Tajikistan on reports of recent disappearances of activists and opposition leaders in that country.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We discuss Tajikistan's human rights situation both bilaterally and in international fora, including during the Foreign Secretary's visit this week, and during Minister Docherty's visit to Tajikistan in 2023 and through the British Embassy in Dushanbe.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of removing VAT on defibrillators on their (a) affordability and (b) accessibility.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government maintains VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), including VAT relief on purchases made by local authorities and those made through voluntary contributions, where the AED is donated to eligible charities or the NHS. Otherwise, they attract the standard rate of VAT.
The Government is currently inviting community organisations to bid for funding as part of a £1 million grant scheme that expands access to AEDs, particularly in public places where they are most needed. In addition, last year the Government committed to supplying state-funded schools in England with defibrillators to make sure there is a device in device in every school, with deliveries completed in June 2023. This means that every state-funded school in England, over 21,500 schools, now has access to an AED.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.