Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have discussed the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the United States with the Trump administration since President Trump took office, and whether the Prime Minister and President Trump have discussed this appointment.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump on 26 January, and the Foreign Secretary spoke to Secretary of State Rubio on 27 January. Lord Mandelson is going through the normal onboarding processes for a new Ambassador, and we expect him to take up his new post in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to extend an invitation for a state visit to President Trump.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump on 26 January and congratulated him on his inauguration. The Prime Minister and President Trump discussed the importance of the close and warm ties between the UK and US and agreed to meet in-person in the near future. Any travel will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to diverting public funding from animal-based research projects towards those that use human-specific research approaches.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Research and innovation involving animals is funded where no alternatives exist, in line with UK legislation. Research using animals and animal models has had significant impacts for the UK, supporting government’s healthcare missions, Net Zero, and One Health priorities. UKRI invests directly to reduce reliance on the use of animals, including ca.£10m per annum from BBSRC and MRC for the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).
UKRI also supports ‘human-specific’ research, for example ca.£22.5m commitment over two years to the MRC Experimental medicine programme, a £15m call on Novel human in vitro models of complex disease with NC3Rs and Wellcome, and an £18m call for Experimental medicine to define new mechanisms of neurodegeneration. The use of human specific approaches has increased.
Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to accelerate the phase-out of animal experimentation, and to support scientists to transition to human-specific medical research approaches.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has committed to partnering with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the requirements for phasing out of animal testing. We are engaging with the sector in taking this commitment forward.
The Government funds research through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and many programmes, such as using organoids, may lead to the development of human-specific technologies that can replace the need for the use of animals. The Government also funds the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research through the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs).