Oral Answers to Questions

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle]

Outside the classroom, the CyberFirst programme has engaged 250,000 young people across the UK. Those are the first steps; this Government will be going further.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

T2. Recently, I hosted a briefing event for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, where strong evidence was presented that almost all drug research and research into other products could be done without abusing animals. Will the Secretary of State take the opportunity to ensure that we no longer experiment on animals and that we use other methods to get products into service?

[Peter Kyle]

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question, because the first job I ever had was at the Body Shop working for Anita Roddick, and I joined her campaign against animal testing for cosmetics. She would be proud to see me at the Dispatch Box engaging in this conversation. Labour made a manifesto commitment to phase out animal testing in the long term. That is something we are committed to and something we are taking steps towards.