Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Jarvis Excerpts

Monday 15th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire) (Ind)]

2. What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the approval under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 between April and June 2025 of the use of 1,656,930 animals over the next five years.

[The Minister for Security (Dan Jarvis)]

The Department takes its responsibilities under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act extremely seriously. Approvals for the use of animals in science are given only when no alternatives exist and where the scientific benefit justifies the potential harm. The Government will soon publish a strategy on how we will work towards phasing out the use of animals in science.

[Chris Hinchliff]

More than 1.6 million animals have been approved for testing over the next five years, including through licences for invasive brain research on monkeys and for looking at different methods of killing animals in laboratories. Labour’s manifesto committed to phasing out animal testing. Can the Minister reassure me that the non-animal methods strategy will commit to Herbie’s law and provide a clear framework for phasing out animal experiments within the next decade?

[Dan Jarvis]

I am grateful to the hon. Member. Herbie’s law is a proposed legislative framework to phase out animal experiments, specifically in medical research, in the UK by 2035. The Government’s commitment is clear: we will partner with scientists, industry and civil society to work towards a long-term goal of phasing out the use of animals in scientific research and testing. I will ensure that he receives a letter from the relevant Minister.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for his answer. It is quite clear that people have had their lives saved through scientific experiments with animals, and we thank the scientists for that. At the same time, a growing number of people have grave concerns, including my constituents and probably the Minister’s constituents as well. Can he assure us that when it comes to doing animal experiments of any sort, the priority will always be the people who can be saved as a result of the experiments, but it will also be the care of the animals? That is what my people want, and I think it is what everybody wants.

[Dan Jarvis]

I can give the hon. Gentleman that assurance. The Government authorise the use of animals in science under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in order to support critical national objectives in public health, scientific innovation and environmental protection. The authorisations provided by the regulator are not a blanket approval, but a tightly regulated process that has rigorous and robust ethical, legal and scientific scrutiny.

[Lee Anderson (Ashfield) (Reform)]

3. What steps she is taking to help prevent migrants from crossing the English Channel illegally.

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[Peter Dowd (Bootle) (Lab)]

T5. Will the Minister give an update on the work of the defending democracy taskforce, please?

[The Minister for Security (Dan Jarvis)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the question, because the targeted intimidation and harassment of elected representatives is completely unacceptable. The defending democracy taskforce works to ensure the safety and security of all electoral processes and democratic institutions, and to strengthen democratic society. We are conducting a review of the harassment and intimidation faced by elected representatives. The taskforce has also concluded a review of transnational repression, and we have updated Parliament on that. I hope this will be a shared endeavour, right across the House.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

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[Phil Brickell (Bolton West) (Lab)]

T6. Members of the all-party group on anti-corruption and responsible tax, which I chair, had the opportunity to meet National Economic Crime Centre officers last week and discuss the work that NECC is doing to disrupt money laundering and tax evasion, including through its landmark Operation Machinize. High-street money laundering is of huge concern to me, given the explosion of cash-intensive businesses over recent years seeking to hide beneath a veneer of respectability in order to conceal their dirty money. What measures is the Minister taking to empower trading standards, local councils, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and law enforcement to tackle this issue head-on?

[Dan Jarvis]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and the APPG for their work. The Government are absolutely committed to tackling high street money laundering to deliver safer streets and economic growth working closely with partners through multi-agency initiatives like Operation Machinize. We have strengthened the powers under the Economic, Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, and have funded 475 new roles under the anti-money laundering and asset recovery programme to detect and investigate offences.

[Susan Murray (Mid Dunbartonshire) (LD)]

T3. Just over a week ago, nearly 1,000 peaceful protesters, including priests and pensioners, were arrested in a single day for opposing the ban on Palestine Action, yet over the weekend, at the Unite the Kingdom protest, 26 police officers were injured and 25 arrests were made. Does the Home Secretary agree with my constituents in Dunbartonshire that this raises serious questions about proportionality, and will she consider reassessing the proscription of Palestine Action?

[Dan Jarvis]

Any attack on the police is utterly shameful. The right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy—it is a freedom that we protect fiercely—but Palestine Action’s activities have met the thresholds for proscription established in the Terrorism Act 2000. The organisation has conducted an escalating campaign, involving sustained criminal damage to national security infrastructure, intimidation and alleged violence, including the use of weapons resulting in serious injuries to individuals.

[Tristan Osborne (Chatham and Aylesford) (Lab)]

Weaponisation of social media has become a real cancer in our society, with MPs and others being targeted. What steps are the Government taking on hostile state threats on social media that might be being used to undermine our democracy?

[Dan Jarvis]

My hon. Friend is right to raise this. New and emerging artificial intelligence technology has the potential to amplify threats to democracy, including through hyper-realistic bots, which are used to spread disinformation and misinformation at speed. The Government are absolutely committed to addressing the threats, including by ensuring that social media platforms have the right systems in place to identify and tackle harmful material that breaches their terms of service.

[Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) (Con)]

T4. The Attorney General has claimed that we need the European convention on human rights and the European Court to solve the illegal migration crisis—an extraordinary claim. Will the Minister please explain, therefore, how Australia managed to tackle its migration problems and how the US is managing to implement our Rwanda plan, all outside the European convention that the Attorney General says we need?

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[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

Last week, our US allies pulled back from the Global Engagement Centre their international effort to tackle cyber-threats. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that our democracy is protected from foreign interference, cyber-threats and misinformation?

[Dan Jarvis]

We take all those threats incredibly seriously. We hosted the five country ministerial meetings with our American, Canadian, Australian and Kiwi allies just last week. We work incredibly closely with our partners to ensure that we are doing everything we can to support UK businesses and to target the perpetrators of these attacks.

[Alex Brewer (North East Hampshire) (LD)]

People in my constituency have raised with me problems of hare coursing, thefts, speeding and fly-tipping. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can tackle the wide range of crimes in rural areas?