Lord Watts
Main Page: Lord Watts (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Watts's debates with the Home Office
(1 week, 3 days ago)
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Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)
That is an important point. We have to ensure that the sector operates properly and effectively and is not damaged by foreign state actors or any other criminal elements. That is why we put in place the measures in relation to protests, which we debated in this House last week. The Government will continue to ensure that robust measures, about which it would not be appropriate to talk in this Chamber, are put in place to protect all sectors of our industrial society.
Lord Watts (Lab)
My Lords, while I agree with the Government’s strategy to phase this out, are any other countries doing something similar? Can lessons be learned from experiences in other countries?
Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)
That is interesting. My noble friend should know that the UK has the highest standards possible in this area. One of the reasons that we do not wish immediately to close down some aspects of this work is because the businesses which produce that research—which the noble Lord mentioned earlier—would find themselves going abroad and operating under far poorer standards than those in the United Kingdom. We are a high-standard country because of the 1986 Act, and any dilution of that would result in more animals being harmed. Our strategy should be supported.