'The worst in Europe': Why Scotland must phase out medical testing on animals

Irene Campbell, the MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, claimed Scotland had fallen behind on reducing animal experiments, and that advances in technology were making it easier to stop doing them entirely.

Ms Campbell, who has been a vegan since the 1990s, suggested animal testing could be phased out by 2030.

She said: “From my perspective as a Labour party MP, it's making sure that we manage to stick to our commitments. So that's really important for me.

“The manifesto stated stronger animal welfare, full stop. It said ‘Labour will improve animal welfare. We will ban trail hunting and the import of hunting trophies. We will end puppy smuggling and farming, along with the use of snare traps. And we will partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing’.

“You probably have noticed that there's not quite a timeline, but my understanding is we would be looking for 2030. I would obviously like to see it phased out by like tomorrow, but that's obviously not going to happen.

“I did have a discussion recently with another animal welfare person, the actor Peter Regan, and he thinks it should be done much quicker. And while I didn't disagree with him, I sometimes think we have to do things incrementally.”

Referencing the state of animal testing internationally, Ms Campbell claimed Scotland saw more cases than Wales, and the UK more than the rest of Europe.

UK government figures show testing on live animals peaked in Scotland at 573,000 cases in 2015, falling to 390,000 procedures in 2023.

Ms Campbell said: “The number of procedures in Scotland in 2023, it only fell by 2 per cent in relation to the number of animal experiments. England fell by 3 per cent, but Wales by 19 per cent, so we're really lagging behind Wales.

“There were over two million procedures in 2023 in the UK as a whole, and this is by far the worst in the EU, even though we're not in the EU. We need to have a strong strategy and expectations to become more effective at phasing out animals used in medical research.”

Asked about whether testing on animals was still required, Ms Campbell insisted there were now “plenty” of alternatives, and it was also about ensuring the testing actually applied to humans.

She said: “There are many scientists who would say it’s not required. There’s also been things that happened in the past, many years ago. There was Thalidomide. So that’s an example of a drug that was tested on lots of animals and had no adverse effects. When it was taken by women for morning sickness, a large number of children were born with limbs missing.

“There’s a clear scientific train of thought that this is the way to go, and I’ve also been at several meetings since I took this role with scientists from large organisations who are supporting the phasing out of researching on animals.”

Explaining her own passion for animal welfare, Ms Campbell added: “I’ve been passionate about this for many years. I’ve been a vegan for over 30 years, I’ve been a vegan since the early ‘90s. It’s always been a cause that I have been very passionate about and concerned about. The scientific evidence is there, and good robust trials can be done without the use of animals.”