Nick Harvey MP

MP BACKS BAN ON MONKEY EXPERIMENTS

Nick Harvey MP has joined the controversial debate over animal testing by backing a ban on the use of primates in experiments. Mr Harvey, MP for North Devon, has signed a parliamentary petition which calls for a complete ban on all primate tests [1].

The petition, Early Day Motion (EDM) 1704 [2], was tabled at the request of the BUAV (British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection). It has been signed by over 150 MPs from all parties.

Animal testing is currently a hot topic: with the controversy around the Oxford lab and the drama of the TGN1412 drug trial disaster at Northwick Park, it seems that never before has the issue been examined in such depth by the public and politicians. Mr Harvey's signing of the EDM reflects the feelings of the UK public, 76 per cent of whom are against any experiments that cause pain or distress [3].

EDM 1704 is part of the BUAV's larger "Next of Kin" campaign to secure a ban on all primate experiments in the UK and EU [4]. The BUAV have produced a new report that gathers the latest scientific evidence showing the extent to which primates can feel pain, terror and loneliness as humans do. Primates are now widely thought to do many things once thought unique to humans, including understanding cause-and-effect and communicating emotions and meaning in a complex way. Primates can also anticipate future events based on what has happened to them in the past. Despite procedures on monkeys such as the deliberate infliction of brain damage and infecting them with contagious diseases, the report also shows that monkeys are not a reliable scientific model for human conditions - for example, decades of AIDS research on primates has failed to provide a cure or vaccine.

The European Commission are in the process of revising the Directive that governs animal experiments across the entire European Union. The BUAV and other leading animal protection organisations will be calling for a ban on primate experiments to be part of the revised Directive.

Nick Harvey MP said:

"I believe that the basic needs of these sophisticated and intelligent animals can simply not be met in a laboratory setting - and that the physical differences between humans and other primates makes it impossible to reliably use them as 'models' for human conditions. I am happy to back a ban on primate experiments in the UK and EU."

Alistair Currie, BUAV Campaigns Director, said:

"It's great news that Mr Harvey is supporting the BUAV's Next of Kin campaign to end primate testing. Using primates as disposable tools for research is not only morally wrong, but scientifically questionable as well. All primates feel pain as we do and are as distressed by laboratory life in the same way as we would be. The Government has already banned tests on the great apes: now they must take the next logical step and ban tests on all primates, without delay."

Contact:

Dave Powell, Parliamentary Officer BUAV 020 7619 6970 or 24 hr media phone 07850 510 955

ENDS

Notes to editors

1) In 2004, 4,208 experiments using 2,792 primates were conducted in the UK, according to the latest official figures. Around 10,000 each year are used across Europe.

2)The full text of EDM 1704 is as follows:

"That this House notes the use of thousands of non-human primates each year in scientific procedures in the United Kingdom and across the EU; further notes that their level of sentience and highly developed social instincts make it extremely difficult to meet their behavioural needs in a laboratory setting; further notes that physical differences between human beings and other primates may make it impossible to predict reliably human outcomes from primate procedures; further notes public opposition to the use of primates; calls upon the Government to extend the current ban on the use of great apes to all primates as a matter of urgency; and further calls on the Government to press for an EU-wide ban on primate experiments as part of the impending review of European Union Directive 86/609/EEC". As of 13 July 2006, 154 MPs had signed the EDM: an up-to-date list can be found at http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=30152&SESSION=875

3) A BUAV national opinion poll undertaken by TNS in 2003 found that 76% of respondents thought the Government "should, as a matter of principle, prohibit experiments on any live animals which cause pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm".

4) On June 5 the BUAV released its ground-breaking new report - Next of Kin: the Use of Primates in Experiments. The fully peer-reviewed scientific report makes a clear case for a ban on moral and scientific grounds, arguing that their advanced cognitive and social abilities, and capacities for pain and distress, makes primates completely unsuitable as research tools. The report is also highly critical of the scientific worth of primate experiments, pointing out that for the suffering they cause the primates is made even more inexcusable by their failure to reliably and consistently predict results for humans. Next of Kin: A Report on the Use of Primates in Experiments, by Dr Gill Langley PhD CBiol MIBiol, is available to download from www.buav.org/nextofkin/report

About the BUAV

The BUAV is the world's leading organisation campaiging against animal experimentation. The BUAV opposes all violence to animals as well as humans, and believes that animals are entitled to respect and compassion, which animal experiments deny them. Its aim is to achieve lasting change by challenging attitudes and behaviour towards animals, which it does in the following ways:

• Peacefully campaigning and lobbying to change laws and government policies

• Challenging negative perceptions around animal rights

• Providing information on and raising awareness of animal experiments

For more information about the BUAV: www.buav.org / 020 7700 4888 / info@buav.org ENDS