Irene Campbell MP Pushes for Plan to End Animal Testing

6 February 2026

Irene Campbell MP Pushes for Plan to End Animal Testing

North Ayrshire and Arran – Yesterday, Irene Campbell, Labour MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, sponsored a special reception hosted by PETA at the Palace of Westminster, where she joined more than 50 MPs, scientists, and policymakers to show support for animal-free science. The reception follows the government’s announcement that it will phase out the use of animals in experiments, following decades of campaigning by PETA and its supporters.

The event was attended by other MPs and , including Sir Roger Gale MP and Kerry McCarthy MP, as well as TV personality, animal advocate and septicemia survivor Gail Porter, who spoke to attendees about the importance of transitioning to human-relevant, animal-free research methods, and encouraged support for PETA’s campaign to end sepsis experiments on animals.

The image is also available here.

“The UK’s roadmap is a welcome milestone, proof that science can evolve beyond cruelty and outdated methods,” says PETA Head of Science Policy Dr Julia Baines. “But it’s only the starting line. The government must now take meaningful steps to end all animal experiments, not just because superior technologies exist, but because better, human-relevant science is both possible and urgently needed.”

In 2024, more than 2.5 million animals were bled, poisoned, deprived of food, isolated, mutilated, or otherwise subjected to psychological suffering and physical pain in British laboratories. Millions more were bred and discarded as “surplus” because, for example, they were not of the desired sex or lacked certain disease characteristics.

PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on or abuse in any other way”, notes that its Research Modernisation Deal – which provides a clear, actionable framework for ending the use of animals in research, testing and education – played an important role in shaping the roadmap when Dr Baines attended the Government’s stakeholder roundtable last May. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

Contact:

Lucy Watson +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]

#