The Scottish National Party winner of the Glasgow East by-election, John Mason, has made a commitment to promote his constituency as a centre for non-animal research.

He made the pledge in response to a British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) survey sent to all the candidates before the election.

Mr Mason was asked if he agreed with statements including; that more should be done to reverse the increasing trend of using animals, that it is not justifiable to cause substantial suffering to any animal in the laboratory, that the Freedom of Information Act should be fully implemented regarding animal testing and that Scotland should lead the way in supporting alternative methods of research.

The new MP agreed with all of these statements. In addition, he made three significant commitments. These are to proactively promote Glasgow East as a centre for non-animal research, to make his constituency office ‘cruelty free’ by insisting on cleaning products that have not been tested on animals, and to sign an Early Day Motion calling on the Government to ban animal experiments for household products.

All six of the SNP’s other Westminster MPs have signed EDM 1215, which calls for the UK government to ban the use of animals to test household products, such as floor cleaners or washing up liquid. In total 171 cross-party MPs have signed the EDM.

The licensing of animal experiments is not a devolved matter for Scotland, as all licenses are approved by central Government. However, Mr Mason told the BUAV he agrees that Scotland should have control over issuing licenses.

Scotland carries a disproportionate amount of animal testing in the UK. In 2006, tests north of the border made up 14 per cent of the UK's three million procedures - even though Scots make up only around eight per cent of the total population (1). The majority of the public want to see their politicians supporting measures to bring these numbers down.

The BUAV Chief Executive, Michelle Thew, says “We welcome these statements of commitment from the new MP for Glasgow East. Politicians need to listen to the majority of the public, who are concerned about animal testing. In Scotland, there is a higher level of animal experiments than south of the border, and the BUAV welcomes the opportunity to work with John Mason on the animal testing issue”.