Human Fertilisation and Embryology

Part of Living Wage (Reporting) – in the House of Commons at 3:17 pm on 3 February 2015.

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Photo of Jim Shannon Jim Shannon Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Health), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Transport), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Human Rights) 3:17, 3 February 2015

I am glad my hon. Friend raised that point.

We cannot have a real debate today without the evidence. New Scientist, typically a champion of progress in all areas of research, warned of lack of understanding of the links between mitochondria and nuclear DNA. The fact is that the procedures for creating children are so controversial that no other country makes legal provision for them. The Council of Europe convention on biomedicine expressly prohibited them. The fact that experiments recommended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority itself have not been concluded, written up and peer reviewed raises extensive safety concerns. Yet we as parliamentarians are asked to make a decision today without having all the clinical evidence before us.

In the pre-clinical tests that have been carried out, one of the techniques was tried in humans and resulted in three foetal deaths. The obligations in international law, specifically the European directive on clinical trials—