Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 11:00 am on 24 February 2009.
I apologise for missing my hon. Friend's initial remarks, and he may have covered the matter that I want to raise. I support the Government's three Rs approach—reduction, replacement and refinement. When I look at the statistics, it would help me to see what definitive evidence there is—I know that we have an organisation that is tasked to do that, but it is smoke and mirrors—that those three R's have reduced the amount of animal experimentation that would otherwise have taken place. I have never seen such evidence, and that is a real weakness in the system. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is a problem?