April 2026

In the first instance, officials make those judgments and refer those requests to the Intelligence and Security Committee, where parliamentarians take a view.

All the documents that the Government hold in relation to the initial appointment and subsequent dismissal have been published in the first tranche, and all subsequent relevant documents will be published in the second.

As the Prime Minister said, that was part of a series of visits that he was undertaking. It is of course proper that closed-door meetings between Ministers and stakeholders are attended by officials, minuted and reported in the normal way, but when visits are undertaken, they are managed differently. This was no secret to anyone; photos were taken and published on the Government’s social media account.

All relevant documents will be published in the normal way.

The Cabinet Office has now processed all the documents ready for the second tranche. In relation to the Intelligence and Security Committee, those final documents have been sent or will be sent today. In relation to who decides whether a document is referred to the Committee, that is based on officials screening each document to see whether they engage international relations or national security, and whether they warrant a redaction request.

The Minister is being incredibly kind in giving way, but to push her on that point: has the guidance been stress-tested on the fishermen to date? The Minister said she will work with them. Have the fishermen been involved yet?

Alicia Kearns voted NO on 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendments 89B and 89C' (273-167, passed)

Will Forster voted NO on 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendments 89B and 89C' (273-167, passed)

Charlie Maynard voted NO on 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendments 89B and 89C' (273-167, passed)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship today, Mr Twigg. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for introducing this debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee. She is a fantastic, tireless champion of the rights of animals and does a great job chairing the APPG on phasing out animal experiments, of which I am proud to be a member. I also thank the 211 constituents in Newport West and Islwyn who signed this petition to end animal testing.

I understand the timetable that the Minister is outlining, which is great, but there are still millions of tests being undertaken every year unnecessarily. We know about the forced swim and LD50 tests. Could the Minister outline a bit more the review of the generic project licences? How can we issue a licence for a generic project when we do not know about it? How can we evaluate and assess the risks there?

Edward Morello voted NO on 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendments 89B and 89C' (273-167, passed)

John Milne voted NO on 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendments 89B and 89C' (273-167, passed)

Parliamentary appearance by Anneliese Midgley

Parliamentary appearance by Steve Yemm

Peter Bedford voted NO on 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendments 89B and 89C' (273-167, passed)

Lincoln Jopp voted NO on 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendments 89B and 89C' (273-167, passed)

Jess Brown-Fuller voted NO on 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendments 89B and 89C' (273-167, passed)

Gagan Mohindra voted NO on 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendments 89B and 89C' (273-167, passed)

James MacCleary voted NO on 'English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendments 89B and 89C' (273-167, passed)