Ian Murray

Animal Testing

Who has the cat called Chairman Meow, then? It must be somebody else. My hon. Friend was right to mention the Competition and Markets Authority investigation into vet costs. We want to achieve our manifesto commitment on that issue; it was a very clear part of our manifesto and we all want to see the same outcomes from that. The hon. Member for Yeovil mentioned AI and asked us about the action so far, which I have run through. In response to my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn

Animal Testing

We will write to my hon. Friend with the details on those individual projects—the regulations are run by the Home Office, so I will write to her on those three specific issues and make sure that everyone in the Chamber has a copy. My hon. Friend the Member for North East Hertfordshire (Chris Hinchliff) said that the scale of the suffering prevented should overwhelmingly outweigh the suffering involved in testing. I think we would all agree with that. That is exactly the proportionate way in whic

Animal Testing

We do not disagree with the principle of Herbie’s law; indeed, that is what the strategy is trying to achieve. The challenge for the Government, of course, is to balance that against what is achievable and what can be validated, not just in the UK but across the international community. We want this country to be a world leader in eliminating animal research, and it is pretty clear, on the front page of the strategy, that we wish to take those 26 actions on. Let me continue as that will help to

Animal Testing

It is a great pleasure, as always, to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Stuart, in this important debate. I thank Members for their contributions. I especially thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for being a doughty campaigner for not just her constituents, but all their pets and animals. She has done that since she came into this place in 2024, and she deserves a great deal of respect and admiration for it. I also thank each and every one of the many peop

UK Biobank Data

With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement about the use of UK Biobank data. UK Biobank is a non-profit charity, independent of Government. The Biobank brings together data, kindly donated by its volunteer participants, that is shared with accredited researchers globally to make significant scientific discoveries that improve patient health. That includes discovering genes that affect the risk of heart disease or cancer, identifying new ways of predicting dementia, identifyin

UK Biobank Data

I do not think the tone of the hon. Gentleman’s question fits the seriousness of this issue. We are yet to get a conclusion from UK Biobank on what the process looked like for the three institutions that have been identified as downloading some datasets to transfer them to the seller, and we will update Members when we are clear on that. UK Biobank has told us quite clearly that that is what has happened. There are thousands of Chinese researchers working every day on data from UK Biobank and ot

UK Biobank Data

My hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point. I will say from the Dispatch Box that we should encourage more participation in UK Biobank. It is a global leader in research and is funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. It also receives significant funding from Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. That shows the breadth of research that it does on all the key diseases that we suffer from in this coun

UK Biobank Data

I thank the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the way in which she has dealt with this issue. I echo her thanks to all the volunteers—not only those who give their sensitive data to UK Biobank for critical purposes, but all the volunteers who give data for all research purposes. The Liberal Democrat spokesperson used the word “leak”, but this was not a leak; it was a legitimate download by a legitimately accredited organisation. We have identified a problem with the UK data bank system, in the s

UK Biobank Data

In a previous question, my hon. Friend said that Harlow Town were the Man City of non-league football. May I simply suggest that he is the Man City of speaking in this Chamber in terms of the quality and regularity of his contributions? That may be challenged by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon)—let us look at the data. I echo what my hon. Friend said in his question, because it is really important for us to impress on the public that data is secure and safe. This Government take that

UK Biobank Data

Significant undertakings were given by the chair and board of UK Biobank this week. They have answered all the questions and worked very closely with the Government, the British embassy in Beijing and the Chinese Government to ensure that this instance is resolved as quickly as possible. They have immediately identified the loopholes that enabled the download of the data from the institution, and they are carrying out mitigation work to ensure that that cannot happen again and to tighten up the

UK Biobank Data

UK Biobank has assured us over the past 24 hours that it is looking for a technical fix, which should happen relatively shortly, and we will hold it to that. To show that we are taking the situation as seriously as it should be taken, we have insisted as a Government that UK Biobank should pause all access to, downloads from and use of the system until the fix comes into place. I do not know the exact figures of usage, but across the globe there are somewhere in the region of more than 16,000 re

UK Biobank Data

I pay tribute to the Belfast universities and the way in which they have advanced research. As has already been mentioned, tens of thousands of individual accredited researchers use UK Biobank regularly, as do thousands of institutions across the globe. We need to ensure that the system is safe, so that volunteers participating in the system can be assured that their data is safe and secured, and that is why it has been paused. The hon. Gentleman challenges me on whether Belfast universities hav

UK Biobank Data

Yes, I can give that assurance. This Government are giving UK Biobank all the support that it requires to resolve the immediate issue and in the short term to get the system back up and running in as secure a way as possible. Let me echo that participants in UK Biobank have done a great service to the people of this country and around the world. We owe it to them to be transparent and secure, and to ensure that their data is not only safe but advancing UK and worldwide medical research for the b

UK Biobank Data

I thank the shadow Minister for the way in which he has approached this matter—indeed, with his expertise as a former COO of a tech company. Let me answer his questions directly. As we understand it—this is from UK Biobank, which is not a Government organisation, but an independent charity—UK Biobank cannot be entirely sure about the data that was included, because it was taken down from the Alibaba websites. However, we do know that there is no personal data in it, in terms of identifiers. I ca

Topical Questions

May I start by paying tribute to all at the Bathgate Band who were responsible for the Bathgate Music Hub, particularly Derek Brown? Co-operative live music venues have benefited from the Government’s £150 million community ownership fund, enabling communities to take ownership of valued local cultural assets, but in England, not Scotland. We have the Pride in Place programme, which is supporting 244 neighbourhoods across the UK, and yesterday we announced that the Creative Foundations Fund—a ch

Grassroots Music Venues

The Government are providing up to £30 million through the music growth package. That will further provide support to grassroots venues by fostering domestic growth, talent development and music exports. We are fully committed to supporting the live music industry’s introduction of a voluntary ticket contribution for stadium and arena shows, to help safeguard the future of the grassroots music sector, and this has already contributed half a million pounds to the live music sector.

Press Malpractice

The Secretary of State has been clear about this. In March she said, at the Society of Editors future of news conference, that the Government will “will tread carefully and cautiously about regulation…as any right-minded Government should.” Fearless journalists must be able to hold the Government to account, but there are also concerns that people are turning away from news and losing trust in issues that, as the hon. Member said, are very serious. I am happy to meet her to discuss such issues.

Grassroots Music Venues

We are determined to end ticket touting in this country. It has been ripping off fans for too long. We have a very strong policy to deal with that and we will bring the legislation forward as soon as we possibly can.

Grassroots Music Venues

Oh, Mr Speaker—you did not steal my line, unfortunately. I congratulate Eastbourne on reopening the bandstand. I am disappointed that I did not receive an invitation—I can throw a few shapes as well and I am very happy to come down and dance the night away with Mr Speaker. The Government very much care about these venues. The hon. Gentleman will know that on Tuesday we announced that 130 cultural venues, museums, libraries and live music venues will receive a share of nearly £130 million. That i

Press Malpractice

We recognise that incidents of undue attention and harassment from the media cause significant distress to the public. We will always defend media freedom, but with this freedom comes big responsibilities. Publishers must operate ethically and within the bounds of the law. The Secretary of State has met families who have experienced press intrusion. We are now carefully considering the next steps to determine how to ensure that public trust and accountability in news media is maintained and impr