andMr. Kitt asked the Minister for Health the total Government grant for medical research during 1975; and the proportion of it expended on research with living animals.

The total contribution of £468,000 made by my Department during 1975 for medical research was divided between two bodies.

The grant to the Medical Research Council amounted to £293,000 of which approximately one-third was spent on experiments involving living animals.

£175,000 was paid to the Medico-Social Research Board. None of this money was expended upon research or experimentation involving live animals.

The Parliamentary Secretary made the point that £100,000 was expended on experimentation on live animals. Is that so?

The total contribution was £468,000. The grant to the Medical Research Council was £293,000, of which approximately one-third, that is approximately £93,000, was spent on experiments involving live animals.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary enlighten the House or give us more information on this appalling commentary on current civilisation—£93,000 expended on experimentation involving live animals? Can he tell us the form of the experiments, who performed them, what type of animals are involved and the reason for the use of animals in these circumstances?

The answers to some of those questions will come up in the following question.

18.