𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Twenty-six Labour MPs have rebelled against the Government’s decision to ban protests outside animal testing labs and other “life sciences infrastructure”.

Former minister Kerry McCarthy and Commons Welsh Affairs Committee chairwoman Ruth Jones are among the rebels.

MPs have approved a ban on disruptive protests outside animal testing labs and other “life sciences infrastructure”.

Labour has outlawed protests such as “Camp Beagle” in Cambridgeshire, where activists have staged vigils non-stop for nearly five years outside a centre that breeds beagles for laboratory testing.

Anyone breaching the new ban may now face prison and a fine.

The government managed to pass the amendment by 301 votes to 110 after the Tories appeared to abstain on the issue, having previously tried to introduce the same measure before the election.

One rebel MP pointed out: “We voted against this as the Labour Party when the Tories tried to do this in government; now our leadership is doing the same as the Tories.”

Disruptive protests that interfere with “key national infrastructure” such as roads, railways, airports, harbours and some power stations are already banned, as part of the Public Order Act 2023.

But the Home Office wanted to add “life sciences infrastructure” to this list, using a regulation.

It is thought the powers will allow police to “respond proportionately to disruptive protest activity that undermines our nation’s health”, according to a Home Office spokesman.

Campaigner Nathan McGovern, a spokesma for the group Animal Rising, described the Government’s plans as “fundamentally undemocratic, secretive and an insult to the British public”.

He said using a regulation to change the law “betrays a feeling in this Government that this is not a popular piece of legislation”.

The full list of Labour MPs who rebelled are: Lorraine Beavers (Blackpool North and Fleetwood), Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse), Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam), Richard Burgon (Leeds East), Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby), Irene Campbell (North Ayrshire and Arran), Stella Creasy (Walthamstow), Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole), Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham), Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire), Imran Hussain (Bradford East), Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside), Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington), Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth), Clive Lewis (Norwich South), Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford), Rachael Maskell (York Central), Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East), John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington), Simon Opher (Stroud), Kate Osborne (Jarrow and Gateshead East), Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill), Jon Trickett (Normanton and Hemsworth) and Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East).