Right To Protest – New Law

After four and a half years of Camp Beagle legally campaigning to close down MBR, and successfully raising public outcry and political pressure, the Government has decided to change the law to criminalise protesting against animal testing

The Government first attempted to protect MBR Acres specifically and tried to classify it as a national security centre for pandemic planning, and therefore as critical to national infrastructure. However, this failed when officials realised that beagles were not used at all during the Covid pandemic, as confirmed by the Minister on 17 December.

As a result, on 27 November 2025 the Secretary of State presented a statutory instrument to amend the Public Order Act 2023 (POA) and add “life sciences” to the list of “key national infrastructure”. It intends to define “life science infrastructure” as:

places where pharmaceutical research or development takes place, or
pharmaceutical products for medical use are manufactured, or
places used for or in connection with activities authorised by a licence under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986” (“ASPA”)

At present, the infrastructure protected by the POA includes roads, airports, harbours, rail, oil, gas, electricity and newspapers. This new addition would mean enhanced protection for animal testing facilities and related sites such as MBR Acres, and would give the police additional powers to arrest and prosecute activists deemed to be interfering with the operation of these facilities. Offences under this legislation carry penalties of up to 12 months’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

On 17 December 2025, a Delegated Legislation Committee met at Parliament to discuss the proposal to add “life sciences” to Section 7 of the Public Order Act. You can watch the debate here. You can read the transcript of this committee session here.

Many MPs attended the meeting to raise concerns, but despite the strong criticism voiced, the committee voted in favour of the amendment. During the debate, Sarah Jones MP (Minister for Policing and Crime) explained that all 135 establishments licensed by the Home Office to experiment on animals would be regarded as life science infrastructure. This includes MBR Acres, who hold a bleeding licence, all the contract toxicology laboratories where the beagles are sent, as well as universities, pharmaceutical companies, general research laboratories, and any other site connected to a licensed establishment.

The list of places connected with licensed establishments is potentially endless: animal suppliers, laboratory equipment manufacturers, recruitment agencies, animal feed suppliers, insurance companies, stationary providers, cleaning services and so on.

The legislation then progressed to the House of Commons. Many of you wrote to your MPs to object to this change, but sadly, on 14 January the MPs voted in favour of adding the animal testing industry to key national infrastructure under the Public Order Act. The vote was 301 in favour of protecting animal testing facilities from protest, and 110 against.

Although we were deeply upset by this result, the support we received was nothing short of amazing.

The legislation now moves to the House of Lords. Baroness Bennett has raised a fatal motion, which could block this secondary legislation from becoming law. There have only been four successful fatal motions since 1997, but we see no reason why this cannot be the fifth. The amendment was due to be debated on 21 January in the House of Lords, but due to the high level of controversy, it has been postponed and a new date has not yet been set.

We are asking our supporters to send an e-mail in support of our right to protest to the House of Lords. Any personalised text you can add will carry additional weight.

A fatal motion is more likely to succeed when there is widespread public pushback. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate any media contacts or support in helping us spread awareness to a wider audience.

If you would like further support in engaging with your MP, please get in touch at hello@thecampbeagle.com.

If this change is implemented, the future of Camp Beagle is uncertain. It is likely that MBR will attempt to use this new legislation to demand that Camp Beagle is removed. This legislation will affect all charities and organisations campaigning against animal testing, so Camp Beagle has joint efforts with other groups to oppose this legislation ammendement, including Naturewatch Foundation.

We will stay for the puppies for as long as we are able — but we need your help.

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