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Ken Livingston says he'll work towards a cruelty-free London if re-elected as mayor
Added: (Mon Apr 28 2008)
BUAV PRESS RELEASE
Ken commits to working towards a cruelty-free London - The BUAV calls for the other mayoral candidates to stand-up for animals
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Mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone has expressed his support for turning London’s council buildings into a cruelty-free zone if he is re-elected as the capital’s mayor.
In a letter to the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) he says he absolutely supports policies to buy products that have not been tested on animals for City Hall and other council offices. This includes food and cleaning products, and would be a major step forward.
The cruelty-free support is part of the Greater London Authority Environment Policy, and Mr Livingstone says if he retains his post as mayor he would be happy to look at further strengthening this policy. The BUAV would work alongside the mayor to help this happen.
He believes that ingredient testing for things like household products is often unnecessary, and would “support calls to drug companies to share base results from research in order to minimise the number of experiments repeated on animals”.
The BUAV is currently campaigning for a change in the law to ban animal testing for cleaning and household products. Companies signed-up to the cruelty-free scheme have to prove their products and their ingredients are not tested on animals. Members of the scheme include Marks and Spencer’s, the Co-Op and The Body Shop.
BUAV Chief Executive, Michelle Thew, said “I’m delighted to see a commitment to making London’s council offices cruelty-free, and I’d like to see the other candidates come forward with the same agenda. If this can be achieved in the nation’s capital, there is no reason why it cannot also be done throughout the rest of the UK, and regardless of political affiliations I believe everyone will see the sense of moving forward to a world where no cleaning products are tested on animals.”