To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps are being taken to combat groups that use violence as a means of protesting against cruelty towards animals; (153013)

The Government are committed to eradicating the threat of animal rights extremism and have in place a robust inter-departmental strategy to achieve this. The strategy is centred on an improved law enforcement approach, with additional resources provided to the police to tackle animal rights extremism, a central team set-up to drive forward police action nationally and legislation enacted to protect animal research organisations. The result has been a significant fall in illegal extremist activity, and many significant convictions of animal rights extremists in the past 18 months, with others awaiting sentence and other major investigations ongoing. The Government will maintain pressure on animal rights extremists and, in co-operation with law enforcement agencies and extremist targets, will continue to develop protective measures against the extremist threat.

While the Government are clear that cruelty to animal is unacceptable, it is equally clear that the targets of animal rights extremism in the vast majority of cases are involved in wholly lawful activities. The UK bioscience and medical research sector, the main target of animal rights extremists, complies with the most rigorous regime in the world for animal testing, designed to minimise suffering and ensure the highest welfare standards, and is at the forefront of developing new medicines and treatments for life-threatening conditions including cancer, malaria and cystic fibrosis.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment the Government have made of whether the Animal Liberation Front should be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. (153302)

We do not normally comment on organisations which are not on the list of proscribed terrorist organisations. The sufficiency of the list is kept under review.