REFORM OF THE HUMAN FERTILISATION AND EMBRYOLOGY AUTHORITY

That this House believes that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is in need of urgent reform and that its membership is not the 'broad cross section of society' claimed by the Secretary of State for Health; notes that not one of its 21 members believes in the protection of the human embryo from destructive experiments and that among the inspectors it has appointed are employees of hospitals with a direct financial interest in fertility treatments involving the abuse of the human embryos; and believes that last years staff cost of ú0.25 million, operating payments of ú0.50 million, and rules which require 50 per cent. of funding to come from licensing, build an intolerable system of financial inducements into the sale of licences, rather than a sound system of ethics.