Prime Minister commends the Council on its 20th anniversary

Prime Minister David Cameron has commended the Council on the reputation it has established over the past two decades for undertaking rigorous examination of topical, and sometimes controversial, subjects using the best expertise available.

In a letter to the Council on its 20th anniversary, Mr Cameron says:

"The quality of the Council's reports is widely recognised and it has provided an important focus for ethical debate, both in the UK and internationally. Whilst independent from Government, the Council’s work has had relevance for a wide range of policymakers.”

“I welcome the fact that the Council continues to identify important topics of relevance to today’s society. For example, Dementia: ethical issues (2009) and very recently Human bodies: donation for medicine and research (2011) provide a valuable stimulus for independent debate around relevant, highly sensitive and challenging ethical issues. The Council’s current project on emerging biotechnologies demonstrates that it continues to explore difficult social, ethical and legal issues, alongside risks and benefits, presented by modern advances in science.”

“Undoubtedly, the Council will continue to contribute to, and stimulate debate around, bioethics in the future, rising to the challenge of the ever increasing complexity of issues as it does so.”

Read a review of the events that have taken place over the past 20 years since the Council was established in 1991