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Category: Health

  • Helen Maguire – 2026 Speech on the National Cancer Plan

    Helen Maguire – 2026 Speech on the National Cancer Plan

    The speech made by Helen Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for Epsom and Ewell, in the House of Commons on 5 February 2026.

    I thank the Minister for advance sight of the statement and for her personal experience that has gone into this plan. After the Conservatives failed to invest in our NHS, it is no surprise that cancer survival in the UK is still around 10 to 15 years behind leading countries, with worse survival rates for some cancers than Romania and Poland. I am therefore pleased that this Government listened to my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) and brought this national cancer plan to life, because cancer touches everyone.

    One of my residents, a mum with a young family, discovered a lump in her breast. Despite attending the one stop breast clinic on four separate occasions, it took two horrendous years for her to be diagnosed with breast cancer. When she was finally diagnosed, the cancer was aggressive and required a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. That is why I welcome the Government’s target on meeting all cancer wait time standards by 2029, but the aim to halve the backlog in three years’ time is not ambitious enough. Will the Minister go further and back a Liberal Democrat plan to write into law a guarantee for all cancer patients to start treatment within 62 days from urgent referral?

    The focus on ending delays in cancer care is a step forward, but funding 28 new radiotherapy machines is not enough when the treatment is so cost effective and successful. We need to end radiotherapy deserts, so will the Minister extend her ambition to 200 extra radiotherapy machines?

    The Minister says that the plan will turn the NHS app into a gateway for cancer care, but how will she support older people and the digitally excluded? The plan promises to drive up productivity, end the postcode lottery, expand NHS diagnostic capacity, introduce personalised cancer plans and more. That is optimistic and will require more investment to increase NHS capacity, but without clear funding and capacity building plans, is it realistic?

    Labour was right to put patients at the heart of this plan and incorporate the Liberal Democrat’s calls for a specialist cancer nurse for every patient. We costed for 3,000 extra cancer nurses; how many additional cancer nurses does the Minister believe are needed?

    Finally, will the Minister confirm that the plan’s annual summary of progress will be reported in the House for Members to scrutinise?

    Ashley Dalton

    We listen to a lot of people on the need for a cancer plan. I want to take this opportunity to say that our friend Nathaniel Dye, who sadly died last week from stage 4 bowel cancer, challenged my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to bring forward a cancer plan when we were in opposition. The Secretary of State made that commitment, and we have brought forward the plan 18 months after coming into government.

    The hon. Lady mentions the NHS app, which we understand is not necessarily relevant for people who are digitally excluded. One reason we are bringing that forward is to open up capacity within the rest of the system, so that those who can use digital tools can do so. That will free up capacity for the one-to-one, face-to-face support that many people need, but every cancer patient will get support under this plan, whether that is through the app or through their named lead clinical specialist in their neighbourhood, who will support them throughout the process, including after treatment. We are working with NHS England to identify the appropriate number of people for the cancer workforce, and we will be able to announce more about that as the workforce plan develops.

  • Clive Betts – 2026 Speech on the National Cancer Plan

    Clive Betts – 2026 Speech on the National Cancer Plan

    The speech made by Clive Betts, the Labour MP for Sheffield South East, in the House of Commons on 5 February 2026.

    I really welcome this plan, and the efforts of my hon. Friend the Minister and right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in putting it together. I will just raise one credit and one request to go a bit further.

    First, when I had my cancer treatment eight years ago, I thought I knew my way around the NHS, but it is a completely confusing organisation for anyone involved in it. One thing that really helped me was having a specialist nurse appointed at the beginning. That specialist nurse got my chemotherapy ready on a Monday before I came down to London, and then on a Thursday when I came back. That sort of organisation and help is vital, so I really welcome that proposal.

    Secondly, when I had my stem cell transplant for myeloma, my own stem cells were harvested and used, but many young people with complicated blood disorders need stem cells to be donated. So will the Minister work with the Anthony Nolan trust—I am chair of the all-party parliamentary group on stem cell transplantation and advanced cellular therapies—to ensure that more young people donate their stem cells so that other young people can have a life to look forward to?

    Ashley Dalton

    I thank my hon. Friend for his question, for his expertise and for all that he has shared from his experience to help us develop this plan. I note how important specialist nurses are, but we are also doing more to help people navigate the NHS. I know exactly what it is like; I think I have in my Filofax—I am that retro!—about 38 email addresses and phone numbers of the various people I have to contact in order to project manage my treatment. We are going further and ensuring that the NHS app can handle all that information. Cancer patients will have the ability in their hands, or in their pockets, to manage scans, appointments and test results directly through the NHS app.

    I am delighted to say that my hon. Friend the Minister for Technology, Innovation and Life Sciences is already looking at the issues that my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) raises around blood products and donations, and is working with the Anthony Nolan trust on those. I will be more than happy to work with my hon. Friend further on those issues.

  • Stuart Andrew – 2026 Speech on the National Cancer Plan

    Stuart Andrew – 2026 Speech on the National Cancer Plan

    The speech made by Stuart Andrew, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the House of Commons on 5 February 2026.

    I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement. May I say right at the outset that we share the ambition to improve cancer survival and outcomes? Almost every family in Britain has been touched by cancer, and patients deserve timely diagnosis, treatment and proper support. I also recognise the Minister’s personal experience and the commitment that she has clearly brought to this agenda. We on the Opposition Benches wish her every success for the future. I also join her in thanking all those who have taken part in the shaping of this plan. It makes a big difference when we hear the voices of patients and families who have been through these experiences.

    The national cancer plan sets out major commitments, including on early diagnosis, improving performance against cancer waiting time standards, the faster set-up of clinical trials, and the national roll-out of targeted lung screening. It also talks about modernising services through technology and innovation. Cancer Research UK has said there is “much to welcome” in the plan, but it is right for it to say that delivery, funding and accountability will determine whether patients see change. Too often, plans sound impressive on paper but fall short when it comes to clear published delivery milestones and accountability. In many respects, this plan mirrors the ambitions of the 10-year NHS plan: it is strong on aspiration, but light on the detail of how change will actually be delivered on the ground. My first question is Toggle showing location ofColumn 455simple: when will the Government publish clear, funded milestones showing how and when patients will see improvements in the next year or two?

    We welcome investment in diagnostics, technology and innovation. It is also right to recognise that this plan builds on the significant expansion of diagnostic capacity delivered by the last Conservative Government, including the roll-out of more than 160 community diagnostic centres. Earlier diagnosis on this scale is only possible because of that foundation, but technology is only meaningful if it translates into real capacity and quicker treatment for patients. That is why radiotherapy matters. Radiotherapy UK is right that it is a core part of modern cancer care, but it relies on up-to-date equipment and a skilled workforce. My second question is this: will Ministers set out how the plan will expand radiotherapy capacity in practice, including equipment replacement and the workforce, so that patients can benefit in reality, rather than the plan just being something written on paper? Are we learning the lessons from the Danish example? They invested in radiotherapy and saw significant improvements over a period of years.

    That point brings me on to the workforce. The success of this plan depends on cancer nurses, radiographers, pathologists and oncologists who are already under immense pressure. We have heard big promises before, but less clarity on delivery, so my third question is this: where is the fully funded long-term workforce plan to deliver the staffing needed to expand diagnostic and treatment capacity and to make sustained improvements, including in neighbourhood health centres? Will the Government explain clearly who will staff them and how they will be funded? Blood Cancer UK has highlighted the importance of ensuring that blood cancers are properly recognised in planning and that patients receive consistent support from the point of diagnosis, including access to a named healthcare professional. That underlines why delivery and accountability across the system matter so much to patients.

    I also welcome the commitments in this plan to children and young people. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage), who I know did some incredible work in this area. Having worked in children and young people’s hospices, I will never forget the journey that those children and their families go on, and I am really grateful to the Government for having a big section on that in the plan.

    My fourth question is about life after—and at the end of—treatment. The plan rightly talks about improving quality of life and support after treatment, including personalised support and rehabilitation; we all want people to live longer, but for many patients and their families, hospice and palliative care are essential. Yet hospices across the country are under severe pressure, with many now in crisis, exacerbated by recent Government tax rises hitting staffing and running costs. Hospices are also notably absent from today’s statement. Will the Government urgently convene a crisis meeting with the hospice sector and set out what immediate steps they will take to stabilise services and expedite delivery of the palliative care plan?

    We will support any serious, deliverable reforms that improve earlier diagnosis, speed up treatment, strengthen the workforce and improve patient experience. But we will also hold Ministers to account on turning Toggle showing location ofColumn 456long term ambitions into real improvements now, because we want to see patients getting the care that they need.

    Ashley Dalton

    I thank the right hon. Member for his statement and questions, and particularly for his personal wishes.

    Overseeing delivery is absolutely crucial. It is great that we have written a plan, but what matters is delivering it. We started delivery even before we had finished writing this plan; we are not waiting. We have already put £200 million directly into cancer via cancer alliances. We have recruited 2,500 more GPs. We have already put in place 28 cutting edge radiotherapy machines and are rolling out lung cancer screening. We have opened more community diagnostic centres at evenings and weekends. We said we would deliver 2 million more appointments; we have already delivered 5 million more appointments. And we have put £25 million into the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s brain tumour research consortium.

    Steps are already being taken, but it is really important, as the right hon. Member points out, that we are held to account and that people keep our feet to the fire on delivery. That is why we are setting up a brand new cancer board of charities and clinicians, which will oversee the delivery of this plan and keep our feet to the fire.

    On workforce, we know how important it is to make sure that the cancer workforce is grown and developed, not only in terms of numbers but in having the resources and the support to use their skills to the utmost. The workforce plan that the Government are developing will also include cancer and will be published this spring.

    I was delighted to hear the right hon. Member mention rare cancers and children and young people. This is the first ever cancer plan with a chapter on rare cancers, and the first ever cancer plan with a chapter on children and young people, and I am really proud of that.

    On radiotherapy, as I said, we have invested £70 million into 28 new linear accelerator—LINAC—radiotherapy machines. We have also listened to stakeholders in the radiotherapy community. We are investing in new technology, including those radiotherapy machines, and in AI to assist the oncology workforce to reduce the time it takes to plan and then deliver treatment. By April next year, we will streamline the process to make it easier for radiotherapy centres to use cutting edge stereotactic ablative radiotherapy—SABR—which is crucial to many patients. We will also ensure that the payment system associated with this treatment incentivises rapid adoption.

    The right hon. Member mentioned hospices, something that I know is very close to his heart and his experience. We are delivering the biggest investment in hospices in a generation. We have provided £100 million to upgrade buildings, facilities and digital systems, and we are giving a further £26 million to children’s and young people’s hospices, ensuring that they can continue offering specialist, compassionate support. More broadly, we are developing a palliative care and end of life modern service framework for England. That is currently being developed alongside our stakeholders, with a planned publication date of autumn 2026.

    I hope that addresses most of the issues raised by the right hon. Member, but I am more than happy to speak with him further after the debate.

  • Ashley Dalton – 2026 Statement on the National Cancer Plan

    Ashley Dalton – 2026 Statement on the National Cancer Plan

    The statement made by Ashley Dalton, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the House of Commons on 5 February 2026.

    With permission, I will make a statement on the Government’s national cancer plan for England.

    A cancer diagnosis changes you forever. When I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer 18 months ago, I did not know whether I would be alive today, never mind standing at this Dispatch Box announcing a national cancer plan, but one year ago almost to the day, the Prime Minister asked me to do just that. Since the Government took office, over 212,000 more people are getting a cancer diagnosis on time, over 36,000 more are starting treatment on time, and rates of early diagnosis are hitting record highs. Despite those vital signs of recovery, though, the NHS is still failing far too many cancer patients and their families. That is why first and foremost, this plan is a break with the failure of the past 15 years.

    In 2011, the coalition Government published “Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer”. That strategy was followed in 2016 by “Achieving world-class cancer outcomes: a strategy for England”. In 2019, the long-term health plan for England made cancer a priority and included a headline ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stages 1 and 2. However well-intentioned they were, not one of those strategies has lived up to its promises. Cancer mortality rates in the UK are much higher than in other, comparable countries, while survival rates are much lower. Cancer incidence is around 15% higher than when the 62 day standard was last met, and working-class communities are being failed most of all. The most deprived areas, including rural and coastal communities, often have fewer cancer consultants, leaving patients waiting longer. This all adds up to the chilling fact that someone living in Blackpool is almost twice as likely to die young from cancer than someone living in Harrow. Wherever in our country a person lives, they deserve the same shot at survival and quality of life as everyone else. Wealth should not dictate their health, and neither should their postcode.

    Behind these statistics are real people. I have heard from those whose care lacked empathy and dignity, from those whose cancer was missed or whose test results were lost, from those who were passed from pillar to post and kept in the dark about their condition, and from those whose loved ones died before their turn came for surgery because the wait was too long. Those experiences are unacceptable—they are devastating. From day one, I was determined to put their voices front and centre of our plan. Over the past year, we have listened to and learned from cancer charities, clinicians and, most importantly, patients and their families. Every action is a response to someone’s lived experience. Every commitment is a promise to transform someone else’s life. Their stories have become the blueprint to make the biggest improvement in cancer outcomes in a generation.

    Three major themes stood out from the 11,000 responses to our call for evidence, some 9,000 of which came from patients and their carers: core performance standards, improved survival, and quality of life after diagnosis. Those are not radical ideas, but unlike previous strategies, this plan is not limited to incremental improvement. Instead, it is an ambitious, bold plan to save 320,000 more lives by 2035, which will be the fastest rate of improvement this century. We will do that by modernising the NHS, harnessing the power of science and technology, putting our patients at the front of the queue for the latest medicines, and helping them to live well after diagnosis, not least for people diagnosed with stage 4, metastatic and incurable cancers—people like me.

    How do we get there? We are placing big bets on genomics, data and artificial intelligence, as set out in our 10-year plan for health. We will hardwire the three shifts of our 10-year plan into cancer pathways. First, on moving from analogue to digital, we heard from patients about the importance of clinical trials, so we will make the UK one of the best places in the world to run a trial with a new cancer trials accelerator. We will start people’s care earlier using liquid biopsy tests, which can return results up to two weeks faster than conventional testing. We will harness AI to read scans, plan radiotherapy and identify the right path for each patient. We will harness genomics so that every eligible patient has access to precision medicines. We will harness data to make sure that all metastatic disease is counted properly—starting with breast cancer—so that people with incurable cancer are properly recognised and supported. When people are not counted, they feel like they do not count, but we will end that.

    Innovation will also help us fight inequalities and make the shift from sickness to prevention. We will turn the NHS app into a gateway for cancer care. By 2028, it will host a dashboard for cancer prevention, with access to tests and self-referral. By 2035, it will bring together genomic and lifestyle data with the single patient record to advise every patient according to their risk. That will benefit people in rural and coastal communities who can find it difficult to access specialist care simply due to geography.

    Finally, we will use the neighbourhood health service to make the shift from hospital to community. That will mean more care, from prehabilitation to recovery support, delivered closer to home. We will help people live well with cancer through tailored support closer to home. People will be given personal cancer plans, named neighbourhood care leads and clear end-of-treatment summaries so that no one feels abandoned after their treatment.

    For too long, those with rarer cancers have seen little to no progress for many of their conditions. They told us we need a special focus on these cancers, and our plan sets out how they will benefit from the deployment of genomics, early detection and the development of new treatments. That was asked for by patients and will be delivered by this Government. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) for her campaigning in memory of her late sister Margaret. We should also remember that the late Tessa Jowell raised this issue in 2018, and her family have campaigned ever since.

    Our plan also gives pride of place for children and young people. We will improve their experience of care at every level, from hospital food to youth worker support and play support. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey) for his campaigning on that point. Our children and young people cancer taskforce asked for support with travel costs, because when someone’s child has cancer, the last thing they should worry about is how they will pay for their train ticket. Today, I can announce that we will fund those travel costs.

    Alongside rare and less common cancers, we will make research for children and young people a national priority. I take this moment to thank the children, young people and families who made up our children and young people cancer taskforce. It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet them earlier this week. I thank the many families and loved ones of people lost too soon who continue to fight to make change for others. I am so grateful to them, and I want people to hear their voices as they read the plan, because it is rooted in the voices of patients, families, clinicians and charities. It will turn cancer from one of this country’s biggest killers into a chronic condition that is treatable and manageable for three in four patients. It delivers the ambition of the 10-year health plan, embodies this Government’s three shifts and sets a clear path towards earlier diagnosis, faster treatment and world-leading survival rates by 2035.

    This plan does not belong to the NHS, and it does not belong to the Government; it belongs to us all. We all must play a part in making it work. Over the past year, I have met the patients, families, carers, clinicians, researchers, cancer charities and voluntary groups who all contributed to our plan. This Government is on their side. We wrote this with them, and we cannot deliver it without them. Let us do it together. I commend this statement to the House.

  • Charlie Maynard – 2026 Speech on Tissue Freezing for Advanced Brain Cancer Treatment

    Charlie Maynard – 2026 Speech on Tissue Freezing for Advanced Brain Cancer Treatment

    The statement made by Charlie Maynard, the Liberal Democrat MP for Witney, in Westminster Hall on 7 January 2026.

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western. I thank the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Chris Evans) for securing the debate, and I thank Ellie for all her work, as well as Hugh and the others who are pushing very hard on this issue—many thanks indeed.

    I want to try to make this debate a bit broader in two directions. My sister, Georgie, also has a glioblastoma. She was diagnosed two and a half years ago and has been incredibly brave and determined, working with the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) and Ellie to try to get more brain cancer justice, and driving that debate. That also applies to many people in my constituency of Witney who have brain tumours but also tumours of all sorts of cancers.

    We ought to be considering two things. First, I ask the Minister to consider making tumour tissue freezing standard for all cancerous tumour tissues, not just brain. However close the issue is to my heart, I think it is inequitable to just focus on brain tumours. We have to try to get all tumour tissues frozen as standard, and the economies of scale mean that makes sense.

    The other thing is how we have equitable and public health-oriented access to that tissue once it is stored, which we as a country are massively failing on. I ask the Minister to consider reforming the Human Tissue Act 2004, which could be broadened in terms of what is legally permitted in research contexts. That would create explicit legal pathways for retrospective clinical samples.

    First, clinical tissue, such as biopsies and diagnostic archives, could be routinely made available for public health research under clear safeguards, without requiring separate project-by-project consent. Secondly, requirements for de-identified tissue could be simplified, clarifying that truly anonymised, non-identifiable samples can be used without consent or an HTA licence for a wider range of research, rather than just narrowly defined exceptions.

    Thirdly, licences could be converted to broader authorisations. Instead of a licence for each tissue bank, accredited biobanks could be allowed to supply samples under nationally recognised frameworks. Fourthly, DNA analysis rules could be reworked. Barriers to genomic public health research could be reduced by redefining or narrowing the offence of having tissue for DNA analysis, provided that strong data protection is ensured. That is one big chunk.

    The second big chunk I am asking for—there are only two—is that we reform the Human Tissue Act 2004 to apply a default system similar to the one we now use nationally for organ donation to tumour tissue data. To do so, Parliament would need to amend the HTA to introduce a deemed consent regime for residual tumour tissue and derived data. That would be limited to public interest cancer research, with a statutory and simple opt-out, strict purpose limits and enhanced oversight by the Human Tissue Authority.

    The model would mirror the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019, but apply just to data derived primarily from tumour tissue. In plain English, that means that we have something that works for organ donations and saves lives day in, day out. If any of us die, our organs are taken and our next of kin can opt out if they choose. The great majority of people do not opt out. That has meant that many more organs have been available, which has saved lives. Somebody may want to dispose of their tumour tissue, but the great majority of us do not; we would want it used for public health and science, so having it as an automatic—

    Monica Harding

    I am sorry to stop my hon. Friend mid flow, because that is a really interesting concept. I draw his attention to a BBC article from today about using centuries-old samples of tumours from bowel cancer to work out why there is such a massive increase in bowel cancer among young people. I do not understand the science of it, but surely that is a step forward for our research as well.

    Charlie Maynard

    My hon. Friend speaks to the point. Of course, those people have been dead for many centuries, but we believe it is worth being able to access that information, and at the moment it is not accessible in most cases. That is something we really want to change.

    I look to Denmark’s registry-first legal architecture, with mandatory health registries covering cancer diagnoses, pathology, genomics, and treatment and outcomes. The Danish cancer registry automatically records tumour data, covers the entire population and is used for research, oversight and quality improvement. Participation is automatic, with opt-outs rather than being consent-based. Our Government are seeking to rapidly expand our national genomics capabilities, and I applaud them for that, but without far better and more sensible access to the base tissue, with appropriate safeguards, there is no genomics-based, population-wide health service.

  • Chris Evans – 2026 Speech on Tissue Freezing for Advanced Brain Cancer Treatment

    Chris Evans – 2026 Speech on Tissue Freezing for Advanced Brain Cancer Treatment

    The speech made by Chris Evans, the Labour MP for Caerphilly, in Westminster Hall on 7 January 2026.

    I beg to move,

    That this House has considered patient access to tissue freezing for advanced brain cancer treatment, diagnostics and research.

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western—you look remarkably like the man I had breakfast with 45 minutes ago.

    I am pleased that this topic is getting the attention it deserves, and I am grateful to open this important debate, especially ahead of Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Week, which begins on 13 January. I must confess I knew relatively little about the effects of brain cancer until I met my constituent, Ellie James. Ellie has travelled from Wales today and is in the Gallery. I admire how tirelessly she has campaigned in memory of her late husband, Owain, who has brought us all here today.

    Owain passed away from glioblastoma, the most common type of malignant brain tumour in adults, in June 2024. He was just 34 years of age. Since then Ellie has been campaigning for what she calls Owain’s law to be implemented in this country. Owain was young, fit and healthy, and he had his whole life ahead of him. He leaves behind a family, including a young daughter. Owain’s story highlights the importance of informed consent from patients and their families regarding treatment and the storage of their brain tissue.

    Owain was diagnosed with a brain tumour in September 2022. Half of Owain’s 14 cm tumour was surgically removed, but only 1 cm of the removed tissue was stored fresh or flash frozen. The 1 cm was used to treat Owain with a form of immunotherapy treatment that requires the patient’s frozen tissue. Owain received three rounds of the vaccine before the frozen tissue ran out, at which point further surgery was not considered possible. The remaining 6 cm of tissue was stored in paraffin, making it unsuitable for additional vaccines.

    Owain died a few months later, despite his cancer showing signs of regression during the treatment. If all the removed tissue had been fresh frozen, around 30 vaccines could have been created. If Owain and his family had been more informed about the practices surrounding brain tissue freezing and storage, and if the hospital had chosen the flash-freezing method for all the removed tissue instead of keeping it in paraffin, Owain could still be with us. His story is truly devastating, but what most stood out to me was that there was a real, achievable potential to extend, if not save, his life.

    The amount of grief that Ellie and Owain’s family face must be tremendous and unimaginable. However, out of grief great change can take place, and I pay tribute to Ellie for her determination to turn her unimaginable grief into something positive that can help others. There is currently no consistent national guidance or sufficient infrastructure to ensure that brain tumour tissue removed during surgery can be stored in the fresh frozen state required for advanced therapies such as immunotherapy and cancer research. It is fundamentally wrong that Owain and his family learned of the small proportion of tissue initially frozen only once the vaccines ran out. I am sure they are not the only people that that will have happened to.

    For every patient diagnosed with a less survivable cancer, the average one-year survival rate is 42%. That is compared with a one-year survival rate of 70% for all cancers. Those statistics need to improve. There are procedures surrounding brain tissue freezing that can be changed, which would have an undeniably positive impact on survival rates. There are already groups doing research and drawing attention to what can be done to improve outcomes for people with cancer, such as the all-party parliamentary group on the less survivable cancers. There are also charities such as Cancer Research UK and Macmillan that conduct valuable research and support cancer patients and their families. Again, I pay tribute to them.

    There are, however, specific recommendations that I would like to mention, which link specifically to Owain and many others who face similar situations. The NHS needs an appropriate number of medical freezers to store fresh frozen tissue. In many cases, there is not enough freezer space to facilitate this type of brain tissue freezing. That must change. That long-term investment would save lives.

    Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)

    Brain cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, and it disproportionately affects young adults: it is the big cancer killer of people under 40. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that this proposal not only would save lives at a relatively small cost but has an economic benefit? The Brain Tumour Charity points out that most people diagnosed have to give up work, and so do their carers: 70% of carers also have to give up work to look after those afflicted. There is an economic benefit to doing this, at a relatively low cost, and of course it would save lives.

    Chris Evans

    The hon. Lady is absolutely right. We have to remember that a cancer diagnosis affects not just the person, but their family and loved ones. A lot of people have to leave work to care for those people, and they have to deal with the emotional impact too. Her economic point is absolutely right. The wider point is that we lead the world in life sciences. If we did what I am suggesting, we could be a world leader in brain cancer care and we could save lives too, so it is a win-win for everybody.

    As the hon. Lady said, the change is cost effective. It is estimated that it would cost £250,000 to £400,000 to ensure that all NHS trusts have the necessary capacity and capabilities for flash freezing. Every brain cancer patient should be able to access the latest treatment and research and the most accurate genome-sequencing techniques.

    In Owain’s case, there was enough freezer space, so storing his tissue in paraffin was a conscious decision not made out of necessity. That is why attitudes and established guidance protocols within the NHS about brain tissue freezing need to change. It should not be the norm to store removed brain tissue in something that makes it unusable for further research or treatment. I hope the Minister will commit to establishing national standards so that every suitable brain tumour sample is routinely frozen.

    A brain tumour can happen to anyone. It could affect us or any of our loved ones. This change needs to happen now to save lives in the future. It needs to happen for people such as Owain who are no longer with us, for people who are currently unwell with brain cancer and for people who will unfortunately become ill in the future. This Labour Government have a real opportunity to enact meaningful, positive and feasible change. We must seize that, especially if it is achievable and affordable.

    As I said earlier, we lead the world in life sciences, and brain cancer care is something that we can proudly be world leaders in. The national cancer plan, which will be published next month, must address the storage of brain tissue. Specifically, it must outline exactly how it will improve outcomes for patients with less survivable cancers. If we are serious about putting patients at the heart of cancer care, improving their awareness of the storage of their own tissue is one of the simplest places to start.

    The way that treatment is allocated is deeply unfair. The postcode lottery of cancer treatment must end. It is wrong that a person’s ability to access cancer treatment is dependent on where they live: 40% of people with cancer in the UK have struggled to access treatment or care because of where they live. That is ineffective, unfair and discriminatory. Those are not the values that a Labour Government should uphold. For the cost of a few hundred thousand pounds, we could eliminate the postcode lottery that affects brain cancer patients. We need to ensure that all types of treatment, including experimental ones involving freezers and vaccines, can succeed in all areas, not only some. That exceptionally small investment could have a lifesaving impact.

    It is not only treatment that is affected by current protocol, but research. Owain’s tissue was no longer suitable for research because it was stored in paraffin. It is also incredibly difficult for a person to have control over their own tissue post extraction. The confusion about who technically owns it makes it challenging for people such as Ellie to retrieve the remaining tissue for further testing or research. We need to stop putting unnecessary barriers in place. We are making things harder than they need to be, and these practices have a direct impact on people’s everyday lives.

    It is just as alarming that all this is done without informed consent from the patient or their families. The importance of the storage method for brain tissue cannot be overstated when someone’s life relies upon it. Brain cancer patients and their families should have an absolute right to be consulted on and to give informed consent on how their tumour is stored. While we have the opportunity to make these changes in the national cancer plan for England, we must do so. It is a small, affordable change that could have a huge impact and improve cancer treatment nationwide.

    This issue was debated in the Welsh Senedd in July, and I wonder if the Minister could liaise with the Welsh Government about introducing a similar plan. I understand that the Minister there said he was not minded to introduce legislation. Could she raise this topic with him in bilateral meetings at some point? I was also hoping to get a commitment from the Minister today to meet me and my constituent Ellie, so that Ellie can explain in detail her husband Owain’s experience and we can discuss how to prevent the same thing happening to current and future patients.

    In matters of great importance like this, patients must be aware of what is happening to their tissue during treatment and afterwards. Families should be able to access their tissue if needed for future testing and research. I urge the Minister to think of real people like Owain, Ellie and their young daughter, whose lives could be so different now if patients were consulted, if the tissue was stored differently and if there were more medical freezers. I would specifically like to know the Government’s plans regarding brain tissue freezing, given the impact it would have on diagnostics, treatment and research. Do the Government plan to invest in freezer capacity, and do they intend to make flash freezing the norm?

    While brain tumours will continue to happen to people like Owain or anyone in this room, diagnostics, treatment and research can get better. The Government can lead the way and begin to change the attitudes and practices surrounding brain tissue freezing—in fact, we must do so. I do not wish to hear another story like Owain and Ellie’s, which is absolutely tragic, and I want Ellie’s campaign to succeed; it can and must. The most devastating thing is that Owain’s outcomes could have been different if the established guidance protocol had been different. Perhaps if these things had happened, Owain could have been sitting with Ellie in the Public Gallery today.

  • Paul Davies – 2026 Speech on Less Survivable Cancers

    Paul Davies – 2026 Speech on Less Survivable Cancers

    The speech made by Paul Davies, the Labour MP for Colne Valley, in Westminster Hall on 6 January 2026.

    Forty-seven per cent of cancers diagnosed in the UK are rare and less common cancers, and 55% of deaths are from rare and less common cancers. That means that, every year, around 180,000 people will be diagnosed with a rare and less common cancer, and more than 92,000 people will die from such cancers. Blood cancer is one such cancer, and I recently met the Blood Cancer Alliance to discuss improving access to lifesaving blood cancer treatments across the UK. Over 280,000 people in the UK are living with blood cancer, and every year 40,000 more receive a diagnosis, including 5,000 children. It is the fifth most common cancer, the most prevalent childhood cancer and the third biggest cancer killer in our country. However, despite amazing advances in tech and treatment, our outcomes are falling behind in the nations.

    The reason is clear: systemic barriers within the NHS and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence appraisal processes are preventing patients from accessing innovative therapies. Between 2019 and 2025, over a third of NICE appraisals for new blood cancer treatments were terminated—more than double the rate for other cancers. Those are not ineffective drugs; many are available overseas, and even privately in the UK. That creates a two-tier system in which those who can pay receive better care than those who cannot. It is unacceptable. I have been told that treatments such as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy can transform lives, extending survival and improving quality of life.

    The current system, with rigid cost-effectiveness thresholds and inflexible commercial frameworks, is failing patients. That is why I warmly welcome the UK Government’s cancer plan, which represents a vital opportunity to reset our approach to cancer care and to ensure that innovation is embraced, not obstructed. By prioritising timely access to effective treatments and addressing systemic barriers, the cancer plan can help deliver world-class outcomes for patients.

    I stand with the Blood Cancer Alliance and Cancer52 in calling for urgent, joined-up action from Government, NICE, the NHS and industry. Together we can ensure that every person with blood cancer has timely access to the best possible care, because survival should never depend on postcode or income.

  • Vikki Slade – 2026 Speech on Less Survivable Cancers

    Vikki Slade – 2026 Speech on Less Survivable Cancers

    The speech made by Vikki Slade, the Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, in Westminster Hall on 6 January 2026.

    I thank the hon. Member for Southport (Patrick Hurley) for that really moving account. We know that cancer affects us all. In my family it claimed my mum Lin; my sister-in-law Lisa and my stepmum Sally have both beaten it, and now my dad Ray is living with terminal cancer. One of my team is also undergoing treatment for cancer, so we know that it is prevalent among all our lives. All of them were fit, healthy people who did everything right, as are so many others each year who get the horrible news or—worse—turn up in A&E after becoming suddenly unwell. According to a Cancer Research study, many of those patients had visited their GP but had not been referred for tests, either because they did not meet the thresholds or because they had been missed altogether. This is not a criticism of our GPs, who are working in highly difficult situations. Indeed, when I shadowed Dr Wright from Walford Mill surgery in Wimborne, he had the sober task of sharing a diagnosis and undertaking a very personal test during his appointment, which he let me witness.

    If diagnosis doubled across the six least survivable cancers alone, an additional 7,500 lives a year would be saved. Each year in my constituency of Mid Dorset and North Poole, there are 540 diagnoses of cancer and 300 cancer deaths. Although 85% of them should be starting treatment within 62 days, the number is actually only 60%. What is the Minister doing to bridge that gap? If we met the target in my constituency, 70 additional people would be getting on with their lives. Across the country, 45,000 additional people would be given a greater chance of not just surviving but having a life shared with those they love.

    Furthermore, once they get to hospital, patients are faced with out-of-date machinery and not enough specialist nurses. Macmillan Cancer Support says there is an acute shortage and calls for a cancer nurse fund to increase the numbers by 3,700. Will the future cancer strategy include such funding?

    I want to speak briefly about pancreatic cancer, which claimed the life of my cousin Colin, a super-fit former Welsh Commonwealth games cyclist who died in his 50s despite the best care available. Many other constituents have written to me about poor prognosis for this treatment. They have flagged that the NHS has approved selective internal radiation therapy, but only for colorectal and liver cancers—not those whose primary cancer was in the pancreas and then spread to the liver. These families are keen for urgent trials to be undertaken to allow the treatment to be used, given the incredibly short life expectancy faced by patients. Will the Minister consider that?

    We have been waiting such a long time for this cancer strategy. We need the workforce plan and the road map for the NHS plan. Nine hundred and fifty people will be diagnosed with cancer today, and those people need hope.

  • Patrick Hurley – 2026 Speech on Less Survivable Cancers

    Patrick Hurley – 2026 Speech on Less Survivable Cancers

    The speech made by Patrick Hurley, the Labour MP for Southport, in Westminster Hall on 6 January 2026.

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Week is an important marker in the calendar, but I want to talk about another important marker when it comes to these cancers—one that is important for me and my family anyway—because this year marks 20 years since I was made unavoidably aware of the devastation of oesophageal cancer. In May of that year, my father developed the classic symptoms: difficulty swallowing, feeling like food was getting stuck, heartburn and weight loss. He was diagnosed in August and died on 23 December: from becoming symptomatic to losing his life was just seven months. The rapidity of the decline was overwhelming. Barely had he been diagnosed than he was given a terminal diagnosis. I must admit, though, that I was not giving my father my full attention during that time. In almost any other circumstances I would have been a much more dutiful son, but my own focus was elsewhere that year. On 1 August 2006, my wife Susan also became symptomatic with oesophageal cancer. She was diagnosed on 11 September and died on 14 November.

    The speed with which I read that sentence reflects the speed with which Sue died. There was barely any chance to understand what was happening, to seek help or for the family to manage. That is not unusual with these sorts of diseases. It is the sort of story that thousands of us know. Crucially, for my Southport constituency, it is also a story that disproportionately impacts people from the north-west and from north Wales. For my family, there was not any long fight or slow decline—only shock, confusion, urgent decisions and death. That is what a less survivable cancer looks like.

    May I make a clear ask of the Minister today? I am asking for a personal commitment, and a commitment across Government, to drive up survival rates for all these less survivable cancers, but most urgently—for my personal history and for the geographical distribution that shows that my part of the country has higher levels than elsewhere in the UK—for oesophageal cancer. That could mean things such as early diagnosis, recognising that one size fits all does not work. It could mean fast-track treatment pathways once suspicion is raised. Above all else, it should include serious investment in experimental and pre-symptomatic techniques, finding ways to detect cancers before symptoms even appear. These are difficult cancers to deal with, and that is why they need targeted action. I am here today because two people I loved did not get the help they needed, so I urge the Government to help other families avoid that same fate.

  • Siobhain McDonagh – 2026 Speech on Less Survivable Cancers

    Siobhain McDonagh – 2026 Speech on Less Survivable Cancers

    The speech made by Siobhain McDonagh, the Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, in Westminster Hall on 6 January 2026.

    I thank the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for organising this debate. My purpose is to find a cure for glioblastoma brain tumours, the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40, with a life expectancy from diagnosis of just nine months and a five-year survival rate of 5%. The only way to find a cure and improve outcomes for a cancer that has seen no improvement in 30 years is through drug trials.

    In the absence of commercial or charitable glioblastoma drug trials, we launched our own trial in memory of my late sister, Margaret, in July last year. The trial is being run by Dr Paul Mulholland, Europe’s leading consultant on glioblastoma, who is based at University College London. It will include 16 newly diagnosed patients at University College hospital. This is a pre-surgery immunotherapy trial focused on patients who have received no prior treatment. The drug is given before surgery, allowing the immune system to attack the tumour before it is removed.

    I am delighted to confirm that we have already recruited five patients and, while the trial remains at an early stage, we are encouraged by the early findings. This is only the start. This journey has proven extraordinarily difficult and has been possible only because of an alignment of factors that very few will ever encounter: access to one of Europe’s leading clinicians working from a major London teaching hospital, alongside a world-class university; a group of my sister’s friends who have campaigned tirelessly and raised more than £1 million in two years; and the engagement and backing of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to get the trial over the line.

    Our ambition is to establish 10 such trials using 10 different immunotherapy drugs, but ultimately our ability to raise money will end. How can Dr Mulholland apply for funding to support the programme of trials using repurposed immunotherapy drugs? Can the Minister’s team provide a written explanation and a link setting out how a bid can be made to the NIHR to access those funds? It is a straight question, and I would welcome a straight answer.