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Dame Siobhain McDonagh (Mitcham and Morden) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House notes that Brain Tumour Awareness Month took place in March; further notes that there has been no progress in NHS treatment of brain tumours in 20 years and that they are the biggest cancer killer of people under the age of 40; calls on the Government to demand that the National Institute for Health and Care Research take action to spend the £40 million provided by the Government for brain tumour research in 2018 for innovative and meaningful drug trials, following the death of the late Baroness Tessa Jowell; and further calls on the Government to encourage the pharmaceutical industry to undertake research into the repurposing of drugs for brain tumours and to require the NHS repurposing service to consider the repurposing of drugs for brain tumours.
On Saturday 27 November 2021, Margaret collapsed in front of me without warning. She lay on the floor convulsing in epileptic fits. By 4 am, two young doctors at University College hospital told me that she had a brain tumour. On the Wednesday, as I approached her bed on the ward, she said, “Look at that doctor. He can’t look at me—the news from that scan must be really bad. Bring him over.” Of course, as you will know, Madam Deputy Speaker, she was always right.
My brilliant sister Margaret—the fiercest, strongest, bravest, kindest woman I have ever known—had a glioblastoma brain tumour. When it comes to such brain tumours, there is an average life expectancy of nine months from diagnosis and a five-year survival rate of just 5%; there has been no improvement in NHS treatment in 20 years; and the UK is graded 27th out of 29 comparable countries for its performance. Glioblastoma was the only opponent that my sister had never beaten, but over 18 months, she gave it her very best shot.
Standing here, just six weeks before the second anniversary of her loss, I remain as determined as ever to fight for a cure for this savage cancer in the face of what can only be described as indifference from the NHS, the pharmaceutical industries, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and, I regret to say, most of the cancer charities. In fighting this, I believe that we can find a path to improved treatment for not just glioblastoma but all rare cancers. However, that will happen only if we—Members of this House, cancer campaigners, patients and the bereaved—make it happen, because the system currently conforms to Einstein’s definition of madness: it continues to do the same thing but expects different outcomes. Don’t get me wrong; the system would like to cure glioblastoma, but it is just proving a bit difficult.
What is laughingly described as the gold standard of NHS treatment has not changed in 20 years. It includes surgery, which does not actually remove the tumour, a brutal eight weeks of radiotherapy, and then as much temozolomide chemotherapy as someone can take, which in Margaret’s case was not very much. Then, nothing from the NHS. Those with savings, homes, pensions or the ability to fundraise use everything they have to travel to other countries where people believe that those diagnosed with a terminal disease should have access to all available treatments. In Margaret’s case, that person was Dr Sahinbas in Düsseldorf. As for those for whom that is not an option—and there are many—our holy, revered NHS expects them just to lay down, take their fate and die. Just as I would not let Margaret lay down and die, we should not let anyone in the UK simply lay down and die from a glioblastoma. Here is how we can change things.
First, we need early diagnosis. In the vast majority of glioblastoma cases, the neuro-oncology multidisciplinary teams can diagnose the tumour from an MRI scan. In most cases, they wait for surgery, which could take a full eight weeks from the MRI. Given that developing groundbreaking immunotherapy treatments are based on giving the drugs ahead of surgery, early MRI diagnosis would allow improvement in treatments and outcomes.
Secondly, we need drug trials. The only way to find a cure for glioblastoma and other rare cancers is through drug trials, but as those with such cancers know, there are none. NHS trials have collapsed and the pharmaceutical industry concentrates on the large, lucrative conditions: breast, prostate, bowel and lung cancers. If we believe that no cancer should be left behind in a country with some of the most innovative pharmaceutical companies and a healthcare system as universal as ours, the Government should broker a partnership between that industry and the NHS to make sure that new or repurposed drugs are trialled for all cancers. They should share the early risk; the NHS should run the trials and the drug companies should be expected to provide the drugs. Will the Minister and the Department of Health and Social Care directly support a test case project for glioblastoma treatment, in which a strategy is developed with AstraZeneca, which has set up a rare cancer unit?
Thirdly, we must keep costs down. Costs are always a barrier to more drug trials. However, trials carried out through the National Institute for Health and Care Research are conducted at a reduced cost. To keep costs down, trials into glioblastoma and other rare cancers should automatically be NIHR-badged, and all funded trials should be given access to NHS resources.
Fourthly, the mission of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency should be reviewed. The MHRA is the gatekeeper of drugs licensing in the UK, and it understandably requires that all data on all trials be published, but in my personal experience from speaking with pharmaceutical companies, that is a barrier to them providing their best and most innovative drugs. While I accept that all information should be published, information on drug trials should be published for their respective cancers. If a drug that was originally for lung cancer is trialled on glioblastoma, that should be recorded separately.
Fifthly, we need to change the purpose of the NHS medicines repurposing project to provide existing drugs for trial. Many of our leading medical oncologists believe that there is already a drug in use that could improve and maybe even cure glioblastoma, but it has never been trialled. That is why I am calling for the repurposing of the NHS medicines repurposing programme; we should add the aim of supplying existing drugs for the treatment of glioblastoma and other rare cancers.
I have submitted these five proposed pledges to the Government’s consultation on the national cancer plan. They are born out of my personal experience of talking to anybody who moves about glioblastoma over the last two years. I am only one MP, with a GCSE in biology, but I hope with all my heart that my submission will be taken seriously, and that the Government will grab it with both hands to ensure that nobody else goes through what my sister went through.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I thank the hon. Member for that moving speech. I would like to place on the record my love and admiration for her sister Margaret.
Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)
I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh). This is a debate that I wish we were not at. I wish there was no need for us to have this debate, but sadly there is. This is an issue that I have come to know more about personally in the last few months, after a young constituent came to me. Archie is a 22-year-old elite athlete from Edinburgh, training for the Commonwealth games and the Olympic trials. He was diagnosed with an inoperable and terminal IDH-mutant low-grade glioma—a rare form of brain tumour that disproportionately affects younger people. As I say, he is 22 years old.
However, there should be good news, because there is a new highly promising drug—so promising, I am told, that the trials were stopped midway through, and those on the placebo were given the drug, because it was proving so successful in inhibiting the growth of the tumour. It was developed in Edinburgh and is available to eligible patients through a named patient programme, through which it is being administered free of charge, but not everywhere—only, in Scotland, in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Tayside areas.
However, Archie has not been given access to the drug because of the routine blood-testing and the cost to NHS Lothian. I and his MSP have written to NHS Scotland and the Lothian health board, and I have written to the drug company, to ask how we can make the drug available. It seems the cruellest of things that a drug is available, having been partly developed in Archie’s own city, but he cannot have it. I know that the NHS is devolved, but drug policy is not. It seems unfair that we live with a situation in which lifesaving treatments are decided by postcode. People are passed from pillar to post only to be told that they cannot or will not have treatments that are available, and that the only options are radiotherapy, chemotherapy and the other interventions that the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden described, which could be replaced.
One word covers a lot of the excuses that we have been given: affordability—as if we are dealing with anything other than a human being whose situation is no fault of their own. I understand the pressures on finances, on resources and on the NHS—we all do—but that cannot mean a limit to our ambition in what we can do for those who are suffering. We are all here because we believe that we can make a difference. I certainly did not come here with the intention of sitting back and accepting that I could not help when it comes to health or that we would talk about saving money when we should talk about saving lives.
I count myself lucky to have met so many dedicated and strong people since I was invited into Archie’s home to talk with him and his family about the challenges they face and how we could help them. One of those people is Dawn from the Astro Brain Tumour Fund, whose son Shay was diagnosed with a grade 2 IDH-mutant astrocytoma. He said:
“Chemotherapy and radiotherapy. That’s what the future holds for me. After battling through an awake brain surgery, months of rehabilitation, waking up every day battling this disease in my own head, putting a smile on my face for those around me, just to have to go through another year of turmoil and appointments, only to be left with potential long-term cognitive issues and even further away from the 24-year-old I knew on 9 April 2021. That is not a cure.”
It is no longer good enough to say that treatment is too difficult or expensive. Families are crowdfunding for treatment and looking abroad. This is not the NHS that Bevan envisaged; it is not the NHS that any of us wants. We are letting people down if we do not do as the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden suggested by testing such drugs on everyone and making them available everywhere. When such a drug comes up and can save people’s lives, surely we should ensure that it is available throughout the country, without geographical limits.
John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Ind)
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) for the way she has pursued this issue seriously and with such emotion. I knew her sister Margaret. She was a Labour party organiser and I knew her for 45 years. She terrified me, to be honest, over the years, but I always admired her commitment to the Labour party and the wider community. I think Margaret would be proud of her sister for the speech she made today and the work that she has done.
I congratulate the Milan group, a women’s group in my constituency—they call themselves a ladies group. It is a group of Asian ladies who came together when one lost their daughter to a brain tumour. They come together every year, including last weekend, when they raised £2,500 for the Brain Tumour Charity. Each year, they get me to do something. This year, I sang in Punjabi, and they had to lock the doors. The previous year, I danced to bhangra music—I tried to purchase the video off them because it was going viral at one point. That raised a large amount of money and shows the commitment in the wider community, as people become more aware of the situation and of the impact of brain tumours, particularly among children. People realise that something must be done.
I want to make a particular point to reinforce what my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden has said. There is a desperate need to look at the mechanisms by which new drugs are brought forward and trialled and people can access those trials. I am a member of the all-party parliamentary group on brain tumours, and we met one family who were desperate to get on to a trial of a particular drug, but the drug was being delayed through the mechanisms we have at the moment. I completely understand the processes we have to go through to ensure that a drug is safe and does not cause harm, but there is frustration at how long that takes and the fact that some people who have no other option are not being allowed to access those trials quickly or effectively enough. On that one occasion, we met the drug company, and as an all-party group, I think we did have a beneficial effect in bringing forward the trials and enabling some of the sufferers to access those trials, which we hope will be successful.
One of the most important points my hon. Friend made is that the system just is not working at the moment. It is producing an element of frustration and a lack of confidence in the NHS, which is disappointing. That is because the treatments are not being brought forward quickly enough, the access to the trials is tortuous to say the least, and there does not seem to be any mechanism by which we are co-ordinating better with the pharmaceutical industry and trying to set priorities for it. My hon. Friend mentioned why the industry concentrates on other cancers—because that is where the big profits are—but there has to be some way in which we can incentivise these companies to focus on this range of conditions.
The problem is that there are so many types of brain tumour, and it is difficult to see a company investing a large amount of money when there might be only a limited impact on a small group of patients. However, that is where Government come in. The resourcing of the experimentation, research and trials is so important, and that falls to the state. My hon. Friend has made the point in previous debates and in meetings of our all-party group that, even where the money is there to enable that to happen, it is not getting out there. We have gone through the different organisational structures to investigate what the issue is. I think it is a lack of leadership, and that needs to come from Government.
One of the suggestions I put to the Minister is that there needs to be a conference—it might be a one-off—where we bring everybody together again. The Government have put forward their proposals in the cancer strategy, and they have looked at the pathways, but a new element of zest is needed. We need to bring the pharmaceutical companies in and have an honest discussion about whether the existing structures are working well enough and whether there needs to be some rationalisation, to ensure that we are more effective and speedy in our actions and to investigate what the pharmaceutical companies need in order for research to be undertaken speedily, more effectively and with greater patient access.
As the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) said, there is an issue with the funding of individual drugs. If there is to be a rationing process, it is better to be open and transparent about how rational the implementation is across England, Scotland and Wales. At the moment, there seems to be a bit of a postcode lottery in people’s ability to access these individual drugs, in particular when they are being developed for trial.
We need a fresh initiative. I am sure the Government will commit to doing all they can in the coming period, and I hope that more resources will be applied, but unless we get the structures right, the application of those resources will be as frustrating as it is at the moment. As I think the Minister can understand, there has been an expression of frustration at each of our all-party group’s meetings, because the structures are not implementing what the Government themselves want: the wise investment of resources and a more effective link-up with private sector pharmaceutical companies. We need some form of breakthrough event to enable us to move forward more effectively and more rapidly.
Finally, I pay tribute to the various charities, including the Brain Tumour Charity, that are doing such hard work to raise funds and to give hope and comfort to people as their families go through this appalling experience. I thank them for all the support they have given us in the all-party group.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) for sharing her story and for all her endeavours in this House on behalf of her sister and others. I hope she will forgive me for saying that she has a big heart, and she expresses that in this Chamber often. The right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) said he was afraid; I cannot believe he would be afraid of anybody, but I am sure she was not too formidable no matter what the case may be.
For any family to receive the news of a brain tumour is instantly worrying, and we think of all who have lost their lives to this dreadful illness. Just recently we mourned with a dear friend of mine whose daughter went to hospital with a suspected stroke and within two months had gone to eternity with a glioblastoma brain tumour. She gave me an image of a red squirrel in the nearby Mount Stewart estate, run by the National Trust, and that will always have pride of place in my office.
In Northern Ireland, 2,043 brain tumour cases were diagnosed between 2017 and 2021—some 409 cases per year. At the end of 2021, there were almost 5,500 people living with a brain tumour, with the diagnoses occurring between 1997 and 2021. During that period, 53.2% of brain tumour cases were among women—as in the case that I know of and in that raised by the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden.
If I was to ask for one thing out of this debate today, it would be for extra money to be made available for research and to find the cures, because that is really what we want. Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40. In the UK, 16,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, and incidence rates of brain tumours are significantly higher in Northern Ireland and Wales than in other UK countries. Brain tumour cases are projected to rise in Northern Ireland by some 36% by 2035, which is really worrying. The Minister always endeavours to give us the answers we all seek, and I ask her to work alongside the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to see how all of us in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland can work together to take on glioblastoma cancer and tumours.
Despite treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, some patients find themselves resistant to therapy and they relapse and unfortunately may face death after some 15 months. Queen’s University Belfast is making giant strides in research and repurposing existing drugs to ascertain if they can make a difference to these dreadful statistics. While it is thankful for the funding given by Brainwaves NI and other charities, the Government need to assist those charities and other groups by making funding available to the highly qualified scientists who could find a cure and have a path to take, but have been precluded from doing so due to the lack of money. The statistics are startling: more children and adults under 40 die of a brain tumour than of any other cancer, yet only 1% of national research spending goes on brain tumour research. More research and more spend could make a great difference; this must be rectified.
The difficulty is that no symptoms are unique to brain tumours. Headaches, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision or weakness of the limbs can be due to other pressure effects within the brain. A tumour can also cause seizures due to infiltrative effects on the brain substance. There are many symptoms, including deafness, visual disturbance, and problems with the sense of smell.
I want to give a wee example. My parliamentary aide had been suffering from a 10-day headache. She is the one who writes all these speeches for me every week—a very busy lady. She booked an eye test after she did some research and asked for a further intensive scan, which she paid for herself. Thankfully in a way, it turned out that her eyes had deteriorated but that the headaches were not due to anything that she had feared. There is a good point to make here: how many young people would not think to do this or would say, “I can’t afford to do that”? How much awareness is there that a headache is not always down to dehydration? How many people understand that an eye test is an essential part of our healthcare? Perhaps the Minister would consider making eye tests free at source for those who work, as well as those on benefits, to increase the number of people having an eye test who need one but just do not think about it.
In conclusion, ever conscious of time, I understand that money is not unlimited and that the Government must make effective use of funding, but when I stood at the funeral service and watched the heartbreak of my friend, I thought that there is nothing more important than stopping that heartbreak in Northern Ireland and across this great United Kingdom. Research is the key and we must find the promising research as a matter of urgency. I hope that the debate today will be a step in the right direction.
Phil Brickell (Bolton West) (Lab)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) on securing this important debate. She is a tireless campaigner on this issue, which is clearly very close to her heart. I thank the hon. Member for Witney (Charlie Maynard) for co-sponsoring the debate. Their joint sponsorship demonstrates the cross-party nature of support for tackling this issue; no matter which party we belong to, we can all get behind that.
My constituent, Alex, from Horwich, got in touch with me about his story. With his permission, I would like to share some of that with hon. Members today. Alex’s powerful testimony reminds us just how important it is that we support efforts to improve treatment for those suffering from glioblastoma and brain tumours more broadly. In June 2023, Alex suffered a seizure at home and was initially diagnosed with epilepsy, but he was later diagnosed with a glioblastoma. Despite going through surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, a process that must have been incredibly difficult to bear for his wife, Emma, and children, Joseph and Eloise, the cancer returned.
Alex has recently had his secondary surgery at Salford Royal and told me that, though the teams and lead doctors he has dealt with have been outstanding, the treatment available has hardly changed for 20 years, as colleagues have already noted. I will read some of Alex’s own words, as they speak much more eloquently than I can to the struggles that he has faced. He says:
“The real challenge was knowing what to say to our loved ones, especially our kids. We chose to drip-feed relevant information, allowing life to carry on, even during GCSEs. Whether that’s right or wrong, I don’t know, but we keep going and that’s what matters.”
One in three people in the UK knows someone affected by a brain tumour. It kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) mentioned, but receives just 1% of the national spend on cancer research. Since his diagnosis, Alex has fundraised vigorously for Brain Tumour Research, and recently arranged for Bolton town hall to be lit up in honour of Brain Tumour Awareness Month.
On Alex’s behalf, I praise the amazing work done by brain tumour charities, such as Brain Tumour Research, for all they do in raising awareness and funding research, and the staff at the Christie and Salford hospitals for their outstanding care, despite the constraints around treatment. Those charities clearly cannot do it all on their own, and the Government must support where they can. As well as increased, better-used funding, I would like to see more clinical trials and faster diagnosis and treatment by the NHS. That is vital given the speed with which the illness can take hold and the challenges associated with diagnoses.
Finally, I echo calls by colleagues and the Brain Tumour Charity for a national brain tumour strategy, and I urge the Minister to give that serious consideration. Such a strategy is vital given the current shortfalls in the research landscape that have held back progress to date.
Charlie Maynard (Witney) (LD)
I too thank and commend the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) for securing the debate. It has been a pleasure to work with her and we are all in awe of her single-minded relentlessness on this topic, from which we can all learn.
I have a similar story. Two years ago, I received a call from my nephew and my two nieces asking me to come over quickly. I jumped in the car and drove as fast as I could to my sister’s house, where I found her semi-conscious on the floor, which was the start of a journey over the past two years. She was diagnosed with a glioblastoma. She underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She is somewhere up there in the Gallery now, and she is doing incredibly well. She is an absolute inspiration to everyone who meets her in her raw courage, determination, empathy and joy in the world. We do not know how it goes from here, but she brings home in her thinking how wonderful and beautiful our world is. She has also been a driving force. We have raised £60,000 and counting so far for the Brain Tumour Charity, which does a wonderful job, and she has brought people in left, right and centre who have suffered or are suffering from GBM or have lost loved ones to GBM. She is engaged, thoughtful and determined, and my heart goes out to her.
I will mention the stats. We know that there are 120 types of brain tumours. Some 12,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour every year and—the nasty one—5,300 people die from a brain tumour each year in the UK. In May 2018, the Government announced a research fund of £40 million on the back of the death of Baroness Tessa Jowell to encourage new research into brain tumours, administered through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. On that day, the then Health Secretary, the right hon. Member for Godalming and Ash (Sir Jeremy Hunt), said:
“At this agonising time, I hope her family can draw comfort from the fact that her legacy will be lives saved and heartbreak averted for thousands of other families.”
However, three years later, in May 2021, the then Health Secretary reported that just £8.8 million of that £40 million had been allocated for dedicated brain tumour research. Three years after that, in March 2025, under a new Government, spending to date directly on brain tumour research was just £11.3 million. Concerningly, a little bit of text was added after that, which said:
“plus an estimated £31.5 million in infrastructure”.
I have three key questions for the Minister, which I would love some answers to, because more than 5,000 people dying each year is far too many. This has been going on for far too long. We need to do more and fulfil the promises that this House has made.
The three questions are as follows. Will the Minister confirm that the new wording is not an attempt to include the £31.5 million of infrastructure spend in the £40 million headline number, with a view to getting the NIHR and the Government off the hook on their commitment to spend the full £40 million that they have committed to new research into brain cancers? Will the Government commit to allocating and spending the £40 million within a decade, which is already far too long, of their original May 2018 commitment—by May 2028, which is three years from now? That is doable if we put our minds to it, and we need the Government’s help. Will the Government stand by the May 2018 commitment to host an annual global conference to bring together world experts on brain cancer? That has not been done, and we committed to that as a House. Will we stand by that, commit to it and kick off a conference by the end of the year?
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
I salute the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) for securing this debate. Hopefully we can turn her personal tragedy into a national triumph if we work together. She is absolutely correct in saying that individually, certain types of brain tumours are very rare, but collectively they are very common. The simple fact that only 1% of our national cancer research funding goes to them is absolutely unacceptable.
I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, as I am a national health service optometrist. I will speak on that topic, because a simple eye test can detect a brain tumour, as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) said. I have unfortunately—or fortunately, in certain cases, because we have been able to detect them early—been in the position of seeing people who are completely asymptomatic or people coming in with a simple headache having brain tumours detected. That is why I really want to emphasise that the avenue of using eye tests is undervalued and underutilised. They are completely un-invasive, cost efficient and accessible, and they can save so many lives. Is it at all possible for us to have a national awareness campaign as part of a broader body to ensure that eye tests can be linked to brain tumours, so that they can be detected?
John McDonnell
I pay tribute to Mr and Mrs Atwal in my constituency, who lost their daughter and have been doing fundraising. One of the most effective things they have been doing is ensuring that at local community events there is a stall that provides information about how to access a diagnosis. That has proved to be incredibly effective, as a range of other professionals have picked up on the information. I pay tribute to Mr and Mrs Atwal for their creativity.
Shockat Adam
This is about awareness campaigns. People should be aware that 39%—I think—of children unfortunately diagnosed with a brain tumour experience some kind of sight loss or vision changes, and one in three people diagnosed report a problem with their vision that converts into a brain tumour. An eye test cannot detect all brain tumours, but it is a really valuable tool.
Over 112,000 people have signed a petition demanding that brain tumour research is no longer left behind. These are not just signatures; as we have heard from today’s powerful testimonies, they are families, and they are stories of lives cut short and missed chances. We cannot allow that to continue any longer.
Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)
I thank the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) and my hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Charlie Maynard) for bringing forward this debate. It has been a privilege to sit through such excellent speeches on this very important topic. I am sure that the hon. Lady’s sister Margaret would be very proud of her, and I am sure that my hon. Friend’s sister is proud of him too.
As the hon. Lady and my hon. Friend have outlined, a brain tumour diagnosis can be utterly devastating and life-changing. Some 12,000 people a year are diagnosed with a primary tumour, while many others are diagnosed with a secondary tumour that has spread from elsewhere in their body. Primary tumours are largely unpreventable, and cause the death of more adults and children under 40 than any other type of cancer. As primary brain tumours do not spread around the body like other cancer types, they do not receive the same staging categorisation.
Current NHS programmes for diagnosing cancers earlier do not include brain tumours, as they focus on targets and improvements for catching more cancers in stages 1 and 2. Nearly half of people diagnosed—49%—are found to have a so-called benign tumour, a grade 1 or 2 tumour that grows more slowly. Those tumours are not technically cancerous, so they are not covered by previous cancer plans or initiatives for improving cancer care. However, the treatment and care for patients with a low-grade tumour has long-lasting impacts and can be life-altering.
I would like to mention the experience of my constituent Madi Ruby, who has tirelessly campaigned and fundraised on this issue. She has experienced both a grade 1 and a grade 2 tumour. She first experienced symptoms of a brain tumour in 1995 with numbness in her right arm, and went on to write backwards and develop headaches. She went for a CT scan when that numbness spread to her foot and she was involved in a minor car accident. Only then was she diagnosed with a grade 1 meningioma measuring 6 cm, which was removed—she was only 23 at the time.
Although that surgery was successful, Madi developed partial epilepsy. She was eventually discharged after five years of clear scans, but as we have heard, tumours still impact lives. She has had poor mental health and become depressed, and in 2013, her brain tumour returned. That tumour has also been removed, but she still deals with partial epilepsy, constant headaches and migraines, and suffers daily. She is also an inspirational person; she has bravely spoken out about her depression, trained to be a counsellor, and is now an associate dean responsible for nursing and allied health professionals at Wrexham Glyndŵr University.
I also want to mention my constituent Shaun Burgess, who raised more than £11,000 for the Brain Tumour Charity and the Meningioma Support Group by running 3,000 miles across Shropshire last year. He was raising money after his wife Mo was treated for a non-cancerous tumour, but not everyone diagnosed with a brain tumour gets that second chance; Shaun has lost a friend to a more aggressive brain tumour.
We must end the tragedy of people losing their lives because treatment for brain cancer took too long to start. As my hon. Friend the Member for Witney has outlined, progress on the treatment of brain tumours has not been good enough. The diagnosis and treatment of cancer should be a top priority for any Government, and the UK should be a global leader in cancer research and outcomes. I urge the Minister to listen to the pleas of Members from across the House on that point today.
For so many people, diagnosis and treatment are too difficult to access. My constituency is a typical example. The major hospitals in Shrewsbury and Telford face a number of challenges and regularly have some of the longest waiting times in the NHS for cancer screening and treatment. In December 2024, just 64% of patients were treated within the 62-day period, despite the target being 85%. The average across England was much better, but still poor at 71%.
Not only do too many people live in treatment deserts, but when they are finally offered the treatment they need, it is hard to access. Anyone living in rural North Shropshire would say that. Having waited anxiously for weeks or months for a scan and the result, they then, if the news is bad, have to travel extremely long distances for the treatment they need. Most of North Shropshire is an hour and a quarter away from a radiotherapy centre on public transport. For patients with brain tumours, public transport is fundamental if they can no longer drive. One of my constituents has faced exactly that problem, having had their driving licence suspended by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency after being diagnosed with a tumour. Apparently that could be remedied if his consultant provided a BT1 form, but he has not been able to get through to the doctor. In the meantime, he is trapped without freedom in a constituency with some of the worst public transport in the country.
Ongoing funding issues, which we know are a huge challenge for the Government, continue to afflict brain tumour patients in a number of ways. Another constituent of mine told me their experience after being referred to a care navigator following their diagnosis. The care navigator’s job is to contact patients on a monthly basis, seeing whether they have any problems and concerns and guiding them through an experience that is extremely traumatic. However, the care navigator position has now been cut, and my constituent has been left in the dark, with growing anxiety and no one to speak to. No one should be going without treatment because there is not enough equipment, and no one should suffer because there are not enough staff to support them.
What would Liberal Democrats do? We would recruit more cancer nurses, so that every patient has a dedicated specialist supporting them throughout their treatment. For brain tumours, we would like to see an improvement in diagnosis, the care people receive and the range of treatment options available. Diagnosis targets need to reflect the fact that brain cancer does not occur in stages in the way that other cancers do—otherwise, we risk brain tumours falling through the cracks of NHS targets and objectives. Low-grade brain tumours, such as that suffered by Madi, need renewed attention, including in the upcoming cancer plan, which we look forward to seeing.
The Liberal Democrats have committed to boosting cancer survival rates more generally by passing a cancer survival research Act, which would require the Government to co-ordinate and ensure funding for research into the cancers with the lowest survival rates, such as brain tumours. We would halve the time for new treatments to reach patients by expanding the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s capacity and ensuring that every patient starts their treatment for cancer within that 62-day urgent referral target. We would replace ageing radiotherapy machines and increase their number so that no one has to travel too far for treatment. Measures such as Margaret’s law, which the hon. Members who secured this debate have pressed for, would be an important step in the right direction to improve research in glioblastoma in particular, and I urge the Minister to consider that too.
Do the Government have any future plans for allocating support to research into vaccine treatment for brain tumours, which has reportedly shown remarkable progress against glioblastoma in recent studies? Too many patients with brain tumours have been let down by previous Governments over many years, and I hope that this Government will step up and make brain tumours, cancer and NHS care their No. 1 priority.
Dr Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth) (Con)
I start with a personal apology to my constituents on this VE Day. While I cannot stand there in person among those marking our victory in remembrance in Hinckley and Bosworth in north-west Leicestershire, I am carrying out the very duty that people gave their lives to protect. The sacrifice of those who fought in world war two ensures that the work of this Parliament and democracy itself endures. Their courage lives in every free debate, every vote cast, and every moment we serve the public good. That should never be forgotten or taken for granted. I am therefore privileged to respond on behalf of His Majesty’s Opposition to such an important topic that resonates with so many—brain tumours.
I pay tribute to the hon. Members for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) and for Witney (Charlie Maynard) for bringing forward this debate. I was also pleased to hear this important issue raised only yesterday in Prime Minister’s questions by the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Matt Bishop), talking about his constituent’s remarkable and inspirational story about overcoming glioblastoma. Although the Prime Minister did not respond with details about brain tumours specifically, these are important opportunities to raise and debate this topic while telling the human stories, and I look forward to hearing from the Minister today.
One such story is an example from my own constituency of Hinckley and Bosworth, involving Katherine and Simon Tansey and their daughter Isla. I have told this story in the House in years past, but it is so poignant that I am not shy about telling it again. We can choose to be affected by the world or we can choose to affect the world, and my constituent Isla chose the latter. In August 2017, seven-year-old Isla Tansey woke up unable to walk. After many horrible treatments, surgery and radiotherapy, she was diagnosed with DIPG—diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma—in January 2018. Isla’s mum described the terminal illness as the most traumatic and heartbreaking experience for a family to go through.
Sadly, Isla passed away in July 2018, but not before inspiring thousands around the world with her positivity and creativity through her hobby: painting stones and pebbles. Isla asked others to join her by painting their own stones with any design, but she asked them to include the hashtag #islastones and the words “photo.post.rehide”, and then to send pictures to a dedicated Facebook page for her to see. They were subsequently to leave the stones somewhere hidden so that when they were found, they could spread a little bit of the joy that Isla had given them.
Isla’s mother Katherine hoped that one day a child might find the stones, learn about Isla’s story and become a researcher in childhood cancer. Thousands of people took part, and more than 149 countries were involved. Although Isla could no longer walk, she loved to see where all the stones ended up and where they would travel next. This included the Taj Mahal, New Zealand, Disneyland and America, with one stone reaching Antarctica. Through the stones and the people who made them, hid them and posted their photos, Isla travelled the world.
The hashtag #islastones grew to a community of over 65,000 members from all across the world. In 2019, a year on from Isla’s passing, a world record was set at the Celebration of Smiles event in Hinkley for the largest display of painted stones, with 8,542—all in remembrance of Isla. Off the back of that, Simon and Katherine set up the Islastones Foundation to raise research grants, awareness and smiles to help fight childhood cancer. They were awarded the Points of Light award from the then Prime Minister in 2023.
Why does this matter? We have all heard the statistics in this debate, but these are the real stories behind the cases, and our constituents all rightly ask for real understanding, for listening and for something to change. I am reminded of the quote:
“Your life is a message to the world. Make sure it is inspiring.”
Isla’s message was truly inspiring, and I hope the Government’s message on cancer and brain tumours will be the same.
I turn to the substance of the debate. It is clear today that Members are asking for greater priority to be given to accelerating research into brain tumours and treatments. The motion partly focuses on the £40 million of funding provided by the previous Government for research into brain tumours, and I understand the frustration of MPs from across the House at the speed of allocations to projects since 2018.
At this point, I must pay tribute to the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission for its work with the NIHR. This collaboration has led to the NIHR issuing funding calls for researchers to evaluate treatments for brain tumours and to expand the network of trials for brain tumours, including the national brain tumour consortium. Looking over the debates, I noticed that the Minister said on Second Reading of the Rare Cancers Bill:
“In the five years since 2018-19, the NIHR has invested £11.3 million directly in brain cancer, with a further £31.5 million to enable brain tumour research in 227 studies involving 8,500 people. The commitment remains in place. I can confirm that there is no upper limit on that funding. We are exploring additional research policy options to encourage more clinical trials in early phase research and the development of medical devices and diagnostics.”—[Official Report, 14 March 2025; Vol. 763, c. 1434.]
That is of course encouraging, but campaigners want to see projects up and running as soon as possible. To that end, would the Minister consider the calls from Brain Tumour Research to create a set of dedicated funding streams for early-career researchers, improved access to clinical trials and better integration of brain tumours in cutting-edge cancer initiatives, especially given the proposed abolition of NHS England?
It is that deep desire to get research moving into potential new treatments that led to the Rare Cancers Bill, proposed by the hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur). The shadow Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Melton and Syston (Edward Argar), was pleased to support the legislation when it was introduced in March. I was glad to note that the Bill received Government support, and it was endorsed by the Brain Tumour Charity, Brain Tumour Research and other patient groups. I welcome the Bill’s intention to encourage industry to concentrate more research on treatments for rare and less common cancers, including brain tumours, particularly through the review of the orphan drug regulations. However, it is vital that there is alignment with the national cancer plan, which is likely to set the direction of cancer policies for the next five to 10 years. Can the Minister confirm whether the key measures in the Bill will be included in the upcoming national cancer plan?
As well as accelerating research into brain tumours, we must take steps to increase participation among those personally affected. One of the aims of the Rare Cancers Bill is to get more patients into clinical trials for rare cancers, including brain tumours. It is sobering that the Brain Tumour Charity’s survey found that only 12% of respondents have participated in a clinical trial. We also know from the Institute of Cancer Research that brain tumour clinical trials have the lowest recruitment of any cancer type. This is why the last Government asked Lord O’Shaughnessy to review the barriers to commercial clinical trials in the aftermath of the covid pandemic. I know that the Government have stated that they are committed to implementing the recommendations of the O’Shaughnessy review, but can the Minister provide further details on what progress has been made to date?
On a side note—but a related one—at a recent VE Day celebration in Donisthorpe I met a constituent who raised with me the issue of the acquired brain injury strategy. That cross-party initiative has been championed by the hon. Member for Rhondda and Ogmore (Chris Bryant), who is now a Labour Minister. Somewhat fortuitously, I was able to tell my constituent that I was taking part in a debate on brain tumours today. She and the likes of Headway and the Child Brain Injury Trust are keen to ensure that they are able to support people through the changes that the Government are pushing through on personal independence payments and disability support, so would the Minister consider reviewing or updating the acquired brain injury strategy in the light of these changes?
Finally, I want to end on a positive note. The discussions between the MHRA and Northwest Biotherapeutics are providing hope that people living with new or recurrent glioblastoma may have access to a new treatment, DCVax-L, which could make a real difference in prolonging their survival from this terrible disease. It is important that we build on these developments, and take steps to reduce barriers to research in brain tumours and access to new treatments as they develop. After all, as one brain tumour survivor said:
“Hope is the anchor that kept me steady through the storm of my diagnosis”.
I hope that this very debate will bring hope to those suffering and their families, and will demonstrate that the Government are listening and working for better outcomes.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) and the hon. Member for Witney (Charlie Maynard) for securing this vitally important debate. They have both been powerful voices in this place for more research, greater care and better treatments for patients with brain tumours. My hon. Friend spoke so powerfully, as always, and in the name of her sister Margaret. I thank the hon. Member for Witney for sharing his sister’s story. I commend her for her fundraising activity and wish her the very best. The hon. Member asked three very clear questions, which I hope my response will cover.
I also thank other Members who made powerful contributions in what has been a very constructive debate. I hope my responses will answer their queries, but if not, I will endeavour to write to all Members following this debate about any gaps that are left. The hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) spoke about disparity of drug access. My right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) asked for zest, and spoke about the requirement for it. He expressed the frustrations of the APPG and others at the speed at which we are able to make progress. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) spoke about the importance of research, and my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West (Phil Brickell) spoke about clinical trials. The hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam) brought his expertise on optometry to bear, and spoke about how useful an eye test can be. The hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan), the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, talked about low-grade tumours. I commend her constituents, whom she spoke about, for their work.
I thank the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans), for sharing the story of Isla’s stones. What a powerful metaphor and a powerful remembrance. He also spoke about the acquired brain injury strategy. My remarks will focus on brain tumours, but I can confirm that the ABI strategy remains in play and in development. I will update the House on that as soon as possible. First, I pay tribute to some fantastic charities for their advocacy—the Brain Tumour Charity, Brain Tumour Research, Cancer Research UK and Tom’s Trust, to name just a few.
Innovative research is vital in our fight against this devastating disease if we are to offer people the most cutting-edge treatments and the highest-quality care. The Department of Health and Social Care, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, invests over £1.6 billion per year in research. In the past financial year alone, it invested over £130 million specifically in cancer research. That has enabled 261 brain tumour studies to happen in the NHS, involving 11,400 people in potentially life-changing research over the past six years. Since 2018, the NIHR has directly invested almost £12 million in brain tumour research projects; it has also spent around £37.5 million on wider infrastructure investments in facilities, services and the research workforce, making research possible. In addition, over five years, between 2020 and 2024, the Medical Research Council committed more than £18.5 million to brain tumour research.
Our investments are having an impact. NIHR-funded research has shown that a new targeted drug combination treatment can give better outcomes for one of the most common types of paediatric brain cancer, but of course there is still so much more to do. Too little is known about how to prevent, diagnose and manage brain tumours, and they remain one of the hardest cancers to treat and a challenging area for research. That is why we are committed to furthering our investment in brain cancer research and have already taken some steps to stimulate scientific progress. I would like to offer the House just three examples from the past year.
First, in September, the NIHR announced a new package of funding opportunities for brain cancer research for both adults and children. Secondly, in December, the NIHR established a new national brain tumour research consortium. The consortium brings together research from a range of disciplines and institutions to drive faster scientific advancements in how we prevent, detect, manage and treat brain cancer. This complements the NIHR’s dedicated funding call on research into wraparound care, rehabilitation and quality of life for patients with brain tumours. It has received a high volume of applications, and those applications are under consideration by an independent expert peer review panel.
Thirdly, the Department is working actively as a member of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to fully support the vision of bringing the best care to all brain tumour patients in the UK. Together, we will work with the brain tumour community to accelerate research and bring new insights to the field. This summer, the mission will launch the Tessa Jowell allied health professional research fellowship to train early-career health professionals in conducting vital research on how we improve patients’ quality of life.
The commitment to spend at least £40 million on brain cancer remains in place. The limiting factor has not been restrictions on funding, or funds being spent elsewhere, and every research proposal assessed as being fundable has been funded. My Department is now focusing on how we grow the scientific community working on brain cancer to get more research funded. We are committed to increasing spending on brain cancer research, and the £40 million target is not a funding ceiling—it will not end there. However, it is important that only high-quality applications be funded, so that public funds are invested well and produce impactful and usable research evidence. We will continue to work hand in glove with partners who fund research on new scientific discoveries, such as Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council and brain tumour charities. We stand ready to translate these much-needed discoveries as quickly as possible into new treatments for patients via the NIHR.
My hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden raised the issue of partnerships with industry to develop treatments, and I can confirm that we are committed to working with the pharmaceutical industry and others with the common aim of creating a faster, more efficient, more accessible and innovative clinical treatment delivery system. We expect these efforts to attract more commercial investment in clinical research, and to yield a broad and diverse portfolio of clinical trials in the UK, so that we can provide innovative treatment options for patients, including those with glioblastoma. The new brain tumour research consortium, to which I have referred, will bring together people to work on that, and will work to detect, manage and treat rarer and less survivable cancers in children and adults.
Clinical trials are a crucial part of cancer research. They are the key to advanced medical progress, improved patient outcomes and more hope for the future. Britain is already one of the best destinations in the world for clinical trials, but we want to go further. On 7 April, the Prime Minister announced action to accelerate the set-up and delivery of clinical trials; the time taken to set up studies will be cut to 150 days by March next year, down from 250 days, according to the latest data, which was collected in 2022.
The Department of Health and Social Care is committed to being a world-leading destination for clinical trials. Work is ongoing to streamline and reform the set-up and delivery of clinical trials through digitalisation, and by reducing unnecessary bureaucracy. That is driving a “right research, right setting” initiative, and we are moving from reactive to proactive portfolio management, including by supporting the workforce and continuing to embed a research and innovation culture across the health and social care system.
The Government also support the private Member’s Bill on rare cancers, brought forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur). The Bill will make it easier for clinical trials on rare cancers to take place in England by ensuring that the patient population can be easily contacted.
This Government are committed to backing innovative clinical research ecosystems in the UK, so that British patients can be among the first to benefit. We will bust bureaucracy, fast-track clinical trials and give patients improved access to cutting-edge treatments and technologies, including for brain tumours. “Be Part of Research” is our landmark service, allowing people from all walks of life across the UK to find and participate in research relevant to them, which could transform lives. I urge everybody watching at home to sign up to “Be Part of Research” and to get involved.
We have spoken about medicines repurposing, whereby medicines approved for a particular condition are used in new ways to treat different conditions. Repurposing drugs may have particular value for rare cancers, such as brain cancers, for which drug development has been limited. As my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden noted, NHS England has suspended its medicines repurposing programme, but not because it is unimportant; it has shown that opportunities to use existing medicines in new ways can be delivered without the support of a formal repurposing programme, including, for example, through local off-label prescribing. This creates opportunities for NIHR and other funders to support proposals for clinical trials that use repurposed drugs for rare cancers. We will help researchers work with industry and clinicians to strengthen the evidence base for new drugs, and for new uses of drugs, so that we can find out how patients can best be helped.
Helen Morgan
How well will that work be co-ordinated if it is done on a local, sporadic basis, and how will the repurposing of drugs be co-ordinated centrally if NHS England is no longer undertaking that work?
Ashley Dalton
NHS England has found that creating that environment does not necessarily provide new and better ways of repurposing drugs, and that can be done far more efficiently and far less bureaucratically by using local off-label prescribing. We are looking at how we can incentivise researchers and clinical trials to explore repurposing drugs.
We are determined to make the NIHR and other funders grasp opportunities to support those proposals. We will help researchers work with industry and clinicians to strengthen the evidence base for new drugs.
The NHS is working hard to diagnose and treat cancers on time. There is more to do on early diagnosis and faster treatment, in order to improve patient experience and survival. The NHS is focused on improving diagnostic waiting times, and on providing MRI, CT and other tests to reduce cancer waits, because, as Lord Darzi’s investigation has shown, we face significant challenges if we are to bring this country’s cancer survival rates back up to the standard of the best in the world. We know that the best way to improve survival for those with brain tumours, and with all cancers, is to diagnose patients early and treat them quickly.
In our first six months, 80,000 more patients received a diagnosis or an all-clear within 28 days than did in the previous year, thanks to investment in cutting NHS waiting lists. In March, more than 80% of patients in England referred for cancer had it ruled out or diagnosed within 28 days—it is the first time that target has been met in years—but we must go further, and we will. Our reforms to cancer care will see more than 100,000 people diagnosed faster, and thousands more starting treatment within two months across the NHS.
There is no single solution to this complex challenge. That is why my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has been clear that there will be a national cancer plan published later this year. This plan will ensure that rarer cancers, including brain cancers, will not be left behind. It is my absolute privilege, as a person with cancer, to be driving that cancer plan. I am delighted that we have so far received more than 11,000 representations as part of the call for evidence. I can assure my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden that her contributions and all others will be taken seriously.
The Liberal Democrat spokesperson also talked about low-grade cancers. There is a difference between staging and grading, and it is important that we are clear about that. Low-grade brain tumours are considered non-cancerous, and they grow more slowly and are less likely to spread, but although low-grade brain tumours are generally non-cancerous, they can have similar serious symptoms, and require surgery or radiotherapy to treat them. The Government are investing in new life-saving and life-improving research to support people diagnosed with those cancers.
In closing, for those affected by this devastating disease, every discovery, every treatment and every moment matters. We recognise that more needs to be done to stimulate high-quality, high-impact research into brain tumours. Through our targeted package of support, that is what we will do. We completely understand the strength of feeling on this issue, not least because three Ministers in the Department of Health and Social Care are cancer survivors. We know how terrifying it is to receive a diagnosis. We have sat in waiting rooms, hoping for good news and fearing the worst—and we have heard the worst. We have had those difficult conversations with our loved ones and seen the devastating impact on their lives. That is why we are committed to making a real difference for patients with brain cancer. We will leave no stone unturned until they get the first-class care that they deserve. I look forward to further discussing how we can achieve this when I meet members of the all-party parliamentary group on brain tumours next week.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I call Dame Siobhain McDonagh to wind up.
Dame Siobhain McDonagh
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for your kind words about Margaret. I thank everybody who has taken part in the debate. I appreciate that they have been taken from their constituencies, where there will be great celebrations for the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for the debate. I suggested to the Committee that I did not want last Thursday because it was polling day, so when I was offered 8 May, I did not really feel that I could refuse. I say to the Minister, the shadow Ministers and all hon. Members that if we rely on the system as it is, there will be no progress. The only way to bring about progress is to intervene and to challenge. To that end, I am delighted to say that in July we will be launching the first drug trial in Margaret’s memory, to try immunotherapy on people with glioblastoma. We will be doing that only on one site, at UCL and UCLH. That is because the structure of drug trials in the NHS continues to be so difficult—this was identified by Lord O’Shaughnessy in his report—that going to more sites would take years. People diagnosed with this condition have not got years, so we all have to intervene.
Most Ministers in the previous Government and those in this Government have been incredibly well organised and well motivated. I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his intervention, which has made our trial possible at this speed, but unless we personally get involved, no great speeches, wishing or hoping will make a change. The system does not want change. We have to enforce change.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House notes that Brain Tumour Awareness Month took place in March; further notes that there has been no progress in NHS treatment of brain tumours in 20 years and that they are the biggest cancer killer of people under the age of 40; calls on the Government to demand that the National Institute for Health and Care Research take action to spend the £40 million provided by the Government for brain tumour research in 2018 for innovative and meaningful drug trials, following the death of the late Baroness Tessa Jowell; and further calls on the Government to encourage the pharmaceutical industry to undertake research into the repurposing of drugs for brain tumours and to require the NHS repurposing service to consider the repurposing of drugs for brain tumours.
Jim Shannon
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am sorry to ask this, but we need to understand what is happening about the trade negotiations and the statement that may be coming. I ask because three of us here—the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister), the hon. Member for Dundee Central (Chris Law) and I—have planes to catch. I understand that others in the Chamber have made travel arrangements as well. If the statement is not happening, let us go.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I thank the hon. Member for his point of order. While Members are aware that a statement is expected on trade negotiations, I have no further information on the timing. His comments are now on the record. I suspend the House until further notice. The Annunciator will give further information, and bells will be rung before the House resumes.
The Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security (Mr Douglas Alexander)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. It had been the intention of the Government to make a statement to the House this afternoon immediately following the scheduled press conference by the US President and the words of our own Prime Minister. Both of those sets of remarks were delayed, with the result that, at this relatively late hour, the Government would now suggest respectfully to you that it would be more courteous to the House to be able to provide all Members with the opportunity for a full statement on Monday. If that does not—
Mr Speaker
Order. The Government have to come forward with a statement. They converted an urgent question to a statement this morning, so a statement has to be made. What the Minister says cannot be done on a point of order, as that would be unfair. I understand that people were going around telling Members to go home as there would be no statement, because Downing Street had decided that. We do not do business like this: it is totally wrong. To give him the benefit of the doubt, I am sure he would like to update the House on the position now, and I would of course expect the details to come on Monday.
Mr Alexander
I am grateful to you, Mr Speaker, and I of course defer to your judgment and will issue the statement—
Mr Speaker
Order. It is not my judgment; these are the rules of the House. An urgent question was put in, and it was converted by the Government into a statement, so it is for the Government now to come forward with the statement.