National Cancer Plan

Debate between Lord Bethell and Baroness Merron

Monday 9th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I am sorry to hear about the member of the noble Baroness’s family.

To the point about treatment, by 2028, every cancer patient will have access to a personal cancer care plan via the NHS app. Tailoring treatment and support through the whole care journey is important, including before the care journey starts. It will be a complete innovation that we are not talking about rehabilitation but what we are now calling “prehabilitation”, to support people.

We are also investing £80 million in four new NHS aseptic medicine production hubs, which will be operational by next year, to increase the supply of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, using advanced automation.

To the points about hospices and palliative care, for some, treatment is not enough; it is about the timely and proactive availability of palliative and end-of-life care. That is what is going to make the difference to their quality of life. We are working with the royal colleges to deliver enhanced levels of care, known as acute and supportive oncology, to consistent standards, and that will integrate palliative and end-of-life care while supporting clinicians to provide the best treatment. We are delivering the biggest investment in hospices in a generation—some £100 million to upgrade buildings, facilities and digital systems.

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I echo the praise of other noble Lords for the report. Professor Peter Johnson has done an enormously worthwhile job, and there is so much richness and so many good things in the report.

I will put a spotlight on the unfortunate framing that catching cancer is, largely speaking and for the majority of people, simply a matter of bad luck. The report says quite clearly, under prevention:

“As much as a third of cancers are preventable”.


That is a very conservative estimation of the proportion of cancers that are preventable. Modern analysis would point to systemically preventable exposure to multiple risk factors, which are entirely clustered around class. This framing is incredibly important, because it leads to consequential decisions in the Treasury, among health colleagues and in the rest of government about what we should and could be doing as a society and as a Government to try to reduce the prevalence of cancer.

In Europe, the European Code Against Cancer puts prevention absolutely at the centre of the cancer plan. In countries such as Malta, Portugal and Spain, cancer reduction is not seen as something that is relegated to a paragraph in the introduction: it is absolutely front and centre of the whole cancer plan. It embraces all of health.

The noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, mentioned screening and vaccines, but it is a shame that those are not much more front and centre and that the Government’s ambitions are not greater. Where are the targets on things such as obesity and clean air? These are the kinds of things that one would expect to see built into a cancer plan. In terms of the “all of government” approach, where is taxation and the planning system, mentioned in the plan as important levers for reducing cancer?

The bad-luck attitude to cancer is an old-fashioned clinicians’ bias that is no longer supported by the epidemiology. So, I ask the Minister, first, is it possible to perhaps review the research framework that has led to that kind of understatement of the preventability of cancer? Coming out of that, secondly, I ask the Minister whether she could perhaps consider looking at a cancer prevention plan, as they have in other countries?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I am grateful for the noble Lord’s support for the cancer plan. I should have mentioned this. I will be honest: even as a Minister, I do not always pay full attention to the foreword, and I am sure that other former Ministers might share that, within a plan, but I commend this one to noble Lords, not least because the Secretary of State himself talked about his own experience of being told he had kidney cancer. He described his world being turned upside down. He talked about fear and foreboding, as does our Minister, Ashley Dalton MP. They both talked about fear and foreboding and the need to turn that round with action. That kind of drive, as well as the facts before us, drive this plan.

On the point about a cancer prevention plan and the question of where the strategy is for the reduction of obesity and so on, I say that this is a plan to be read alongside our other commitments. It builds on the 10-year health plan, which laid out the way we would be going forward with our shifts. This is about turning round the whole cancer pathway.

To the point specifically about prevention, I heard what the noble Lord said. We do not take the view that it is “just bad luck”. Where there is prevention, we should absolutely tackle that.

The plan tackles the causes head-on, not just by talking but with government action to cut smoking with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, reduce obesity, act on alcohol harm and protect people from dangerous UV exposure, including through sunbeds. No one should lose someone to cancer that should have been prevented. We will not ignore the communities that are hit hardest. By having those preventions, we are supporting the communities that are hit hardest. Rolling out lung cancer screening more extensively will be one of the areas of importance.

I referred earlier to cancer alliances. They will promote, for example, new catch-up schemes to enable young people who have missed out on the HPV vaccination at school. They can have it administered at their local pharmacy. We are not leaving matters to chance. We are rolling out home testing kits for cervical cancer for those who do not go to appointments for a range of reasons, rather than offering only one opportunity.

In all these ways, the national cancer plan tackles the causes of cancer. We will continue to see that through. As the noble Lord knows, moving from sickness to prevention is a key factor in our 10-year plan.

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Debate between Lord Bethell and Baroness Merron

Committee stage
Monday 27th October 2025 Grand Committee

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their thoughtful contributions. As they have acknowledged, the Government are taking bold action to create the first smoke-free generation. Our published modelling shows that smoking rates in England among 14 to 30 year-olds could be close to 0% as early as 2050. I make that point particularly in respect of Amendment 4, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Bethell.

I sympathise with the intention of his amendment and with the other amendments we have debated in this group. Let me assure noble Lords that, as is consistent with best practice, we will evaluate this legislation as is appropriate and helpful, such as by monitoring smoking rates over time. We need to ensure that no one is left behind in this smoke-free UK that we seek to create.

However, I say to the noble Lord, Lord Bethell, that we do not believe that an outright ban would be the most effective or proportionate way of encouraging current smokers to quit. As he knows, we are taking an evidence-based approach to supporting current smokers to quit and have invested an additional £70 million both last year and this year to support local authority-led stop-smoking services in England. We are continuing our national smoke-free pregnancy incentive scheme to support pregnant smokers to quit, which the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, referred to.

I turn to Amendment 193, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham. I aspire to be as mindful as I know he is of the importance of parliamentary scrutiny of the implementation of legislation. As I mentioned, we will assess the implementation of the Act, which is consistent. For measures implemented by secondary legislation, we will publish post-implementation reviews as appropriate. I can also commit to publishing a report on the Bill before Parliament, in line with our requirements, so we do not feel that it is necessary to outline this in the Bill. There are no plans to develop a report on specific targets or to publish a road map at this time, because we are focusing our attention and total ambition on making sure that we can deliver the Bill and work on the regulations that will follow.

The noble Lord, Lord Young, asked about a retained target to have a smoke-free England by 2030. We are going even further than the Smokefree 2030 target. As I have mentioned throughout, our ambition is for a smoke-free UK and creating the first smoke-free generation.

Finally, I turn to Amendment 199, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Northover. The Government are committed to ensuring the successful implementation of all measures in the Bill, as I am sure she appreciates. We will ensure that the public, retailers, enforcement bodies and other relevant groups are aware of all measures and their associated commencement date. We will publish clear guidance in advance to aid a smooth transition. The noble Baroness’s amendment also seeks to include measures to raise public awareness. That is absolutely key, as the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, also said.

I say to noble Lords that we run successful public health campaigns to support smokers to quit and to inform the public on the harms of tobacco. Indeed, this month is our annual Stoptober campaign. I therefore reassure the noble Baroness that my officials are working to ensure that everyone will be informed about the smoke-free generation policy and the benefits of quitting and continuing that route.

To the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, about social media campaigns, earlier this year we launched the first ever campaign to inform young people about the health risks of vaping. The campaign featured on social media and paid media used by young people, and the noble Baroness will be delighted to know that that included working with trusted influencers to speak directly to—how might I put it?—a younger audience.

On the comments by the noble Lord, Lord Harlech, the matter of which tobacco products are in scope will be covered in detail in group 16, and I look forward to discussing that.

On the basis of those responses, I hope the noble Lords will feel able not to press their amendments.

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her concluding remarks, which were thoughtful, detailed and thorough. I congratulate the Government on pursuing these measures with the energy and determination that Rishi Sunak brought to it when he was Prime Minister. They still enjoy widespread support in all corners of the House—not unanimous support, but widespread.

I am grateful for the Minister’s commitment to the £70 million cessation budget and to the smoke-free pregnancy programme that my noble friend Lord Young of Cookham mentioned. I am grateful for her commitment to evaluation and assessment and to a post-implementation review. These are standard. I hope very much that she has taken on board the comments about the need for a clear road map and for accountability, and I am grateful for everything that she said on that.

I also emphasise the importance of a public health campaign—whether it should use influencers and Kardashians, I am not quite sure—and I pay tribute to the DHSC and the NHS for their public health campaigns, which have proved to be effective: they are good curators of the nation’s health when it comes to campaigning. I emphasise to the Minister the critical importance of getting both the guidance and the communication right. We do not legislate in order to communicate, but the communication of good legislation is very important.

I also stand by the Minister’s comments on cigars and other tobacco products. I thought my noble friend Lord Harlech made extremely clear and persuasive points. I totally take on board everything he said on my 2040 extinction proposal and would very much like to talk to him about that in future, and how it might be shaped.

With that in mind, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Debate between Lord Bethell and Baroness Merron

Monday 13th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

In our development of the modern service framework for frailty and dementia we are engaging with a wide group of partners, because we need to understand what should be included to ensure the best outcomes. I hope my noble friend will welcome that we are going to be considering what interventions should be supported to improve diagnosis waiting times—which are, I certainly agree, too long in many areas. In addition, we are considering all the options to help reduce variation, including reviewing metrics and targets, as my noble friend refers to.

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, having had the analysis of the results of incredibly extensive clinical trials on the use of GLP-1s to treat dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, this is an incredibly exciting potential development. Will the Minister please share with the House what the Government are doing to prepare diagnosis for Alzheimer’s disease, so that those with the disease can be ready for this exciting treatment?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right to identify what are exciting developments in this area. We are investing in dementia research across all areas. That includes causes and diagnosis, as well as prevention, treatment, care and support, including for carers—I think it is important to identify the wide range. In preparation, we are ensuring that clinical trials are maximised and that reductions in waiting times happen. As I said, through the modern service framework we will be looking at the arrangements as a whole, which will give the useful range of direction that we need to address the point that the noble Lord made.

Health: Quad-demic

Debate between Lord Bethell and Baroness Merron

Tuesday 10th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I listened carefully to the noble Lord. The JCVI considered that there was less certainty about how well the RSV vaccine works in people aged 80 and over when the programme was introduced in 2023, and that is because, as the noble Lord said, there were insufficient people aged 80 and older in the clinical trials. The JCVI continues to keep this under review, including looking at data from clinical trials and evidence in other countries, and there will shortly be an update to your Lordships’ House in respect of research and clinical trials.

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

The Minister says that we are determined to learn the lessons of Covid. During Covid we had vaccination rates of 90% but, as she said, only 16 million—just 25%—of our citizens have had the flu jab and vaccination rates among children are also deteriorating at a rate. I say this with some personal interest because there was an outbreak of the quad-demic in my own household at 2 am today. There are three times as many people in hospital today with flu than in this week last year. Can the Minister please explain what she is doing to increase vaccination rates, particularly among children?