Rare Cancers Bill

Andy Slaughter Excerpts

Friday 11th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith and Chiswick) (Lab)]

It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh), and I thank her for everything she has done on this issue. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) for taking up this Bill and getting it to this stage.

As I suspect many Members did, I rearranged my diary at short notice to be here, because we thought there might be a risk of the Bill not going through, but I am glad that that does not appear to be transpiring. I am here for three reasons. One is obviously the merits of this Bill, which recommend themselves entirely to all sides of the House. The second is the excellent whipping by my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden—I think most of the London parliamentary Labour party are secreted around the building just in case they should be needed. Thirdly, and above all, it is because of my experience of what constituents of mine have gone through, and I am sure that goes for all Members here; the emails were pinging in yesterday saying, “You need to be there tomorrow”.

I want to briefly mention two cases. The first is that of my Chiswick constituent Rob King. I will read a few words of his, because he says what needs to be said more eloquently than I could:

“During early 22 my wife Marie felt extremely tired. We thought three children, busy life. Weeks later she had a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and we were faced with no treatment options beyond chemotherapy to possibly extend her life by a short while. We didn’t know timeframe, but she had just six months of life remaining. The chemotherapy was brutal. Relentless. She died aged 39 in October 2022, just days off her 40th birthday. What she endured, nobody should have to endure. How she endured this is still beyond my comprehension.

What this misses is the impact on those around her. The parents in their 70s who lost their daughter. The siblings left without a sister, without an auntie for their children. Her husband, me, left dealing with things never planned, never envisaged in life. And most importantly three little children, aged at the time one and a half, five and seven. Having the conversation to say mummy is never coming back will haunt me forever—explaining to an infant what is a rare cancer and why it cannot be fixed because there is no treatment. The impact of this rolls on as they get older.

Rare cancers are not rare. They hugely impact everyone around individuals affected. We urgently need some direction from Government to focus on these, give those affected some hope, and longer term see some results.”

The second case is of Katie Bernard and her son Alex. My hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden knows this case because she helped with it. Alex suffered from a brain tumour so rare that I think there have only been 100 cases diagnosed around the world. His parents went to extraordinary lengths to get drugs delivered. Almost on a daily basis we were monitoring the pharmacies and hospitals, ensuring that he had treatment. He did get the treatment and it did prolong his life, but sadly Alex passed away on 30 January this year, aged just 23.

There are many more cases like Marie and Alex, and it is for them that the Bill has been brought forward. It is not the only thing that needs to be done, but it is an important step forward. I hope that, by passing it through the House today and it being enacted later this year or early next year, we will make a change. I thank all Members who have contributed or been here today. I know that my constituents and theirs will be listening to this debate and hoping for the Bill’s success.