Meningitis Outbreak

Edward Argar Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

Like my hon. Friend, I am a member of the NUS mafia in this place, and I well understand the enormous value that students’ unions bring to promoting student welfare and raising awareness. I think he is absolutely right about the risks of meningitis and other infectious diseases on university campuses, and to suggest that we should work with the meningitis charities, the NUS, student unions and others to see what more we can do not just in response to this outbreak in Kent, but more generally to raise awareness among groups of students, who, because of the nature of their studying and living conditions, can be more prone to the spread of infectious diseases.

[Edward Argar (Melton and Syston) (Con)]

I associate myself with the Secretary of State’s remarks: the thoughts of all of us in this House are with the families of those, tragically, who have died and all those who have been affected.

While there are understandably questions about vaccination and antibiotic eligibility, it is important that decisions continue to be guided by clinical experts, and in this country we have some of the best in the world. I welcome the Secretary of State asking the JCVI to review the eligibility criteria, but will he please be unequivocal—I think he has alluded to this—in saying that he will continue to be guided by its expert clinical advice in any decisions he subsequently makes?

[Wes Streeting]

I am extremely grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for raising that question and making that point. It sometimes feels that barely a month, if not a week, goes by in this job when I am not regularly exhorted to make a political decision overriding clinical advice. I think that is the wrong thing to do and it sets a dangerous precedent, particularly when others in this House might be minded to make ideological judgments about science and medicine that are neither good science nor good medicine. There is an important principle to defend here, which is that where we are making clinical decisions, they should be based on good, high-quality clinical advice on the basis of robust evidence and data. I give him the assurance that I will continue to follow clinical advice, and he is absolutely right to raise this particular point of principle.