Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her Department's document entitled FCDO archive inventory, updated on 12 March 2025, what steps her Department is taking to review and make available records relating to policy in Palestine, including UID 1454 and 1790.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Last year, the UK made the historic decision to recognise the state of Palestine, noting that our commitment to supporting long-term peace stems not only from the current crisis but also from our historic responsibility to the region's security. Available materials about the UK's role during the Mandate for Palestine can be readily accessed from the National Archives.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies on the Israel-Palestine conflict of the UK's role during the Mandate for Palestine.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Last year, the UK made the historic decision to recognise the state of Palestine, noting that our commitment to supporting long-term peace stems not only from the current crisis but also from our historic responsibility to the region's security. Available materials about the UK's role during the Mandate for Palestine can be readily accessed from the National Archives.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) ensure that the BREAKWATER treatment protocol for patients with BRAF‑mutated bowel cancer is evaluated and funded as a matter of urgency, and (b) secure equal access to this protocol for patients across the UK.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines and licence extensions for existing medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. NICE aims wherever possible to issue guidance for the NHS on new medicines close to the time of licensing, and cancer drugs are eligible for funding from the point of a positive draft NICE recommendation.
The BREAKWATER study is investigating encorafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, in combination with cetuximab and fluorouracil-based chemotherapy for the potential treatment of colorectal cancer. This regimen does not currently have a United Kingdom marketing authorisation for use in the treatment of previously untreated BRAF V600E mutation positive metastatic colorectal cancer. NICE has prioritised an appraisal of encorafenib for this indication in anticipation of it being granted a UK marketing authorisation and will schedule the appraisal so that guidance can be published as close as possible to the expected licensing date. Further information on the appraisal’s status is publicly available on NICE’s website at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/awaiting-development/gid-ta11961
The clinical trial was assessed and approved in the UK and is currently active, with further information available at the following link:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04607421?term=BREAKWATER&viewType=Card&rank=1
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, asking what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the General Practice Contract 2026–27 for England on a) patient safety and b) the long-term sustainability of general practice.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England assessed the potential impacts of the proposed changes to the GP Contract on patient safety and the long-term sustainability of general practices (GPs) for 2026/27 throughout the policy-development process.
In early 2026, we concluded the 2026/27 GP Contract consultation. This year we expanded the consultation to engage with wider stakeholders across GPs and patient voice organisations. These were the General Practitioners Committee England, the Royal College of General Practitioners, National Voices, the Institute of General Practice Management, Healthwatch England, NHS Confederation, now NHS Alliance following its merge with NHS Providers, and the National Association of Primary Care. The feedback we received from stakeholders across the system has been constructive and comprehensive, enabling us to refine proposals and address concerns while developing the final contract package.
Overall, the changes are designed to help increase capacity in GPs, support patient access, shift from treatment to prevention through changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and vaccinations, enable practices to prioritise clinically urgent needs, and ensure GPs remain sustainable for the future. The changes make progress on commitments in the 10-Year Health Plan as well as key commitments to bring back the family doctor and end the 8:00am scramble.
The Department and NHS England will continue to monitor the impact of the GP Contract through workforce data, patient access metrics, and patient experience data.