Prime Ministers Questions fulfils a vital function (and I was delighted to use it for our Lobular Breast Cancer Campaign!) but it is also in many ways the worst advert for parliament! The weekly skirmish is inevitably the most excitable and “high octane” of the week.
In my experience the vast majority of MPs have similar ideals and are keen to work together, where possible, in common cause. This is often most evident in the Commons’ select committees. I was delighted this week to be elected Chair of the Defence Select Committee with the active support of over half of all MPs and 80% of the vote. The committee has a serious job to do at a time when defence is rightly a matter of huge focus. To “get stuff done” in parliament often requires cross-party working and I am very pleased to have the support of a very wide range of parliamentary colleagues from different political outlooks.
One case in point of building consensus and support is the campaign for research targeting lobular breast cancer. I have been working closely with my colleague Dehenna Davison MP for Bishop Auckland to support the campaign set up by local resident Dr Susan Michaelis. I am absolutely thrilled by the progress we are making.
After initial meetings with Ministers we held an event in Westminster for MPs from all political parties (the Speaker also joined us!) to hear about the campaign and where possible pledge their support.
I was delighted that last week the Health Secretary announced as part of her Women’s Health Strategy that she would be encouraging more research into lobular. This followed her meeting with Dr Michaelis and the team which followed Prime Ministers Questions in which I asked for just such an opportunity. A brilliant campaign headed by Dr Michaelis, backed by lobbying and a Health Secretary keen to listen is getting us closer to the answers we need for those currently living with, or who are vulnerable to, this dreadful disease.
As I highlighted in Health Questions this week we have further meetings scheduled to put deliverables in place around the clear ambition – but it is a great step forward, richly deserved by Susan and her fellow campaigners.
