Brain Tumours: Causes and Treatment

Baroness Mattinson Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Mattinson]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the scale of research into the causes and treatment of brain tumours.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, research is vital to ensure that people get the most effective treatments and the highest quality care. We are committed to furthering investment in brain tumour research: between 2018-19 and 2023-24, NIHR invested £11.8 million and UKRI invested £46.8 million in this area. The new NIHR brain tumour research consortium does promise a step change, with further announcements being imminent. In addition, the national cancer plan will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, including outcomes for those with brain tumours.

[Baroness Mattinson (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply, but I want to press for more urgency to beat this terrible disease. Brain cancer is now the biggest killer of children and adults under the age of 40 in the UK. Behind every statistic is a person, like my old friend Georgie Maynard, a mother of three who received her own devastating diagnosis two and a half years ago. Georgie has co-founded the Brain Cancer Justice group, and she is here today. She wants to know why the UK’s brain cancer survival rate ranks only 22nd out of 29 wealthy nations, why just 1% of the cancer research budget is allocated to brain cancer, and why only 12% of people with a brain tumour are able to participate in trials. In particular, the whole-genome sequencing is vital for brain tumour research, yet just 5% of brain tumour patients can access it.

Last September, the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission published its recommendations. Will the Minister agree to review these recommendations and meet with the Brain Cancer Justice group to discuss how they can be incorporated?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for the opportunity to meet Georgie just before Questions. I am happy to write to my noble friend with answers to all those questions. On the last two, yes, we continue to work very closely in partnership with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to drive further progress against its recommendations. I will certainly speak with the Minister who deals with this area—Ashley Dalton MP, who is currently ensuring that the cancer plan can be published at the beginning of the forthcoming year—about the suggestion of a meeting. We have very much engaged with the cancer community on the cancer plan, and we continue to be keen to do so.

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Baroness Mattinson Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Mattinson (Lab)]

My Lords, I start by saying how delighted I would be to be asked my age in Waitrose; it has not happened for a very long time.

I join pretty much everybody who has spoken in thanking the Minister for this important and much-needed Bill, which I support absolutely wholeheartedly. I want to make two points, one specific and one more general. The first, specific point is about children and vaping. Children are now twice as likely to vape as they are to smoke. This really matters, as we have no idea what the long-term consequences might be; they might be grave. Banning ads and restricting sales are essential steps forward but, to deal with the issue, we need to understand the motivation driving these children to start vaping. We know very well why they continue once they have started—it is incredibly addictive—but we do not know why they start in the first place.

I have a hunch, which is the same as that of my noble friend Lady Rafferty and the noble Baroness, Lady Northover. It is based on my own experience as a teenage smoker. They probably do it because, like me at that age, they think that it is cool. Also like me, they will spend the rest of their lives regretting that decision. However, a hunch is not enough. We need detailed research that gives real insight into why children start vaping then a targeted campaign to de-cool vaping—if that is what it takes—in places that those children will see, such as on social media, TikTok and so on. It needs to be a campaign developed by people who really understand that motivation in the first place. Only that can truly counter this growing habit and its terrible consequences.

My second point is more general but important, because, although I am a newcomer here, this Bill seems a rare beast. It has cross-party support, pretty much, and, despite the public’s occasional scepticism of nanny state-ism, it has strong and unequivocal support from the public. Against the backdrop of failing trust in government, this represents a rare opportunity to show what government intervention can achieve in terms of outcomes, whether that is ending illness and suffering, cutting hospital waiting lists or saving lives; lots of noble Lords have spoken movingly about that today. I urge my noble friend the Minister to ensure that the impact of these measures is carefully monitored so that there is a positive story to tell and so that that story, when it is ready to be told, is told loudly and clearly, as I know it can be. I look forward to supporting this Bill as it goes forward.