Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, and I totally agree with him. Paul Grayson was an incredible comic, but he also—[Hon. Members: “Paul O’Grady!”] Yes, Paul O’Grady. In terms of Lily Savage, some of that comedy broke glass ceilings and boundaries in a way that politicians would struggle to do, so I agree with the hon. Gentleman on that. I also think it shows how we need greater, more rambunctious free speech and how we need to avoid the wokery and the limitations on comedy, which, I am afraid, both of them would have had no time for.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

Q13. I would like to associate myself with the words of the hon. Member for Rhondda (Sir Chris Bryant). Paul O’Grady was a great champion of animal welfare as well. The biggest cause of death for children under the age of 14 in this country is cancer, and I have been calling for a childhood cancer mission to radically change how we detect, treat and care for children with cancer, covering everything from genome science for detection right the way through to seven-day-a-week play facilities in children’s wards. The Health Secretary has been brilliant—he has met me and been really positive about this—but will the Deputy Prime Minister restate the Government’s support for a childhood cancer mission?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I certainly will. The suffering that any child must go through when they get a condition such as cancer at such an early age is difficult to believe, and the pressure on the families is incredible. I thank my hon. Friend for her work on this. The Department of Health and Social Care will publish a major conditions strategy to look at improving outcomes and experiences for all cancer patients, including children in particular. I cannot pre-empt that, but I know that it will draw on previous work, including submissions from the various childhood cancer charities, and I pay tribute to the work that they do.