Covid-19 Update

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Monday 14th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, and I strongly commend my hon. Friend’s leadership locally. These are tough decisions, but let us get this testing going, get everybody coming forward to get a test if they can, to find those cases and ask and require people to isolate to break the chains of transmission and get Essex and Thurrock back out of tier 3 as soon as we possibly can.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

One of my closest friends, Dan Lass, who I had known for more than 30 years, died of leukaemia last Thursday morning. He was in the United States of America, but I want to ask the Secretary of State about the cancer recovery plan in this country because cancer carries on killing people and many people have ended up not presenting this year. I know we have got things going again—even during the second wave—which is an amazing job by all the oncologists and doctors, but we must ensure we get clinical trials up and running again. We must be able to save lives and we must ensure that people go into hospitals to get the treatment they need. Otherwise, there will be more people who have lost someone like Dan.

[Matt Hancock]

The hon. Gentleman is quite right to raise this issue. My condolences to him and to all the family and friends of his friend, who is sadly no longer with us. I pay tribute to the way in which the NHS has kept cancer services going during the second peak. It has not been easy, but it has saved lives. The NHS has worked hard at it, and we must keep that going for the remainder of this time until we can get through and beyond.