Alcohol and Cancer

Frank McNally Excerpts

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Westminster Hall

[Frank McNally (Coatbridge and Bellshill) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Cat Smith) on securing the debate.

Colleagues have rightly focused on the policy requirement of addressing alcohol harm, not just for the health of our constituents but to address the seismic burden that the effects of alcohol place on our public services, particularly the NHS. As my hon. Friend mentioned in her excellent speech, inaction is not acceptable or sustainable. This debate is especially pertinent, as we now understand that at least eight cancers can be linked to alcohol following new research from the IARC showing the link, as my hon. Friend mentioned, between alcohol and pancreatic cancer.

I would like to focus on the importance of early intervention in tackling excessive alcohol consumption. The UK consistently tops the table for binge drinking, and Scotland has long had a higher rate of alcohol-related death than the rest of the UK. More than one in four alcohol-attributable deaths were due to cancer. Furthermore, public awareness of alcohol harm is low, with polling research suggesting that 50% of people are unaware that alcohol causes cancer. Sadly, 53,000 people are hospitalised in Scotland due to alcohol each year.

Although we may be tempted into complacency by data that suggests that young people are drinking less than preceding generations, the stakes really are too high when we look at the figures. That is why early intervention initiatives, such as the work of Community Alcohol Partnerships, are so essential. Early intervention can prevent such health challenges from arising in later life. Their work is driving young people away from alcohol in 300 areas across the UK. My constituency is home to the View Park and Bellshill community alcohol partnership, which was recently recognised as Scottish CAP of the year. It has gained recognition for its approach to engaging young people while also partnering effectively with the police, NHS, local authority, residents groups and retailers to tackle under-age drinking head on. The impact of that work is significant, with the latest national figures from CAP showing a 63% reduction in drinking among 13 to 16-year-olds. We know the impact of under-age drinking on those under 15, and the consequences that it has.

There is, however, much more to do. I was pleased to sponsor the launch in Parliament of CAP’s report on the parental supply of alcohol recently. The report highlights that too many parents still believe that giving alcohol to children at home will teach them to drink responsibly or reduce the risk of them getting alcohol elsewhere. The report shows that every year earlier that a child is given alcohol, their risk of binge drinking, alcohol harm and health-related consequences as an adult increases significantly. CAP is set to launch a new pilot programme in 2026 aimed at preventing the parental supply of alcohol in six areas. I am very pleased that my area is one of those that is being looked at.

Early intervention is critical in the battle against alcohol-related cancers. I commend the CAP report to the Minister and all Members, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre for bringing forward this debate and highlighting the importance of this subject for my constituents and for people of all ages across the United Kingdom.

Covid: Fifth Anniversary

Frank McNally Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Frank McNally (Coatbridge and Bellshill) (Lab)]

In the time I have available, I will focus on education and care provision during the pandemic. I was serving as North Lanarkshire’s chair of education when the Scottish Government directed the closure of schools in March 2020. Within days, the entire country was locked down, and we moved to home-schooling and virtual lessons.

[Maureen Burke (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend share my concern for the children in all our constituencies who, after losing nearly two years of face-to-face schooling, are still suffering set-backs in their learning and their social skills? Will he join me in calling on the Government to channel investment into those who were at school during those years of disruption, to ensure that there is not a lost generation in this country?

[Frank McNally]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The UK Government are investing significantly in skills and apprenticeships for some of those young people who were impacted by the pandemic, and we need to see that in Scotland as well.

For children transitioning from early years to primary 1, and from primary 7 to secondary, it must have felt like experiencing an alternative universe, given social distancing, the expansion of digital learning and the use of PPE. Sadly, despite the best efforts of those on the frontline, young people lost learning, and we have to tackle that head-on. However, they showed resilience. Sadly, that resilience and those efforts were trampled on when the Scottish Government sought to downgrade the highers results of 2,900 children from my local authority area. Some 46% of young people were discriminated against based on their postcodes, rather than recognised for their ability. Thankfully, young people successfully fought back on that.

I will also touch on the role of carers. Like so many frontline workers, they showed up and put their health and wellbeing on the line to serve some of the most vulnerable in our communities. They did so despite, at times, limited and faulty PPE, entrenched low pay, and poor policy decisions that saw frail patients discharged from hospitals and into care homes untested, contributing to 5,000 care home deaths.

There can often be a focus on Downing Street parties or deleted WhatsApp messages, but at the forefront of our minds must always be the victims of covid, including those who died unnecessarily and those who live with long covid and the psychological impact of the disease, as my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) said. There are also those who delivered the ultimate act of service, including refuse collectors, police officers, nurses, shop workers and many others from the voluntary sector and religious establishments. As we recognise the fifth anniversary of covid, their efforts in the face of such hardship, their resilience and their sacrifice must be the true and lasting legacy of such an unprecedented pandemic, which we must all fight to ensure that we never experience again.