Oral Answers to Questions

Nic Dakin Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has been following this issue closely over recent years. I think he recognises that this is an important and complex area of law, and we want to make sure that proposals are considered properly. That is why the Ministry of Justice is carefully examining the differences in treatment that already exist within marriage law, alongside the humanist proposals, so that the differences can be minimised. I am sure that my hon. Friend will agree that it is both right and fair to approach this in that way.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

Q14. My constituent Kevin’s chances of survival from pancreatic cancer were no better than his mother’s, who died of that disease 40 years earlier. This disease is soon to become the fourth biggest cancer killer in the UK. Will the Prime Minister join MPs on both sides of this House to champion a significant increase in spending on pancreatic cancer research which, sadly, currently lags behind that on other cancers?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman raises a very important point that is obviously of particular relevance in the case of the constituent to whom he refers. As he says, pancreatic cancer is one of those cancers that it is very difficult to deal with and treat. There has been a lot of attention over the years on certain cancers, such as breast cancer increasingly, as well as bowel cancer and prostate cancer, but it is important that the appropriate attention is given to cancers that are proving more difficult to deal with, such as pancreatic cancer.