“I’ll be working hard on a national level to keep pushing for change and to make sure cancer remains high on the government’s agenda.“
Daisy Cooper MP has joined with cross-party health spokespeople to celebrate 20 years of Cancer Research UK.
The Houses of Parliament were illuminated in Cancer Research UK’s pink, purple and blue colour palette to mark both the charity’s 20th anniversary on 2 February and World Cancer Day on 4 February.
Also in attendance with Daisy, who is the Health and Social Care spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, were Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid, Scottish National Party Health Spokesperson Martyn Day MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Health Wes Streeting MP.
Daisy said: “While we may have our political differences, we need to be united in our mission to beat cancer – and that’s why I felt it was so important to attend this event to help demonstrate this.
“Treating cancer and finding new ways of treating it has never been more important than it is now. While the NHS is seeing record numbers of cancers, waiting lists are huge and urgent referrals are rarely seen within two weeks.
“I’m grateful that here in St Albans, as part of West Herts Hospital Trust’s plans, our City Hospital will be given a priority upgrade to include a much-needed new rapid cancer diagnostic centre, and improved operating theatre capacity to enable more complex surgeries to take place locally.
“I’ve been putting on the pressure to ensure this happens as quickly as possible, most recently writing to the Secretary of State for Health, asking him to assure me that the £590m needed to get this project underway remains secure.
“And in the meantime, I’ll be also be working hard on a national level to keep pushing for change and to make sure cancer remains high on the government’s agenda.“