Lee Barron

I will use my time today to share the words of Jackie Hall, mum of 14-year-old Max Hall. She says: “Dear Members of Parliament, Max should be worrying about school, football, friends, and what he wants to be when he grows up. Instead, our family is living with the reality that he has a high-grade brain tumour and that there is no cure available to him. We have discovered that many of the treatments currently offered to children with aggressive brain tumours have changed very little over decades. What makes this even harder is knowing that before Max’s diagnosis, he suffered headaches for around a year. Max is funny. He is kind. He is intelligent. He is brave beyond words. He is a child who deserves the same urgency, investment, innovation, and hope that would be demanded for any child standing in front of you today. Children with aggressive brain tumours cannot wait years for discussions, consultations, reports, and strategies. We need meaningful investment in brain tumour research. We need greater access to clinical trials. We need better awareness and earlier diagnosis. If this were your child, would you be satisfied with the options available? Please do not let another generation of children face the same future. Yours sincerely, Jackie Hall Mum to Max”. I will not stop until I get Jackie answers and get policies changed for young people like Max. Mandatory MRIs for long-term sufferers of headaches would be a good start, but after 12 years of warm words and broken promises, the motto of my constituency is deeds, not words. In the name of Max, Jackie and their family, and for the sake of all the people who are suffering, now is the time for this Government to be the one who finally deliver.