Dame Diana Johnson

I recognise the hon. Gentleman’s experience as a GP. My understanding is that a man who requests a PSA test from a GP will have that test if he is given the information and the choice is there, but I will write to the hon. Gentleman if that is not correct. It has to be an informed choice, with the man knowing the risks and the harms but also the potential benefits. Ultimately, everyone in this Chamber wants the same thing: we want fewer men to die from prostate cancer, cancers that need treatment to be found earlier, and every man to receive the care that is right for him; but we must achieve that while protecting men from unnecessary diagnosis and from receiving treatments that can have lifelong consequences for a cancer that might never have caused harm. The question is not whether we want to prevent more deaths from prostate cancer—of course we do. The question is how we can do so safely, effectively and fairly, using the best available evidence while continuing to build the evidence where it is not yet strong enough. As I have said, as that evidence develops, we must be prepared to act. I thank the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk for raising this important issue, and all Members who have contributed to this thoughtful and powerful debate.