Alex McIntyre

I thank the Chair of the Select Committee for her statement. Most of the House will know—I have spoken about this publicly—that I have had a lifelong battle with obesity. It was only when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at 33 years old last year that the NHS stepped in to help. Since then, I have lost seven and a half stone through the diabetes path to remission programme. My plea to the Minister for Public Health and Patient Safety, who I know is listening intently, is that those of us with lived experience of obesity and overweight are included in the conversation about how we tackle this, because for too long people who have not experienced it have dictated to those of us who have, about how best to go forward. The path to remission programme for type 2 diabetes is referenced in the report and its conclusions because it is a proven weight loss intervention, but it is currently only available to a small subset of people with type 2 diabetes. Does she agree that this cost-effective and efficient way to help people like me to lose weight should be rolled out to people living with obesity nationally?