Speeches by Dalton.

“The cancer plan sets out policies that have been developed specifically to tackle geographic inequalities in cancer care, with increased medical training places in rural and coastal areas, improved data transparency on the quality of care and performance of trusts, and investment in cancer alliances that proactively su…”

“As my hon. Friend knows—I do not need to tell him this—brain tumours, leukaemia and other less stageable cancers cannot be assessed in the usual way, so we need different measures to understand how early they are being caught. That is why this plan commits to the regular publication of data on emergency cancer diagnose…”

“With permission, I will make a statement on the Government’s national cancer plan for England. A cancer diagnosis changes you forever. When I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer 18 months ago, I did not know whether I would be alive today, never mind standing at this Dispatch Box announcing a national cancer pl…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Lung cancer has impacted on my family as well. Yes, we will be rolling out lung cancer screening nationwide by 2030, because we know that it has a huge impact on outcomes. I have seen how amazing the AI tools are at identifying discrepancies in lung CT scans. I found out that I …”

“Harnessing technology right across the cancer landscape is what this plan is about. Where it is appropriate for less invasive treatments to be used, we are looking to explore how we can roll them out across the country, regardless of postcodes. Lots more people are surviving cancer with treatment, but what is important…”

“Yes, I do agree. This plan is about ensuring that wraparound care is there from the very beginning, and I would be more than delighted, if my diary allows, to visit the service that my hon. Friend mentions.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting such amazing work happening in her constituency. From the very beginning, we have said that this Government’s approach is to take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS. Using the NHS app and the new national co-ordination of activities, we hope to share some of that best pra…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for his statement and questions, and particularly for his personal wishes. Overseeing delivery is absolutely crucial. It is great that we have written a plan, but what matters is delivering it. We started delivery even before we had finished writing this plan; we are not waiting. We have a…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his question and offer my condolences on the loss of his Auntie Hillary. Yes, this plan is designed to ensure that an extra 320,000 people at the end of the course of the plan will have had their lives saved or be living well with cancer after their five-year diagnosis. We want to make sure t…”

“Through the spending review, providers have been allocated £15 billion in operational capital for local priorities and £5 billion to support the return to constitutional standards on radiotherapy. Responsibility for purchasing new machines sits at local level, and we expect local systems to continue to invest in new ma…”

“Yes, I can confirm that, but it is not always about throwing extra money at things. It is about using the resources that we have in a better, more targeted way to be more impactful. I have worked with Cancer Research UK from day one of developing this plan and it has run right the way through it. We continue to work wi…”

“As I have already stated, the workforce is key. The workforce plan will be published in spring this year. As of November 2025, there are now 70% more staff in the key cancer professions of clinical oncology, gastroenterology, medical oncology, histopathology, clinical radiology, and diagnostic and therapeutic radiology…”

“Yes, we are aware of that. We are looking at the existing metrics and at what we can do to improve them to ensure that they are actually making a difference to people’s outcomes.”

“We recognise that the provision of cancer services varies significantly across the country. This plan sets out how we will end that variation by bringing healthcare to the community and ensuring that everyone, no matter their postcode, has access to high-quality cancer care. I want to assure everybody that cancer outco…”

“I commend the campaigning work of my hon. Friend’s constituents and say to them that their voices run through this plan; they have written this plan with their campaigning activity as much as we have. The James Cook university hospital in my hon. Friend’s constituency has had funding for two new LINAC machines—medical …”

“I commend my hon. Friend on all the work he has done, particularly on the Rare Cancers Bill, which the Government are delighted to support. Not only does this plan have the first ever chapter on rare and less-survivable cancers, but we will be appointing the first ever clinical lead for rare cancers, whose job it will …”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. It was my pleasure to meet Lorraine. I will, if I can, say very quickly that when we met her, she was explaining to officials how she did not have what she needed for her daughter when they were sent to the specialist care unit straight from A&E. One official said, “Why could…”

“Organisations such as Maggie’s play a crucial role. That is why we chose to launch our national cancer plan at a Maggie’s centre yesterday. We cannot do this alone. Charities, support organisations, family groups, and the tiny little charities run from a back bedroom by the family of somebody who suffered a very rare c…”

“That is absolutely the case. This plan will support people in my hon. Friend’s constituency by expanding access to community diagnostic centres and personalised neighbourhood-based cancer care. We are also focusing on recruiting more cancer specialists for rural and coastal areas, and are supporting that through the wo…”

“Yes, I can confirm that we will continue to work with cancer charities. I am particularly delighted with the work we have done with Young Lives vs Cancer and other young people’s cancer charities, which have brought amazing insight and basically written the chapter on children and young people with cancer with the team…”