Speeches by Coleman.

“The Government obviously have prevention as one of their three big shifts—that is a statement and it is in the 10-year plan. How far do you think the measures that the Government have come out with support prevention, as opposed to focusing on medical solutions?”

“From what I am hearing from many people this morning—the Chair pressed helpfully on the underlying biology—it is still a lot better to ensure that people are not subject to adverts pumping rubbish food at them all day long and are not eating unhealthy things that make them ill and cause obesity, so there is still a lot…”

“We are waiting for the workforce plan. Obviously, the 10-year plan talks about “a moonshot to end the obesity epidemic”, and there will be workforce implications in that. Is it your understanding, from talking to the Government, that they will take weight management issues and the workforce needs around that into accou…”

“Yes. Dr McCullough, do you have anything to add to that?”

“Yes, or even if they are on the drugs, and then they come off them and keep the weight down, would that not save time for you in the long term rather than having to deal with people who are living with obesity—or is it too soon to measure that?”

“GPs spend a lot of time treating people who are living with obesity. If you spend this money up front, particularly with a weight management wraparound, and you find that people are able to take those drugs and keep the weight down, is that not time-saving for you in the longer term?”

“What is it about the services that makes them so intensive?”

“What you are saying about the role of GPs is very interesting. Being a GP is pretty challenging at the best of times, and you are being asked to do more things. We have heard, in the evidence we have received, that weight management systems can be resource intensive, clinically intensive. Do you recognise that descript…”

“So the MHRA should be going on the internet, looking at who is selling the drugs, identifying where they are not offering wraparound care, and stopping them?”

“Not for the first time, my hon. Friend puts it much better than I could. Cyber-security is an absolutely key pillar of the Trinity House agreement, and AI, quantum and semiconductor investment should be things that Germany and Britain work on together, side by side, to defend our joint security and also contribute to t…”

“So if companies are selling drugs privately and are not offering people wraparound care, are they breaking the law?”

“If you buy them privately, I mean.”

“Thank you. Professor Jebb, would you like to expand on your suggestion a minute ago? When you sell the drugs, should you be required to offer wraparound care, or at least indicate where people can get wraparound care, and an idea of the costs?”

“You might have a view, though.”

“I am talking about if you buy it privately online. Forgive me; I was not clear.”

“But should it be compulsory that you offer that?”

“But would you actually make it a requirement? Would it not undermine your financial interests if it were a requirement? The longer that people maintain the weight loss after having used one of your very effective drugs, the less good it is for you, financially, in the long term. So would you oppose or be in favour of r…”

“Do you think there is an argument—Professor Jebb touched on this with my colleagues a minute ago—for it to be made compulsory for people selling these weight loss drugs to also offer wraparound weight loss management to help people when they come off the drugs? Is that something that should be required by law?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I have been passionate about strengthening ties between the UK and Germany for most of my adult life, ever since I spent two years living in West Berlin in the mid-1980s—vor der Wende—before the wall came down. I lived in Kreuzberg, a neighbourhood that at that …”

“I do. I congratulate my hon. Friend again on replacing Boris Johnson with a much nicer man, who definitely has much better hair. I absolutely agree. We have to recognise that the swiftest path to growth for this country lies in tackling the red tape that Brexit introduced. I think of a small butcher in my constituency …”