Cancer charities and royal colleges join Lib Dem MP in urging PM to back Cancer Bill after emotional Gogglebox appearance

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

Clive Jones MP, leading cancer charities, and three medical royal colleges have urged the Prime Minister to back a Bill to hold the Government to account on cancer, days after he was moved to tears on Gogglebox for Stand Up To Cancer.

The letter is co-signed by Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer52, Young Lives vs Cancer, Teenage Cancer Trust, the Royal College of Pathologists, the Royal College of Radiologists and the Royal College of Physicians. It asks Andy Burnham to confirm before Friday that the Government will support Mr Jones’s Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill at Second Reading on 13 November, and let it proceed to Committee.

The Bill would require the Health Secretary to report to Parliament every year on progress against the Government’s own cancer targets for prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The charities have described it as “practical, proportionate and uncontroversial”.

At Prime Minister’s Questions last month, the Prime Minister agreed to work with Mr Jones on cancer outcomes. Two days later, millions watched him on Gogglebox, visibly moved by patients’ stories.

Clive Jones, Liberal Democrat MP for Wokingham and a cancer survivor, said:

“Having sat down for this cause on Gogglebox, the Prime Minister now has the chance to stand up for it on Friday.

“As a cancer survivor, I know that plans do not treat patients. Delivery does. Every missed target is a person diagnosed too late or left waiting too long, and without regular reporting those failures stay hidden until they can no longer be put right.

“My Bill would not rewrite the National Cancer Plan. It would simply let Parliament, patients and the public see whether it is being delivered.

“Patients and families are not asking for warm words. They are asking for accountability.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• The Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill: a Bill to require the Secretary of State to report annually to Parliament on performance in relation to specified targets and measures relating to cancer and the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer; to require the Government to publish a strategy for improving cancer outcomes; and for connected purposes.
• Second Reading: Friday 13 November 2026.
• The Bill is supported by Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research UK, Cancer52, Young Lives vs Cancer, Teenage Cancer Trust and 62 other major cancer charities and medical bodies.
• Clive Jones is a cancer survivor. Since entering Parliament he has campaigned for a dedicated National Cancer Plan, led a Westminster Hall debate calling for a cancer strategy for England, and worked with charities including Cancer Research UK to push for better cancer diagnosis, treatment and survival rates.
• The letter to the Prime Minister is available: here