Asking the prime minister a question at PMQs is a rare opportunity, and each time I get it, I think long and hard about what to raise. Last week I had that chance again, and I used it to speak on behalf of the Lobular Moon Shot campaign.
In a sense, I fell into the Lobular Moon Shot campaign. I knew about its aims and supported its asks, but I hadn’t actively engaged with the issue until I was asked to stand in for Julia Lopez at science, innovation and technology questions and raise lobular breast cancer on her behalf.
Asking this question really opened my eyes to the goals of the Lobular Moon Shot Project and the importance of what it is they are demanding. I felt I needed to see what I could do to help their cause.
Lobular breast cancer is the second most common type of breast cancer. A total of 3.75 million people will be diagnosed with this cancer in the next 10 years. But lobular breast cancer currently has no specific treatment and behaves very differently from the more common type of breast cancer. With around 22 people a day in the UK being diagnosed with this disease, we must move our understanding forward at a much greater pace.
The Lobular Moon Shot Project was launched on 25 May 2023 by Dr Susan Michaelis, who was first diagnosed with ILC in 2013. Sadly, Susan passed away on 9 July 2025. Her work continues through the Lobular Moon Shot Project run by her husband, Tristan Loraine, and a number of remarkable women with lobular breast cancer and their families. Their aim is to get lobular breast cancer the research funding needed, so the biology of the disease can be much better understood, aiming to secure £20 million over five years.
I had the opportunity to raise lobular breast cancer funding in April with Keir Starmer when he was prime minister. He responded that he would look at what the government could do and ensure any relevant meetings were set up. Sadly, no real progress was made following the meeting we had with the then minister for research.
Then we got a new prime minister – this time a prime minister who had pledged his support to the Lobular Moon Shot Project when he was mayor of Greater Manchester in 2025. As he took office, a cross-party letter was sent to him, signed by the leaders or senior representatives of 17 of the 19 opposition parties which hold seats in the House of Commons and the devolved parliaments. The Lobular Moon Shoot Project has achieved something unprecedented in this letter, bringing so many politicians of all colours together to try and bring a positive change.
Taken together, the political will appears to be there for progress as it hadn’t been under Starmer, prompting me to try and raise the issue at PMQs again. Asking my question during Breast Cancer Awareness Month seemed even more fitting.
The response from Andy Burnham felt much more encouraging, with an assurance from the prime minister that he would meet with me, colleagues and the Lobular Moon Shot Project. I’m pleased that his parliamentary private secretary reached out to me after the question, and I will be holding the prime minister to his promise. The campaigners have worked so hard to get lobular breast cancer on the agenda, and having the prime minister’s ear is essential if we want to see progress.
The Lobular Moon Shot Project has worked incredibly hard in recent years to make progress. I hope that by raising their voice in parliament I will be able to say that I played a small part in securing better care and outcomes for those with lobular breast cancer.
There is plenty more work to be done, but it feels like we are actually getting somewhere.
