Thomas Brayford, our Policy and Public Affairs Officer, has been at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool this week. Armed with a briefing document setting out our key lobbying asks he has been enlisting the support of MPs and seeking assurances that they will continue to engage with us and our campaign for change.
Shadow Minister for Disability Vicky Foxcroft (pictured with Thomas) was happy to read a fact sheet from us and agreed to a meeting with Thomas once the conference was over. Thomas met Vicky at a fringe event – ‘Disabled Britain: Doing it for Ourselves’ where he also spoke with disability advocates about a recent opinion piece in The Guardian by Dominic Santangelo.
Dominic is the father of two children with a brain cancer diagnosis. What is rarely talked about is the incompatibilities of a childhood cancer, such as a brain tumour, with normal everyday life; parents can lose the ability to work, family income is lost, so much time is spent accessing treatments, relationships dissolve, careers end and mental health is impacted. These are real issues that politicians and policy makers must be prepared to tackle.
Thomas also met with Karin Smyth MP who is currently standing in for Liz Kendall as Shadow Minister for Social Care. The pair discussed Research and Development (R & D) and Karin said that this country really needs to focus on life sciences to retain its lead in the field. R & D, according to the Shadow Minister, is “a huge driver of the economy and it is crucial to have an understanding about disease and disease impact.”
We completely agree and look forward to talking more with Karin, and Vicki, when politicians return to Westminster.
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