2026: Week 5 - Mandelson, Storms and Cancer Care
It has been a stormy week in Westminster. With the release of a large portion of the Epstein files came the news that Peter Mandelson had far closer ties to the disgraced financier than he had ever admitted to. Not only had Epstein given thousands of pounds to Mandelson’s partner (now husband), the most concerning revelations are that Mandelson sent sensitive government information to Epstein whilst he was a serving Minister.
This is an enormous scandal, we need answers from the Government as to how on earth Peter Mandelson was appointed ambassador to the US when his friendship with Epstein was known, and how he was able to leak sensitive information from the heart of the government undetected. Only a full public inquiry, with the ability to compel witnesses, can get to the truth and deliver justice for Epstein's victims.
It is not enough for Mandelson to resign as a Lord, the Government must continue with their plans for legislation which will enable him to be stripped of his peerage.
Meanwhile, the stormy weather has subsided somewhat in the UK, but we are still seeing prolonged spells of rain which is causing continued disruption across the constituency.
Among the problems we faced was further damage to the rail line at Dawlish and Teignmouth. This serves as another timely reminder that there must be no further delay to the fifth phase of the rail resilience project. I remain deeply concerned about the state of the cliffs between Dawlish and Teignmouth. This section was meant to be addressed as part of the fifth phase, but that work was shelved and is currently not being funded. With more rain expected in the coming days and weeks, these cliffs need close monitoring. We must hope we do not see another catastrophic cliff fall like the one in 2014, which led to the line being closed for eight weeks.
I will be raising the issue with the government to explore how our area can be supported for greater resilience in the event of future flooding. I will also be speaking to relevant bodies such as South West Water, the Environment Agency and Network Rail to ask what measures they are putting in place to ensure our infrastructure is strong and resilient in the face of future flooding.
Finally, this week the Government announced a new Cancer Plan. I have a particular interest in this due to recently losing a close family member to this devastating illness.
It is a step in the right direction, but the Liberal Democrats want it to go further and are calling for a guarantee that 100% of patients start treatment for cancer within 62 days from urgent referral, with this right written into law. This would be delivered through 200 extra staffed radiotherapy machines, new radiotherapy centres in underserved communities, and over 3,000 more cancer nurses to ensure everyone has a specialist supporting them.
Cancer services were left on their knees by the Conservatives, leaving thousands of cancer patients waiting dangerously long for the care they need. It shames Britain that people are dying on cancer waiting lists, after months or even a year of suffering without any treatment. Too many families' lives are being shattered due to a broken system. The Government must finally offer hope and end the tragedy of dangerous long waits or patients will never forgive them.