Shadow Ministers meet campaigners ahead of vigils outside DSIT and Number 10 Downing Street, urging Labour to honour Conservative commitment to fund basic research into invasive lobular carcinoma
Yesterday morning Julia Lopez MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Stuart Andrew MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, hosted the Lobular Moon Shot Project to reiterate their support for the campaign’s call for dedicated Government funding for basic science research into invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), the second most common form of breast cancer in the United Kingdom.
The meeting was attended by Tristan Loraine, whose wife Susan Michaelis founded the project before losing her own life to ILC, the former Conservative MP Dehenna Davison, as patron for the project, alongside Sharon and Sarah Tyrrell who are currently undergoing treatment for ILC.
Shortly before the 2024 General Election, the then Conservative Health Secretary, the Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP, committed to providing the funding campaigners had asked for. Since taking office, the Labour Government has reneged on that commitment, telling the House it supports the campaign “in principle”, while refusing to commit the £20m in funding needed. The Shadow Ministers are today calling on Ministers to grip this issue, honour the commitment government made in 2024, and direct the research agencies to act.
The meeting took place ahead of vigils held later today by campaigners, patients and families outside the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Number 10 Downing Street, where supporters will stand together in silence for 22 minutes, commemorating the 22 women diagnosed with ILC on average each day.
Invasive lobular carcinoma is biologically distinct from the more common ductal breast cancers, is harder to detect on standard mammography, and does not respond in the same way to existing treatments. Yet, there is no dedicated research programme into the fundamental biology of the disease. The Lobular Moon Shot Project seeks to address this with a research proposal headed by the Manchester Breast Centre, backed by 464 MPs from across the House of Commons, making it one of the largest cross-party campaigns of this Parliament.
Julia Lopez MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, said:
“The previous Conservative Government accepted the case for dedicated basic research into ILC and committed the funding. Despite a clear cross-party consensus on this issue, Labour Ministers are bouncing it between departments instead of delivering.
“Ministers keep telling the House they support the campaign in principle. So let's see them grip it, cut through the red tape and commence this research for the benefit of women and their families across the country.”
Stuart Andrew MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said:
“Every day that passes without dedicated funding is a day that families lose to a disease we are choosing not to understand. 464 MPs from across this House have backed this campaign, and the last Conservative Government was ready to act. It is unconscionable that Labour has walked away.
“Ministers must stop hiding behind warm words. Instruct the research agencies, release the funding, and give patients, clinicians and scientists the tools they need.”
Tristan Loraine, Lobular Moon Shot Project, said:
“Every opposition political party supports the Lobular Moon Shot Project, all that is preventing us launching this vital research project and saving lives is leadership. A 2025 Merlin Strategy poll revealed that nearly 9 in 10 (86%) of Labour 2024 voters support the government funding a £20 million study to research lobular breast cancer so why don’t they act? We need someone with leadership in the Government to say: “We will fund the Lobular Moon Shot Project” just like Kennedy said “We choose to go to the moon.” Can someone in Government please provide that leadership.
Dehenna Davison, Lobular Moon Shot Project, said:
“We have known about lobular breast cancer for decades, yet women living with it are still being denied their fair share of research funding and a fair chance of new, dedicated treatments. I helped launch this campaign after sitting down with my constituent Katie and hearing first-hand what this diagnosis has meant for her life, and for her family. MPs across the House are hearing the same stories - the same fear, the same frustration at being ignored, the same hope that something can be done. The Government knows this. It’s time they acted.”
