Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Before we get on to the meat of the amendment, I want us to focus on the real enemy here, and that is cancer, which affects everyone, regardless of race, creed or religion. Macmillan Cancer Support estimates that cancer kills 167,000 people throughout the United Kingdom every year. That is a colossal death toll. In proposing our amendment, we fully recognise that there is clearly work to be done across all jurisdictions in the British Isles: in Northern Ireland, on mainland Great Britain and in the Republic of Ireland. I hope that, on this subject, we can park the more political aspirations and, whatever our views, welcome cooperation across those jurisdictions in the fight against cancer. Our amendment, without doing damage to the original motion, simply includes the crucial east-west dimension with Great Britain. We firmly believe that cooperation and collaboration is the best way forward. In tabling this amendment, we also felt that we should not lose focus on global cooperation and the benefits that we get from being part of UK-wide structures and networks with global outreach.

Last week, at the Cancer Focus event, I had the opportunity to speak to Professor Mark Lawler, and we discussed some aspects of cooperation on cancer research. Professor Lawler impressed on me the importance of a cancer research strategy for Northern Ireland. Minister, I hope that you take cognisance of that. I know that that is suggested in the broader Northern Ireland cancer strategy, but, as the Queen's University briefing paper for this debate indicates, we need to see cancer research as a necessity and not a luxury that we can dispense with or do without. The cancer strategy proposes implementing the recommendations of the oncology service transformation project and extending acute oncology services throughout the weekend. Those are practical things that we can do fairly simply. The strategy also supports increasing the per capita spend on cancer research and the number of Northern Ireland patients participating in clinical trials and receiving access to novel therapeutic agents and techniques. It recognises that we cannot offer every service that we might wish to offer in Northern Ireland and that patients will sometimes need to travel for more specialist services. Sadly, that can too often be the case for children's oncology services.

As the proposer of the motion said, one in two people will develop cancer during their lifetime. That is a frightening statistic. While there are huge opportunities, North and South, the battle against cancer is a worldwide one. Our experts need to share and collaborate with their colleagues and counterparts throughout the world. For an issue in which research and innovation are so critical, in Northern Ireland, we benefit from access to the very best academic institutions. We are fortunate that, in the United Kingdom, our universities regularly feature in the lists of the top 10 universities in the world. Northern Ireland is part of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC), a partnership of the main stakeholders that fund clinical research in the United Kingdom.

In tabling the amendment, we want to recognise that we share research on the complexity of cancer across all tumour sites not just north and south of the border but throughout the United Kingdom and, indeed, the world. We should also recognise that Northern Ireland is recognised internationally for the quality of cancer research here, which translates into better care for cancer patients delivered through the Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at Queen's University. Cancer research at Queen's has led to a number of breakthrough treatments, including the DNA sequencing of tumours of 70% of all Northern Ireland cancer patients, which enables novel cancer therapies to be more available to more than 4,000 cancer patients a year in Northern Ireland. The breakthrough treatments include practice-changing radiotherapy trials, including one that reduced the number of radiotherapy cycles needed to treat prostate cancer from 39 to five. That means not only much greater convenience for patients but considerable savings in time and funding for the NHS. Such treatments are exceptional in such a small place as Northern Ireland.

We should not forget the development of the future medicines institute initiative, a joint vision of the Northern Ireland Precision Biomarkers and Therapeutics Consortium, which is a group involving industry and our universities. Through that, we can develop new technologies, drive productivity and de-risk research and development efforts through collaborative working and the sharing of technologies and resources. Under the planned model, the future medicines institute will operate as a research hotel that allows companies to gain rapid access to shared resources. The Belfast region city deal represents a timely and neat fit with that kind of visionary work. In Northern Ireland, companies are also able to tap into a wealth of experience from academics to get better access to biobanks, product development or analysis and to equip researchers with future skills. The overall goal is to generate new therapies and diagnostics through an integrated pipeline.

To conclude, we have to recognise that cancer knows no boundaries, be they social, political or geographic, and that the world of research is getting increasingly smaller with greater collaboration across the world. As one who, for many years, was involved with the Horizon project — from my time in the European Parliament — I understand the benefits of research on a global scale as well as research, North and South, and within the United Kingdom. In commending the amendment to the House, I hope that Members will recognise that the intention is not to damage the motion but to widen it and give voice to all the types of collaboration and research that we should be looking at in the fight against cancer.