View From The House - 1st December 2001

Reprinted From The Lichfield Mercury

There was a fascinating debate in the House of Commons last week. Fascinating because it crossed Party lines with my arguing against certain Labour MPs, but also against a number of Conservatives too including the redoubtable Ann Widdecombe! (Always a fearsome prospect.)

The debate was on cloning. One of the weaknesses of the House of Commons (and the House of Representatives too in Washington DC) is that so few Members have any knowledge of scientific matters. I am convinced that this had lead to the poor handling of the BSE and of the foot and mouth crises. The debate on cloning was not much better.

It is unfortunate that the word immediately conjures up images of identical twins, unnatural practices, and the film: ‘The Boys from Brazil’. But the debate on cloning on Thursday last week was not about ‘human cloning’: it was all about ‘therapeutic cloning’ which could lead to cures for heart diseases, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis amongst many others.

A couple of weeks ago some friends and I walked around Bletchley Park, visited Station X, and worked the Enigma machine which decoded so many of Hitler’s secret messages during the war. One of my pals had to inject himself with insulin during the visit. He has to inject himself twice a day and get the dosage right. If he doesn’t, he can go into a coma or, over time, develop blindness and other complications. Around 800,000 people are in the same boat in our country alone. What a prize then if by cloning, his pancreatic cells can be renewed and start making insulin again. What a prize if diabetes can be cured? We know what causes it, we know what needs to be done. I am convinced that if the research is permitted, it will just be a question of time. What I found particularly irritating was the number of MPs who held strong views on this subject without reading up any scientific research on it. So we heard time and time again that cloning is not necessary as adult stem cells can be used instead. No major medical research body – including the Royal College of Surgeons - takes this view. Adult stem cells neither grow well nor are they free of the problems that adulthood - or ageing - generates in the cell’s nucleus. But it was fascinating how a few totally unqualified MPs thought they know better than medical researchers. Oh, well.

Still, in the vote, 49 voted against and I and 287 others voted for. 318 abstained or couldn’t be bothered to vote. I believe that the MPs of all parties in my lobby (we walk through the ‘aye lobby’ – a room beside the Commons Chamber - to vote for a motion) were the enlightened ones! In generations to come, I believe that historians and those suffering from diabetes and other once incurable diseases will be shocked that so many abstained or voted against on this important area of medical research.