A CLEVELAND MP this week launched a national campaign to put cancer on the national political agenda.

Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, posed outside his constituency office in Guisborough on Monday with giant pledgecards to support the Cancer Research Campaign's five key pledges.

These include matching charity funding for cancer pound for pound, reinforcing the need for a further 600 cancer specialists and 600 cancer nurses over the next three years and a guarantee of up-to-date cancer screening.

Professor Gordon McVie of the Cancer Research Campaign said: "These five points should be a priority and the Cancer Research Campaign pledges to the British people that we will urge politicians to ensure that they are top of the political agenda.

"The campaign is confident that cancer can be beaten by 2050 and we pledge to work tirelessly with Government and politicians to achieve this aim."

Dr Kumar said: "I am happy to support this important initiative. Four in ten Britons will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage in their lives. Defeating the disease should be a priority for any government.