Dawn Butler to take time off to recover following breast cancer diagnosis

Labour MP Dawn Butler has announced that she will be taking time off to recover after being diagnosed with breast cancer and has urged other women to attend their mammograms.

In a statement released this morning, the backbench Labour MP for Brent Central revealed that she had been diagnosed following a routine mammogram in early November.

Butler wrote: “Everything stood still as it does when you hear the dreaded C-word – it is a shock but an early diagnosis means that it is something that I will get through and over. The NHS has caught my cancer early, the operation was a complete success, and I will make a full recovery.”

She continued: “I now have to take time off work for my recovery. Everyone who knows me knows that I am a workaholic and I love what I do – but unless I listen to medical advice and recover well, I will not be able to give my best.”

Appearing on BBC Breakfast this morning, Butler urged other women to get their mammograms, stressing: “A mammogram save my life. Without a mammogram, my cancer wouldn’t have been discovered.”

She highlighted that one million women eligible for screening are yet to receive one because of delays relating to the coronavirus pandemic, adding that an estimated 9,000 women “are walking around with breast cancer and they don’t know it”.

She warned that there will be women who will die “needlessly” if they do not get checked. The NHS invites women for breast screening every three years between the ages of 50 and 71, with the first invite between the ages of 50 and 53.

Butler described the staff who performed her mastectomy as “superheroes” and said she had “made a promise to them that I’m not going to forget them”. She thanked them in her statement and highlighted the pressure on the NHS, saying that staff were “exhausted” and many were “suffering from PTSD”.

She added: “If we are to show our appreciation for the amazing NHS workers and rebuild our health service then we need to properly invest in the NHS, both structurally and in the very people who keep it functioning.”

Labour leader Keir Starmer tweeted in response to Butler’s statement: “Dawn, your bravery, strength and determination shine through. I am sorry you’re going through this, but know that I, and the whole party, are behind you.”