On Europe Day, a leaked report has cast a grim shadow over the state of cancer care in the UK, with Brexit emerging as a key culprit in delaying access to vital treatments and cutting-edge drug trials.
The report, which has triggered deep concern across Scotland and beyond, reveals that red tape and spiralling costs brought on by the UK’s exit from the EU are derailing progress in cancer care.
Doctors are facing mounting barriers as they try to offer new life-saving treatments, with cancer patients paying the highest price.
Trials of the most promising medicines are being slowed or scrapped altogether, leaving families in limbo and patients without the care they urgently need.
The revelations come amid broader concerns about the lingering damage Brexit continues to inflict on daily life in Scotland.
Prices are rising as trade becomes more difficult, and Scottish exporters are burdened with tariffs and paperwork that threaten jobs and businesses.
Key sectors like farming and healthcare are struggling to recruit due to the end of freedom of movement, while our world-class universities are still reeling from the loss of EU research funding.
The EU’s Horizon programme has only been partially restored, leaving institutions in a patchwork of uncertainty.
Families now face longer border queues and higher travel costs on European holidays, with fewer rights when things go wrong abroad.
In rural areas once supported by EU development money, the UK’s replacement schemes are falling short, leaving communities feeling neglected and isolated.
Despite all this, both the Conservatives and Labour continue to back Brexit, with no sign of reversing course.
The SNP, by contrast, has repeated its call for Scotland to rejoin the EU, offering a route back to partnership, progress and prosperity.
Clare Haughey MSP has condemned the impact of Brexit on the NHS, calling it “utterly indefensible” that cancer patients are being denied life-saving care because of political decisions made in Westminster.
She warned that NHS staff are doing their best in “impossible circumstances,” working against a tide of red tape that is putting lives at risk.
“Brexit is not just a political error,” she said, “it is a slow-motion crisis.”
“It is making people poorer, isolating our NHS, harming Scottish businesses, and stealing opportunities from our young people.”
Ms Haughey reaffirmed the SNP’s position that independence is the only way to restore Scotland’s place in Europe and chart a better course for the future.
As the human cost of Brexit becomes ever clearer, the calls for change grow louder.
