1,000 WOMEN A DAY, 469 MPs, 17 OPPOSITION PARTIES – WILL THE PRIME MINISTER ACT ON WEDNESDAY?

Silent vigil opposite Downing Street to coincide with Andy Burnham’s second PMQs as campaigners ask him to turn unprecedented political support into a £20m research programme

Sunday 7 September 2026 | London

A silent vigil opposite Downing Street on Wednesday morning will call on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to turn extraordinary cross-party support for invasive lobular breast cancer research into action, as campaigners hope the issue will be raised during his second Prime Minister’s Questions.

The Lobular Moon Shot Project vigil will take place in Whitehall, opposite Downing Street, from 10:38am until 11:00am on Wednesday 9 September. The 22-minute silence represents the approximately 22 women diagnosed with invasive lobular breast cancer in the UK every day.

The event is also scheduled to be filmed from the air by helicopter over central London, subject to operational permissions, creating a striking visual record of a potentially pivotal day for the campaign.

It comes eight days after a remarkable three-page joint letter was delivered to 10 Downing Street on 1 September, signed by leaders and senior representatives of all 17 UK opposition political parties. The letter asks the Prime Minister to enable a £20 million, five-year Lobular Moon Shot Project research programme, subject to appropriate scientific proposals, independent peer review and governance.

The letter itself recorded 466 supporting MPs when it was finalised. Since then, the campaign’s current count has risen to 469 MPs.

THE WOMAN AT THE HEART OF THE LETTER: DR SUSAN MICHAELIS BCA(hon)

The political letter is not simply about funding. It repeatedly brings the Prime Minister back to the woman who helped create the campaign: the late Dr Susan Michaelis BCA(hon), who co-founded the Lobular Moon Shot Project with her husband, Tristan Loraine, in 2023 after her own experience of invasive lobular breast cancer.

Susan campaigned while living with terminal stage-four invasive lobular breast cancer. She knew that the research she was fighting for was unlikely to come in time to save her, but continued because she wanted the women diagnosed after her to have something she never had: research and treatments designed around the distinct biology of their disease.

The opposition leaders have not forgotten her. Their joint letter specifically tells the Prime Minister that Susan had previously met Andy Burnham on a Zoom call, that she campaigned while terminally ill, and that she fought for the many women who would come after her. The letter later makes clear that political parties should not claim the credit for any success.

For the campaign, Wednesday therefore carries a deeply personal as well as political significance: it is about whether the extraordinary consensus Susan helped build can finally be converted into the research programme she spent the final years of her life trying to secure.

1,000 PEOPLE A DAY - AND STILL NO DISEASE-SPECIFIC TREATMENT

Approximately 1,000 people around the world are diagnosed with invasive lobular breast cancer every day. Around 22 women each day in the UK receive the diagnosis.

Despite being the second most common form of breast cancer, there remains no treatment specifically designed for its distinct biology. The Lobular Moon Shot Project, which is now the most bipartisan politically supported campaign in modern British history, is seeking £20 million over five years for a dedicated discovery-science research programme intended to improve understanding of the disease and ultimately support better diagnosis, treatment and outcomes.

A PRIME MINISTER WHO HAS ALREADY BACKED THE PROJECT

The political situation is unusual because Andy Burnham has previously and publicly backed the Lobular Moon Shot Project. While Mayor of Greater Manchester, his office said he was “proud to back the Lobular Moon Shot Project” and, in relation to the lack of dedicated treatments and funding, said: “That has to change.”

The campaign is therefore asking the Prime Minister to turn support he expressed before entering Downing Street into a practical Government funding route now that he is in a position to act.

“CANCER IS NOT PARTY-POLITICAL”

The 1 September letter is deliberately non-party-political. Leaders who disagree profoundly on many other issues have united behind the same request and made clear that, if the Government enables the programme to proceed, it will have their united support.

THE QUESTION CAMPAIGNERS WANT ASKED AT PMQs

Campaigners hope an MP will raise the letter directly with the Prime Minister during Wednesday’s PMQs and ask what his Government now intends to do.

TRISTAN LORAINE: “THIS IS THE MOMENT TO TURN CONSENSUS INTO ACTION”

Lobular Moon Shot Project co-founder Tristan Loraine said:

MEDIA / PICTURE OPPORTUNITY - WEDNESDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

MEDIA CONTACT

Captain Tristan Loraine BCAi
Co-founder / Project Manager, Lobular Moon Shot Project
Tel: 07968 213862
Email: [email protected]
Website: lobularmoonshot.org

The fully signed three-page joint letter delivered to Prime Minister Andy Burnham on 1 September 2026 is available on our website and here:

https://www.lobularmoonshot.org/_files/ugd/3e3e4e_5a8beda5333f4608925d9d88b5278194.pdf

ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS

• The Lobular Moon Shot Project is campaigning for a £20 million, five-year discovery-science research programme into the fundamental biology of invasive lobular breast cancer.

• The proposed programme would remain subject to appropriate scientific proposals, independent peer review and governance.

• The joint letter delivered on 1 September states that invasive lobular breast cancer is the second most common form of breast cancer, with around 22 women diagnosed every day in the UK, and that there remains no treatment specifically designed for its distinct biology.

• The letter explicitly recognises Dr Susan Michaelis BCA(hon), who co-founded the campaign and continued to campaign while living with terminal stage-four invasive lobular breast cancer.

• The campaign’s current count is 469 supporting MPs; the signed letter recorded 466 MPs at the time it was finalised.