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Sunbeds (Regulation) Bill

I rise to support my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) and his new clause 1, which seems to be an excellent way of protecting the public and ensuring that we comply with European standards. I have not used a sunbed for more than 40 years. Indeed, the reason why I have such red skin is not that I sit under sunbeds. I am interested in the subject because I was prescribed sunlamp treatment—we did not really have sunbeds 40 years ago—when I was under 18 years old. I have always suffered from various skin diseases, and I suffer from rosacea now, but when I was under 18 I was advised to sit under what would now be considered very old-fashioned and, I think, very primitive sunlamps. I remember that I wore some horrible black goggles, and that horrible lamp was boring rays into me. The whole thing was completely unregulated. There was no proper advice; one just went to a local shop and bought the machine, and I was under the impression that it would solve the skin ailments about which I felt more embarrassed at 17 and 18 than I would now. Since then I have suffered from skin cancers, which have had to be removed. Luckily they have not been particularly serious, but I have always thought that the very powerful sunlamp treatment that I was given, without any proper medical advice more than 40 years ago when I was under 18, was probably a very serious mistake indeed, and not something that a fair-skinned person in a northern temperate climate should undergo. I am not antagonistic towards sunbeds, because everyone is different and entitled to their life, but unless people are very careful, particularly when they are young, sunbeds can be quite dangerous. A couple of years ago I was sitting with my father-in-law in a local restaurant in Lincoln, and we noticed that he was scratching on the back of his leg a spot that was bleeding badly. We said that we should really do something about that, and he had not bothered, of course. He took himself off to the doctor, however, and it turned out that my father-in-law was six months away from death: the spot was a melanoma. The medical staff had to remove all his lymph glands; it was a very serious condition; and they reckon that it had arisen just from some sun—probably not a sunbed or anything like that—that he had received 40 or 50 years before. That was the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) made: people just do not realise that these conditions can be very dangerous, but that they can arise 40 or 50 years later. So anything that educates the public about the risk of sunlamps or sunbeds, and anything that ensures the greater protection of children, is a good thing. I am therefore glad that in dealing with clause 3, entitled "Exemption for medical treatment", my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch has made it absolutely clear that his new clause is only a probing amendment. Indeed, with medical knowledge being much more advanced now than when I was under 18, it may be appropriate for under-18s to undergo sunbed or sunlamp treatment. Generally, I think the Bill is probably a good thing. It is unlikely to become law, but at least it raises the relevant issues and makes people more aware of what is going on. I very much hope, however, that the Government and the promoter of the Bill, the hon. Member for Cardiff, North (Julie Morgan), will feel able to accept new clause 1. We would then be able to protect all the public, not just children.