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Dementia Sufferers

I start by paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Jeremy Wright), who, along with the Alzheimer's Society, got the all-party group on dementia off the ground. I also pay tribute to the Alzheimer's Society for its lobbying. As Members of Parliament, we are constantly lobbied by organisations, but the society has been significantly more effective than many others. The all-party group will become a crucial tool not only in raising awareness, but perhaps in bringing about a change in policy and bringing all political parties together to find some of the solutions to what is, at times, a difficult problem. I share my hon. Friend's surprise that such a group did not exist before, given that, as he has said, we have all-party groups on a number of subjects, including table tennis. The fact that we did not have a group on dementia is remarkable, given that 700,000 people suffer from some sort of dementia. One reason for that is that this is a difficult issue.