Tessa Jowell is applauded & gets a standing ovation for her brave cancer speech

'I have such great hope': Brain tumour patient Tessa Jowell is applauded in the Lords as she returns to Parliament with plea to help people 'live well with cancer, not just die from it' Baroness Tessa Jowell won heartfelt applause in the House of Lords today as she returned to Parliament to plead for new cancer treatments. The Labour baroness delivered an emotional speech to peers in a rare appearance after she was suddenly struck with brain cancer last year. She said just 2 per cent of cancer funding was spent researching brain conditions and warned no drug breakthroughs had been made in 50 years. Despite the setbacks, Lady Jowell insisted she had great hopes for breakthroughs that help people 'live well' with cancer and not just die from it. Lady Jowell revealed how she had no symptoms before two 'powerful seizures' in a taxi last year. She was told two days later she had a brain tumour that was operated on a week later. As she ended her speech, peers on all sides of the House stood and applauded the 70-year-old Labour veteran. Tessa Jowell speech in full: Labour peer given roaring applause as she makes emotional plea for improvements in fighting cancerTessa Jowell was given a lengthy standing ovation in the House of Lords today, after she said she was "not afraid" of her aggressive brain cancer. The Labour peer and former minister used the speech to call for greater collaboration between hospitals in the fight against cancer. She also called for the use of 'adaptive trials' to be speeded up. She said: "Usually, drug trials test only one drug at a time, take years, and cost a fortune. "New adaptive trials can test many treatments at the same time. They speed up the process and save a lot of money." Baroness Jowell was flanked on either side by fellow Labour peers Steve Bassam and Charlie Falconer, who embraced her as she was given roaring applause.As well as the full house of members of the House of Lords, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt attended the speech and joined in the ovation. At the end of her speech, she quoted poet Seamus Heaney's last words: "Do not be afraid." She said: "I am not afraid, but I am fearful that this new and important approach may be put into the ‘too difficult’ box. But I also have such great hope."Lady Jowell, who has two children and three stepchildren - including the food blogger Deliciously Ella - did not have a single symptom before the tumour was found last May. In an emotionally-charged interview with the BBC yesterday, Lady Jowell said she is 'not afraid' of her illness despite her grim prognosis and is '100 per cent focused' on staying alive. Her cancer is very advanced and she stumbled over her words several times during the interview - telling the presenter, 'the tumour bloody well does this to you'. But she vowed to use whatever time she has left to push for NHS reform so cancer patients are given the right to take on the risk of undergoing different innovative treatments. Mohammed Shoman mohamed shoman