Schoolgirl to press MPs over diabetes research funding

A 10-year-old girl who suffers from type 1 diabetes is to take on MPs in an effort to secure more investment in diabetes research.
Emma Bailey, from Leigh Park, south east Hampshire, will travel to Westminster next month where she will meet with MPs and urge them to invest more money into finding ways to cure type 1 diabetes, which affects around 400,000 people across the UK.
The brave schoolgirl, who has been living with the autoimmune disease for most of her life, has been asked to speak at the House of Commons on behalf of the type 1 diabetes charity JDRF.
One of the MPs in attendance will be Havant MP David Willetts who Emma hopes to impress with her request for more funds.
She said: “I feel okay about it at the moment, I’m not too nervous. I’m not sure if the MPs we’ve invited will turn up to hear what I’ve got to say but I hope they do.
“Last time I went to parliament Mr Willetts only spoke to my mum so I’m going to put him on the spot this time and say ‘we want more funding’.”
JDRF chief executive Karen Addington said: “Type 1 diabetes doesn’t have to hold you back in life. But it is a very challenging condition to live with.
“The government must respond to increasing rates of Type 1 diabetes in the UK by investing more in research to treat, prevent and cure the condition. That’s why we’re taking our message to Westminster in March.”