PODCAST: On the Marie Curie Couch with David Lammy

British Labour Party politician David Lammy has been the MP for Tottenham for 20 years. Once a practising barrister, David wrote the influential Lammy Review, which looked at the treatment of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people in the criminal justice system. He was born and brought up in his constituency, and still lives there with his wife and their three children. In this episode of On the Marie Curie Couch, David opens up about the death of his much loved and missed mother, Rose.

“I remember the call. I was in the car on the way to deliver a speech, it was quite a big speech. I was Culture Minister at the time, under Tony Blair, and my sister was with my mother. They said that she had a lump the size of a melon in her stomach and it was ovarian cancer.

“I delivered the speech, but I was really thrown. I had to be a rock for my mum. She’d been a rock for me and I made the decision at that point that I would attend every single hospital appointment with her, every single chemo appointment, help her navigate the NHS. My mum was a single mum, so it was tough.”

“My mother said, ‘Look, you either die from the head down or the feet up and I’m dying from the feet up, which means that I’m still here, right to the end.’ It’s only when you’ve been with loved ones with Alzheimer’s or some cancers where you haven’t been able to connect with them in quite that way that you realise how special it is that they’re there with you right up until the last.

Tap the link near the top of this page to listen to David’s chat with Jason. Alternatively, listen to or download it via Alternatively, listen to or download it via Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd prefer, you can read a full transcript of the episode. Be sure to like and subscribe so you know when we’ve uploaded a new episode – there are more conversations coming soon.