BBC star Tommy backs MPs

BBC One Line of Duty star, Tommy Jessop, has given his personal backing to the launch of the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Down Syndrome, which will be unveiled in Westminster later today.

A number of Down syndrome advocacy and support groups along with a cross-party group of MPs, led by Dr Lisa Cameron (SNP) and Labour’s Matt Western, have come together to launch the new group.

Going forward, it will raise issues affecting people with Down syndrome and their families and carers, as well as to campaign and promote equality and respect at all stages of life

‘I hope this will raise awareness of people living with Down syndrome and who we really are so that we really do have a voice to speak up for ourselves and other people,’ commented Jessop, who starred in the most recent series of the top cop show.

‘I want to see people with Down syndrome treated equally with others before and after they are born. We are the only group of people in the UK where people try to end our lives before we are born just because we have Down syndrome. This is not fair. It scars our lives and causes mental health problems.’

Issues the group will be seeking positive change on range from maternity care for parents expecting a baby with Down syndrome to the matter of premature death for people living with Down syndrome.

Heidi Crowter, who lives in Coventry and whose husband, James, has Down syndrome, added: ‘We hope that the members of the All-Party Group can use their powers and their energy to help make positive change for people like me and my husband.’