A Labour MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on cancer said last night that he had been "naive" to get involved with Cancer United, a pan-European campaign mired in controversy over drug company sponsorship.
Ian Gibson, a former chair of the science and technology select committee, was invited to be filmed for the launch of the campaign during the Labour conference in Manchester.
"They had taken rooms in a hotel," he said. "They invited people to come and say some positive things about the issue on camera.
I said who had they got and they said they had other celebrities, like Alastair Campbell (pic)."
Mr Campbell, the prime minister's former spokesman, said he was "upset" he had become involved.
Dr Gibson said he understood the campaign was about equal access to cancer treatment across Europe, but he did not know the sole funder was Roche, the world's biggest manufacturer of cancer drugs, until the Guardian revealed it on Wednesday.
The campaign's secretariat is Weber Shandwick, Roche's PR company in Brussels, and a senior Roche official sits on the campaign's executive board.
Mr Campbell, the former Downing Street press secretary, recorded an interview in support of the campaign when he was approached several months ago.
"I thought it was a European Union campaign on cancer awareness," said Mr Campbell, a long-standing supporter of research in the fight against leukaemia.
"I'm more upset because I thought I had an agreement I would be able to use it to promote work on leukaemia research but that appears not to be the case."
Ian Gibson, a former chair of the science and technology select committee, was invited to be filmed for the launch of the campaign during the Labour conference in Manchester.
"They had taken rooms in a hotel," he said. "They invited people to come and say some positive things about the issue on camera.
I said who had they got and they said they had other celebrities, like Alastair Campbell (pic)."
Mr Campbell, the prime minister's former spokesman, said he was "upset" he had become involved.
Dr Gibson said he understood the campaign was about equal access to cancer treatment across Europe, but he did not know the sole funder was Roche, the world's biggest manufacturer of cancer drugs, until the Guardian revealed it on Wednesday.
The campaign's secretariat is Weber Shandwick, Roche's PR company in Brussels, and a senior Roche official sits on the campaign's executive board.
Mr Campbell, the former Downing Street press secretary, recorded an interview in support of the campaign when he was approached several months ago.
"I thought it was a European Union campaign on cancer awareness," said Mr Campbell, a long-standing supporter of research in the fight against leukaemia.
"I'm more upset because I thought I had an agreement I would be able to use it to promote work on leukaemia research but that appears not to be the case."
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