Wes Streeting says his life was saved by a fry-up. “My mum had an appointment booked for an abortion,” he explains. “She decided she wasn’t going to go through with it but she knew she was going to come under enormous pressure from her mum and my dad, who wasn’t ready to be a father at the age of 17. There was a family consensus that an abortion was the right thing to do, so almost as an insurance against going through with it she cooked herself a full English breakfast. When my nan came in and said, ‘It’s time to go,’ she said, ‘I can’t, they told me I shouldn’t have anything for breakfast on the day of the procedure.’ It was an extraordinary
INTERVIEW
Wes Streeting: I was going to be aborted. Mum said no
The Labour MP grew up in poverty but his mother was determined he would have a different life. Now, he’s in the shadow cabinet. By Rachel Sylvester
The shadow health secretary Wes Streeting
KATIE WILSON FOR THE TIMES
The Times
