It wasn’t as if he didn’t have reason to raise this issue; indeed, it directly affected at least one family in his own constituency, and he was fairly sure he’d be able to find out quickly if there were any more people whose lives were touched by it in his area. And he already had a clutch of paperwork and research materials that had been given to him as a starting point.

And, a small voice, which he quietly hushed inside his head, added, it will really impress Holly if you do this.

That, of course, wasn’t his reason for thinking this way, at all. But, he thought, with a flush of excitement, it couldn’t hurt.

But he needed to sit in on the committee first; after all, if there were already developments there, it might render tabling an Adjournment Debate on the issue redundant and make him look behind the curve. Or like some overenthusiastic idiot who didn’t know what he was talking about. This early on in his parliamentary career, he couldn’t afford to make that kind of mistake.

Plenty of time for that later, he thought wryly. Several of the more infamous soundbites from his colleagues on both benches sprang to mind.

When Tuesday dawned, Charlie ensured he got to the committee room early, bagged a good seat and prepared to absorb some information. If things worked out as he hoped, he’d be well briefed by the end of the afternoon.

After two hours of listening to the testimony of doctors, an adult cystic fibrosis patient and various representatives of charities and research organisations, Charlie felt both hugely moved and far better informed. There seemed little doubt that the drug Rachel and Holly had been campaigning so hard for would, hopefully, make a huge difference to many CF patients’ lives, hopefully including little Harry. So why wasn’t this being taken forward by the NHS?

Charlie returned to his office and thought carefully. After a little while, he drafted an email to his agent back in Willowbury. Tom was a fount of information about how best to proceed, and Charlie was confident that he’d know the best approach to take.