The minister's comments came during a Westminster debate led by the Lib Dems yesterday.

Kinnock said: ‘We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and this Government's wider health mission should be.'

The minister said the cancer strategy would be published after the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan in spring 2025.

‘The sequencing is important; it is best to set the strategic framework through the 10-Year Plan, and then a stand-alone cancer plan will flow from that,' Kinnock said, adding he had heard the message from MPs ‘loud and clear' on the need for a strategy.

Liberal Democrat MP for Wokingham, Clive Jones said: ‘Receiving a cancer diagnosis is one of the most devastating and shocking moments a person can experience.

‘That is why it is welcome that the Government has listened to the Liberal Democrats and will bring forward a National Cancer Plan to look at these issues.

‘The Government should begin work on this plan immediately and include the Liberal Democrat call for cancer patients to have a legal guarantee to start treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral.'