MP's sun bed bill passes hurdle

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A Welsh MP's bid to ban sunbeds in tanning salons for the under-18s has passed its latest parliamentary hurdle.

Despite some dissent, Cardiff North MP Julie Morgan's private members' bill in the Commons got through its second reading without a vote.

The bill's supporters include Health Secretary Andy Burnham and Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts.

The bill moves onto detailed scrutiny at committee with Ms Morgan cautiously optimistic it will become law.

However, the looming general election means that she will need the help of the Government to get enough parliamentary time to get it through.

It also needs to pass through the House of Lords, and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff has said she will take it on there.

Singer Nicola Roberts helped launch the bill at the Commons

The MP also said that she has been heartened by the support from many quarters, and that Danielle Lineker, wife of BBC presenter Gary Lineker, from Cardiff, had come to the Commons to show her support.

Nicola Roberts, 24, of Girls Aloud spoke at the launch of the bill earlier this month.

She said unless politicians went to the streets in working class areas and they wouldn't understand the "unbelievable pressure" on young girls and women about how they looked.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham said the scientific evidence of harm to skin and the link to skin cancer was clear.

If it becomes law, the bill will affect Wales and England, as Scotland already has a law banning under-18s from using sunbeds in place.