The prime minister has once again stressed that he believes the MMR vaccine is safe and has strongly hinted that his son Leo has had the jab.

Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Tony Blair dismissed claims that the vaccine was linked to autism as "scare mongering". He said proposals for three separate vaccines could put children's lives at risk.

Forum Response: Medical Research Council

A spokesperson for the Medical Research Council told ePolitix.com: "The MRC has conducted three separate reviews of the MMR vaccine. Each review found no evidence of a link between the vaccine and autism. We believe that there must now be greater research into autism itself in order to facilitate greater understanding of this illness."

Forum Response: Royal College of Nursing

Dr Beverly Malone, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing told ePolitix.com: "The scientific evidence is clearly supportive of MMR. Our responsibility as health professionals is to encourage parents to have their children immunised based on this evidence. Nurses are in a unique position to do this because they are the ones who most frequently give the injections. MMR is about wider public health issues. A decision not to have MMR canaffect other children, pregnant women and the public at large."