MPs who voted for ESA cuts are on the APPG for ME.

[Madeline]

Hello everyone,
This list:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...s-vote-tories-iain-duncan-smith-a6918556.html
is in the Independent, and it is a list of all MPs who voted for the ESA cuts, twice returned from the Lords, and forced through last week.

Several of the MPs, including Jacob Rees Mogg, are members the APPG for ME.
I don't believe that they should be, and I think the MEA and Action for ME should ask them to stand down.
If you agree, email the charities and tell them so.

Several other charities have taken forceful action over this, I think ME charities should too.

There is a petition:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/124016

which has already triggered a debate of the ESA cuts in Parliament. More signatures add weight to the opposition, so please sign if you want to stop the cuts.

The issue will be debated again, so we do have a chance to make a difference. Write to your MP, and if they voted yes to the cuts, ask them to justify their vote. Just a sentence from you is all you need to write.

 

[Yogi]

Hi Madeline,

Thanks for posting this. I saw that Bottomley and Reese-Mogg voted for cuts in the Independent a few days ago but forgot to mention it here. Cheers for doing so .

It appears Tami did not.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmallparty/register/myalgic-encephalomyelitis-me.htm

http://www.meassociation.org.uk/201...-me-now-officially-re-registered-8-july-2015/


It does not bode well for the APPG. The APPG has not done anything since last May it appears.

If they did good work for ME via the APPG I would be very reluctant to ask them to resign. However it is unclear what they have done since.

Any updates on APPG?

Also the other tories were patrons of charities such as Millionaire Goldsmith who is trying to be London mayor.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-pip-patron-sacked-richmond-aid-a6936671.html

Given we in the ME community are more marginalised and stigmatised than other disability groups we need to be careful about what action is taken. Just remember that the Scottish Parliament CPPG folded after no other MPs took on the CPPG. The APPG could be very useful this year given the pressure on the PACE trial and it possibly being retracted.

 

[Large Donner]

Good catch @Madeline

 

[charles shepherd]

People from the UK on PR should already be aware of the fact that:

1 It is not easy getting MPs and members of the House of Lords to join the APPG on ME

2 It is very difficult persuading MPs and members of the House of Lords to attend APPG on ME meetings at the House of Commons

3 It is almost impossible getting MPs and members of the House of Lords (with a few very notable exceptions - the Countess of Mar in particular) to take an active role in the work of APPG on ME by taking an officer position - Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary etc - and asking parliamentary questions (which the Countess of Mar does on a very regular basis)

Following the 2015 general election, when we lost all the key MP members of the APPG on ME due to retirement or loss of their seat, we had to start again from scratch and try to set up a new APPG on ME

It has not been easy - which is a considerable understatement

But we do now have an APPG on ME that functions - even at at fairly low level of activity

At the last APPG on ME meeting, which took place yesterday (17 March), the main item on the agenda was taking forward the report into lack of Social Care for people with ME/CFS - which I am sure most people appreciate is a major issue for people with severe ME/CFS

This report is a detailed and important contribution towards trying to improve Social Care for people with ME/CFS - including the much meeded training of social workers in relation to ME/CFS

The report requires publicity and the attention of key policy makers, including Directors of Social Services Departments - which an APPG on ME meeting in April is being organised to achieve

If people with ME/CFS want to risk an APPG on ME being unable continue to function because they do not agree with certain MPs being active members of the APPG, then this is something they are perfectly entitled to campaign on

However, it must be noted that the MEA, which forms part of the Secretariat to the APPG, is there to provide information and secretarial support

Decisions about membership and the work of the APPG are made by the MPs and members of the House of Lords

If constituents with ME/CFS feel that they do not want their MP to be a member of the APPG on ME then they can make this clear to him/her

It is NOT the role of the charity Secretariat to try and influence (or instruct) members of the APPG to resign because of their political beliefs

Where a politician is a Patron of a charity the situation is somewhat different and the MEA is very well aware of its role here

Dr Charles Shepherd
Hon Medical Adviser MEA

 

[jimells]

It sure would be nice to see a follow up to the Gibson Inquiry, especially an investigation into the conflicts of interest outlined in the report.

[There are] numerous cases where advisors to the DWP have also had consultancy roles in medical insurance companies. Particularly the Company UNUMProvident. Given the vested interest private medical insurance companies have in ensuring CFS/ME remain classified as a psychosocial illness there is blatant conflict of interest here.

This quote is as relevant today as when it was published ten years ago.

 

[Yogi]

Ian Duncan Smith resigns

Ha ha ha!!!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35848687

 

[Large Donner]

Mr Duncan Smith was praised by Tory MP and fellow Brexit campaigner Peter Bone, who said: "IDS has always been a man of conviction! Tonight, yet again he put the country first."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35848687

What a load of rubbish the man is jumping ship. He is the very person responsible for refusing FOI requests on how many people have died shortly after being declared fit for work by his department.

 

[Esther12]

Where a politician is a Patron of a charity the situation is somewhat different and the MEA is very well aware of its role here

Yes, their role on the APPG is very different to that of a charity patron.

Good to see charities starting to ask MPS to resign as patrons when they screw over the charities' cause.

 

[charles shepherd]

Ian Duncan Smith resigns from government over benefit cuts:

http://order-order.com/2016/03/18/fraser-nelson-contextualises-ids-exit/

 

[Yogi]

Ian Duncan Smith resigns from government over benefit cuts:

http://order-order.com/2016/03/18/fraser-nelson-contextualises-ids-exit/

Just listened to this few minutes before you posted. Huge ramifications for all welfare reform for years to come and Osborne as future Prime Minister. Not to mention EU Brexit.

All over the use of aids for disabled people to use the toilet or dress themselves! Taking money which represents a majority of disabled people's income was utterly immoral even for a Tory.

Karma exists!