Our week in Westminster
With a new Prime Minister in place, we've been making sure the new Government know what support people with MS need. Join us as we look back at a busy week in UK Parliament.
Calling for more support to cope with the cost of living
On 17 November, the Chancellor of the Exchequer will set out the Government’s spending plans. These will include how people will be supported to cope with the increased cost of living. As part of our Breaking Point campaign, we’ve been calling for more financial support for disabled people and their carers. And to make sure all benefits are increased in line with inflation.
On Monday, we joined other charities to speak with Liz Kendall MP, the Shadow Minister for Social Care. We discussed the importance of making sure working-age disabled adults get more support from social care. We also discussed the additional funding the social care workforce needs.
Support for our campaign
We also met with Kate Osborne, MP for Jarrow. We spoke with Kate about our Breaking Point campaign and some of the delays people with MS face while accessing their neurological services. Kate agreed to help us secure a debate in parliament. This will allow us to explore the unequal access in support for people with neurological conditions.
On Thursday we held a roundtable with several MPs to discuss our ongoing campaign, Breaking Point. We were joined by Becky and Dean, who are living with MS, who spoke to MPs about how difficult it is managing some of the extra costs of MS.
MPs who attended included Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, Sir Stephen Timms, and former Work and Pensions Secretary, the Right Honourable Stephen Crabb. Both promised to speak up to help make sure people with MS get the support they need from the Government.
MS raised in Parliament as key Bills progress
We’re pleased that the Carer’s Leave Bill was supported by the Government and passed an important stage to becoming law.
During the debate, Wendy Chamberlain MP paid tribute to her constituent, Amy, who's living with MS. Amy’s husband was forced to leave work so he could care for her full-time.
If passed, the Bill will give unpaid carers the right to take up to one week’s unpaid leave.
Another Bill that will give employees the right to ask for flexible working hours from day one of being in a role has also advanced.
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill will mean an employer can decline this request only if there’s a credible business reason to do so.
We know many people with MS would like to stay in work for longer, but can’t because of unsupportive employers. Yasmin Quereshi MP spoke in Parliament about how her Bill may help people with MS and unpaid carers by giving them greater powers to demand support from employers.
Read more about working and MS
Both Bills will be debated by MPs in more detail later this year. If successful, both Bills will become legislation in April 2023.
The UK Government must do more
Sign our petition to call on the UK Government to urgently roll out a new cost of living package to support people with MS to survive the winter and beyond.
