100 MPs are needed to vote on the 6th of November. Please ask your MP to support.
The MS Society have put together a really easy form. You just need to put your name and address in and they do it all for you. Takes a minute of your time max and could make a huge difference to all of us will illnesses, not just MS.
Well said HUMBUG!!
Everybody with MS, friends, family, carers should use the very simple link below to email their MP to get them to stay in Parliament to vote for the Off Patent Drugs bill this Friday 6th November.
Last year for the same bill less than 40 MPs could be bothered to stay for the vote, clearly very few care about us.
If we donât make a noise they will carry on ignoring us.
Itâs up to YOU.
The bill made the BBC news in Wales yesterday with the Labour MP for Torfaen supporting it. I think he may have had a few mesages in his inbox
I have emailed my MP (Stephen Doughty - Labour Cardiff South and Penarth) but all I had in reply was an automated response so I am not sure whether he will be attending. Shame on him if he doesnât - but, mind you, quite a safe seat here so we didnât even het a Labour Leaflet through the door at the General Election.
Glad that at least 1 Welsh MP has realised that voting on this is important for people in Wales even though the NHS is a devolved matter and, normally, Health matters are the responsibility of the Welsh Government.
Hope that the Scottish MPs have realised the relevance of this bill too so a big shout out to forum members in Wales and Scotland of the need for extra reminders for their honourable members.
Iâve just mailed my MP - this is the third time, and I still havenât had a reply, so Iâm just hoping she turns up and votes.
Well, finally got a reply from my MP.
Kate Green MP (Labour) for Stretford and Urmston will not be in Parliament on Friday 6th November for the vote, due to âconstituency commitmentsâ. So her constituents will have no representation for the vote.
Dave.
I had a reply from my MP.
Roberta Blackman-Woods MP ( Labour ) for City of Durham is not sure if she will be able to attend but hopes to be there, if at all possible.
Neil
Iâve not had a reply from my MP. But anyone whoâs not yet lobbied their MP, the vote is tomorrow. Maybe worth a last ditch try?
Sue
Mine has not replied :-(. Iâm not feeling hopefull.
I emailed our me and yes she will vote and the reply states that most off them will vote the right way
1 Like
Finally got a response from my MP- he is not attending (boo ) but he did point out something very interesting, THE BILL MIGHT NOT ACTUALLY GET DEBATED TODAY ANYWAY!!!
He wrote: (my emphasis)
" As you know the Private Membersâ Bill - the Off-Patent Drugs Bill - introduced by my friend and colleague Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, is scheduled for Second Reading on Friday 6th November 2015, although it will depend on the progress of other legislation ahead in the âqueueâ. It would require the UK Government to seek licences for such off-patent drugs and therefore improve access to low-cost treatments for a range of conditions.
Unfortunately I canât attend the Commons that day (if it is debated that day) due to a longstanding commitment - but will certainly take a keen interest in the Bill if it progresses further in the Commons - this is just the first stage in the process - and will be speaking to Nick directly about his plans to take forward this campaign."
I donât know how many other Private Members Bills are up for debate today so we may not get any progress at all - I know that Private Members Bills donât have a high rate of success in becoming law. Still got my fingers crossed though.
Got a letter today from my MP.
Very polite but forgot to answer the question of whether he will be there.
pretty much standard party reply.
at least it was 2nd class post to save costs.
neil
At least you got a response - he was bang on too 
What a waste of time. I kept tweeting my MP who replied âwrite to me and I will write backâ. I had emailed her. I didnât need a letter after all, I needed her to vote.
I would like to thank everybody who emailed their MP and also all the MPs who attended the debate until it ran out of time. We had right on our side but when political parties are bankrolled by big business the interests of the people come second.
Dave.
Absolutely shocking government behaviour - tell the full story and shame the guilty ones who let the bill be talked out. Disgusting.
1 Like
It is not like me to support Tory MPs but it should be pointed out that a lot of MPs from all different parties (including the Conservatives) DID attend to support the Bill. In fact, it shouldnât be forgotten that the original version of this Bill was put forward in 2014 by a Tory MP who lost his seat in 2015. The obstruction came from the Ministers not from ordinary MPs.
The Hansard report of the debate (if you could call it a debate) is very interesting. Debate on the Bill starts about half way down at 1.8 pm (Column 1289). It is interesting to see the number of medically qualified MPs contributing (all in favour). Against this the lone Ministerâs objections are exactly that - LONE! He doesnât raise a single positive argument against the Bill or - to be honest - any argument at all. Just waffle.
The good news, however, is that there is a further debate on 4th December. Get your lobbying shoes on again boys and girls - this could be a very embarrassing situation for the Government with enough publicity behind it. Not a Party Political one but a question of right versus wrong.
1 Like
Good post Boblatina, What is this debate on 4th December exactly, is it another go at the same bill? I just clicked on the link above and it said campaign closed, so we need a new link to a new campaign?
Dave
As I understand it (and I may be wrong), the Bill is still live because it never got to a vote (despite lots of attempts by MPs to force the Minister to shut up so the vote could take place) . It is next due to be debated on 4th December BUT it will have to take its chances with the rest of the Private Members Bills that are in the queue with it so it might not get its chance.
In my view, this question is still something that needs to be raised with MPs. Even the Minister was aware of how much opposition his stance was attracting and what a negative light it put the Government in.
The very last bit of the debate before the clock ran out is - possibly - interesting. Is the Government genuinely looking at real ways to deal with the problem or not? Or is this just Burt throwing a non-existent bone to the House? (My underlining points) I have to say that I was shocked at how little the Minister actually knew about how prescribing âoff listâ was carried out and the risks that it presented to Doctors who did prescribe off-list.
Obviously, this all went to **** on Friday afternoon so there has been little time for the organisations involved to work out their next move.
If it was my campaign I would continue to lobby and publicise this stupid situation. It has already made the general news media rather than just that involving the âdisabled communityâ so it has the potential to generate some traction. An interesting angle for the media to pursue would be that the Government is so nasty and venal that even its own MPs are against it on this!
A lot of chatter on the net about how this is an example of Governments being in the pocket of âBig Pharmaâ. I do not, necessarily believe that this is the case here but there was a recent story about a massive price hike on a very important - but old amd cheap - drug used with people with HIV/Aids that resulted in change of tactic by the licence holder after bad publicity. This is not the same - of course - but it is sufficiently similar to benefit from that story possibly?
Obviously, this all went to **** on Friday afternoon so there has been little time for the organisations involved to work out their next move.
If it was my campaign I would continue to lobby and publicise this stupid situation. It has already made the general news media rather than just that involving the âdisabled communityâ so it has the potential to generate some traction. An interesting angle for the media to pursue would be that the Government is so nasty and venal that even its own MPs are against it on this!
A lot of chatter on the net about how this is an example of Governments being in the pocket of âBig Pharmaâ. I do not, necessarily believe that this is the case here but there was a recent story about a massive price hike on a very important - but old amd cheap - drug used with people with HIV/Aids that resulted in change of tactic by the licence holder after bad publicity. This is not the same - of course - but it is sufficiently similar to benefit from that story possibly?