Wednesday 18 May 2011

Politicians pledge support in fight against muscle disease

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign has increased the number of parliamentary supporters in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

With the help of our supporters, over 50 candidates elected on 5 May from across all political parties have pledged to join the fight against muscle disease by signing up to the charity's ‘Manifesto for Muscle'.

Newly elected Assembly Members and Parliamentarians have pledged to join cross-party parliamentary groups on muscular dystrophy and lend their weight to our campaign for better access to specialist neuromuscular care in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Parliamentary and Campaigns Officer Jonathan Kingsley said:

With the support of the Northern Ireland Muscle Group, a new All Party Group for muscular dystrophy in the Northern Ireland Assembly will be launched this year. Following the success in securing NHS funding for the Northern Ireland Care Advisor post, improvements in other areas are still urgently required.

Cross Party Group activity will soon resume in the Scottish Parliament, where we will be pressing Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, to commit to the promises she made when addressing last year's Muscular Dystrophy Campaign Scottish Conference.

In the Welsh Assembly, we will be pressing the new Government to ensure that the needs of people with muscle disease are at the top of the political agenda.

Parliamentary supporters who have signed up to the 'Manifesto for Muscle' are:

Northern Ireland

Jonathan Bell, Democratic Unionist Party, Strangford
Stewart Dickson, Alliance Party, East Antrim
Gordon Dunne, Democratic Unionist Party, North Down
Alex Easton, Democratic Unionist Party, North Down
Stephen Farry, Alliance Party, North Down
Paul Givan, Democratic Unionist Party, Lagan Valley
Anna Lo, Alliance Party, Belfast South
Chris Lyttle, Alliance Party, East Belfast
Jennifer McCann, Sinn Fein, West Belfast
Conall McDevitt, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Belfast South
David McIlveen, Democratic Unionist Party, North Antrim
Mike Nesbitt, Ulster Unionist Party, Strangford
George Robinson, Democratic Unionist Party, East Londonderry
Peter Robinson, Democratic Unionist Party, East Belfast
Peter Weir, Democratic Unionist Party, North Down
Jim Wells, Democratic Unionist Party, South Down

Scotland

Clare Adamson, Scottish National Party, Motherwell and Wishaw
Jackie Baillie, Labour, Dumbarton
Marco Biagi, Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Central
Aileen Campbell, Scottish National Party, Clydesdale
Roderick Campbell, Scottish National Party, Fife North East
Patricia Ferguson, Labour, Glasgow Maryhill
John Finnie, Scottish National Party, Highlands and Islands
Kenneth Gibson, Scottish National Party, Cunninghame North
Rhoda Grant, Labour, Highlands and Islands
Jim Hume, Liberal Democrat, South Scotland
John Lamont, Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Hanzala Malik, Labour, Glasgow
Aileen McLeod, Scottish National Party, South Scotland
Stuart McMillan, Scottish National Party, Greenock and Inverclyde
Tavish Scott, Liberal Democrat, Shetland Islands
Drew Smith, Labour, Glasgow
Elaine Smith, Labour, Coatbridge and Chryston
Dave Thompson, Scottish National Party, Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch

Wales

Peter Black, Liberal Democrat, South Wales West
Christine Chapman, Labour, Cynon Valley
Jeff Cuthbert, Labour, Caerphilly
Alun Davies, Labour, Mid and West Wales
Janet Finch-Saunders, Conservative, Aberconwy
Janice Gregory, Labour, Ogmore
John Griffiths, Labour, Newport East
Lesley Griffiths, Labour, Wrexham
Llyr Huws Gruffydd, Plaid Cymru, North Wales
Mike Hedges, Labour, Swansea East
Jane Hutt, Labour, Vale of Glamorgan
Mark Isherwood, Conservative, North Wales
Julie James, Labour, Swansea West
Bethan Jenkins, Plaid Cymru, South Wales West
Elin Jones, Plaid Cymru, Ceredigion
Sandy Mewies, Labour, Delyn
Julie Morgan, Labour, Cardiff North
Lynne Neagle, Labour, Torfaen
Aled Roberts, Liberal Democrat, North Wales
Gwenda Thomas, Labour, Neath
Lindsay Whittle, Plaid Cymru, South Wales East
Leanne Wood, Plaid Cymru, South Wales Central

For more information on our parliamentary activity, please get in touch: