An early day motion has been launched by Carol Monaghan MP, and she needs your help in asking other MPs to sign the motion increasing the chance it will lead to an actual debate in parliament.

What is an early day motion?

Early day motions (EDMs) are motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons for which no day has been fixed. As there is no specific time allocated to EDMs very few are debated. However, many attract a great deal of public interest and media coverage.

EDMs are used to put on record the views of individual MPs or to draw attention to specific events or campaigns. Topics covered by EDMs vary widely. By attracting the signatures of other MPs, they can be used to demonstrate the level of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view.

What is this EDM all about?

The new EDM draws attention to ME Awareness Week and it is hoped that it will attract the signatures from those MPs who have an interest in M.E. or whose constituents have raised it as an issue with them.

Early day motion 1247 ME AWARENESS WEEK 2018 Session: 2017-19 Date tabled: 08.05.2018 Primary sponsor: Sponsors: Black, Mhairi ,Gibson, Patricia, Bardell, Hannah, Sheppard, Tommy, Brock, Deidre “That this House recognises Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) Awareness Week from 6 to 12 May 2018, which aims to highlight the impact this invisible illness has on 250,000 people across the UK; recognises the fantastic work campaigners and charities are doing to highlight ME as a physical condition which is not all in the mind; acknowledges the detrimental effect of the PACE trials and its results, and the work which is being done to reverse this; and encourages people to go blue for ME across the week, to further bring this illness out of the shadows and into the spotlight.”

The idea is that the more signatures this EDM attracts the greater the chance of an actual debate taking place in parliament on particular issues relating to M.E. Such issues are likely to be:

Medical Education

Need for an Early and Accurate Diagnosis

NICE guideline review

The PACE trial

NHS services postcode lottery

Problems relating to children (child care facilities)

Severe ME (lack of domiciliary services and specialised units and difficulties accessing social care)

DWP benefits

Biomedical research

Write to your MP

The ME Association, #MEAction and other charities have been working together to provide a comprehensive briefing document for those MPs who are interested, and we hope that with your help we can persuade more to sign the EDM and express their interest in a further debate.

So, please write or email your MP and ask them to support this EDM explaining why, in your own words, these issues are so important. You can find your MP’s details by visiting the parliament website and entering their name or your postcode.

Your letter or email need not be long or involved. This template might help, but feel free to personalise. Some people feel that a written (even typed) letter sent in the post achieves a better result, but choose whatever means is easiest for you.

Dear (Insert MP name here), I am writing to ask that you sign EDM 1247, in support of ME Awareness Week. As your constituent, this issue is very important to me, and I would be grateful if you could lend your support to this EDM. (Insert personal message) Kind regards, (Insert constituent name) (Make sure to include full name and address when signing off, i.e: Joe Bloggs

123 House Avenue

London

X12 Y34)

Early Day Motion 1247 ‘ME Awareness Week 2018’