Review of social security for the terminally ill – Marsha de Cordova responds

Marsha de Cordova MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Disabled People, commenting on the announced review of social security for the terminally ill, said:

“It is welcome the Tories are finally acknowledging that their
‘six-month rule’ is cruel, arbitrary and outdated, but we do not need a
review to know it should be scrapped. The longer the government delays,
the more needless suffering and anxiety is inflicted on ill and disabled
people with terminal illnesses.

“Shamefully, between 2013 and 2018, 17,000 terminally ill people died
while waiting for a decision on their Personal Independence Payment
claims. This means people spent their last days  waiting for the outcome
of a cruel assessment without the financial support they needed.

“The government must now adopt a definition of terminal illness based
on sound clinical judgements and scrap all unnecessary assessments for
terminally ill people.”