MP hits out at party's record in first speech

NEW Edinburgh East Labour MP Sheila Gilmore used her maiden speech in the Commons to criticise her own party's record on incapacity benefit.

She told MPs she had supported efforts to get people off the benefit, but then became aware of "the gulf that can exist between the theory of a policy and its implementation".

She said: "One woman in her 50s, suffering from cancer and still receiving treatment, had been declared fit for work. She worked all her life and it felt like a slap in the face."

She said other people had conditions which fluctuated. "They can be very well one day but hardly able to get out of bed the next. That is the story of one of my constituents: she had ME, but she too was declared fit for work."

Ms Gilmore said under the new employment and support allowance, 50 per cent of applicants were expected to be deemed unfit for work and in need of support. In practice, it was only 32 per cent.

"Either there has been a great improvement in health, or there is something very wrong with the assessment process." I regret to say all that was happening on my party's watch."