A MOTOR neurone disease (MND) campaigner called on party leaders to unite behind his plea to double research funding into the disease as he addressed the Scottish Labour conference.
Terminally ill Gordon Aikman, a Sunday Times columnist, launched a five-point fightback plan after being diagnosed with MND last year. His demands include more funding for research to find a cure, and fast-tracking of benefits for sufferers.
Aikman, a former Labour staffer and director of research at the pro-UK Better Together campaign, also called on Labour members to “fight to nurse our NHS back to health” at the conference in Edinburgh.
Praising the NHS, the 29-year-old said: “My journey has been made all the more bearable by the care that I have received.
“The support that I have been given by our doctors and our nurses — it has been second to none.
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“Our NHS is truly great, but it isn’t perfect, and we shouldn’t be shy about our determination to drive standards even further.”
He called on Labour to “fight to make it the very best health service in the world”.
Turning to MND, he urged politicians to fast-track benefit payments because some sufferers wait up to seven months for the help they need, even though half of those with MND die within 14 months of diagnosis.
On doubling funding, he said: “I think it is simple — the more we spend the quicker we will find a cure.
“It will be too late for me, but we can and we must find a cure for future generations.
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“I know Ed Miliband shares that vision, he was the first leader to make a clear commitment to double MND research funding.
“It is a commitment that I am confident will bring closer the day in which we all live in a world that is MND free.
“Ed has thrown down the gauntlet — it is now for David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Nicola Sturgeon too, to follow his lead.
“In Ed we have a true leader, a leader who is not scared to stand up for people like me, people in need, a leader who will cherish our NHS.”
Last month Aikman wrote in his Sunday Times column about his first week in a wheelchair and about his delight at the prospect of getting married.