In Parliament last week I led an adjournment debate on the urgent need to improve access to benefits for terminally ill people.

In 2019 the DWP announced a review into how terminally ill people access the benefits system - with current regulations stipulating that in order to access benefits quickly, terminally ill people must prove they have six months or less to live.

Those who live for longer for than three years while claiming under the special rules for terminal illness also risk losing their entitlement to benefits altogether.

Last summer, working alongside the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Marie Curie, and with support from the South Wales Argus and MPs across the political divide, I brought a bill to the House of Commons which aimed to commit the government to responding to the review and making changes to a system which is unfit for purpose.

Nineteen months on from the review being launched, and despite warm words from ministers responding to my bill, the government have still not taken action. There is a human cost to this delay - Marie Curie estimate that some 6,000 people will have died waiting for their benefits since the DWP review began.

In the debate last week, I called on the government to stop dragging their heels. I called for ministers to give a timeframe on implementing the changes we all want to see - an end to the six month and three year rules, and the adoption of a clinician-led approach.

As I emphasised in the Commons chamber, terminally ill people deserve to be treated with dignity by the benefits system.

Nobody given the devastating news that their illness is terminal knows how long they have left—not their loved ones, not their doctor and not a DWP benefits assessor.

However much time they have left should be spent living as well as they can for as long as they can, making memories with loved ones. It should not be spent worrying about money, filling in endless forms, being dragged to assessments and fighting for the support they need.

I hope to have an opportunity to meet with ministers again soon to keep pushing for action.

* In Parliament last week I voted for Labour's motion calling on the Government to use the forthcoming budget to provide support businesses and individuals still struggling as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The motion included a series of important asks for the Chancellor - including extending reduced rates of VAT and allowing small businesses to defer paying loans back until they are growing again - both issues that have been raised with me by constituents. There was also a call on the government to fix gaps in coronavirus support schemes to finally provide support for the three million people have been excluded from schemes since the beginning of the pandemic.

It was a real shame that Conservative MPs chose to abstain from the vote and get behind this opportunity to provide support that so many businesses and individuals still need.

* Last week I also spoke in the General Debate on Covid-19. In my speech, I raised a number of issues including the success of the Welsh vaccination programme; Newport County AFC's good work on mental health; ongoing issues with BTEC qualifications; Home Office waiting times; and cuts to benefits. If you have any issues you'd like me to raise on your behalf in future just let me know - you can email me on jessica.morden.mp@parliament.uk.