Jonathan Djanogly, the Member of Parliament for the Huntingdon Constituency, has called for the Government to provide tax relief to the victims of the Thalidomide drug.
Speaking in the Chamber of the Commons, Mr Djanogly demanded that the Government now pay the St Neots based Thalidomide Trust £6.1 million to offset the affect of tax on distributions made by the Trust to victims.
Mr Djanogly attacked Gordon Brown MP and the Labour Government for not following the same course as every Government since 1974, as regards payments made by the drugs company to the Trust.
Mr Djanogly welcomed the victims of Thalidomide who came to the Chamber of the House of Commons to give their support and thanked the, more than 80, Members of Parliament who signed his Early Day Motion in support of his position.
Mr Djanogly said:
"I was delighted that the Shadow Chancellor, Michael Howard MP, has indicated not only that the Conservative Party supports my Motion, but furthermore that the next Conservative Government will make, in full, the payment to the Trust, which should have been made by the Chancellor this year, in accordance with the precedents of previous Governments.
Unfortunately, the Government remains fast on its mean spirited and unfair position. This debate enabled me to make the case for a group of extremely vulnerable individuals, who through no fault of their own, are faced with increasingly difficult medical conditions. I see this debate as the start not the end of the campaign and, working with the Trust, the victims and with the full support of the Conservative Party, I shall continue to fight their corner for a fair settlement."