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MS: Enough

Having MS is enough. It shouldn't be made harder by a welfare system that doesn't make sense.

Welfare support is vital for many people with MS. It helps us manage the extra costs of the condition, stay in work for longer and participate fully in society.

But our welfare system often ignores invisible symptoms like pain and fatigue and doesn't recognise how MS symptoms fluctuate. Too often people with MS are under pressure to repeatedly prove they need support.

Years of limited government support has left people with MS going without. Whether it’s paying bills, eating regular meals, receiving the treatments they need or seeing friends and family. With skyrocketing prices of these basic necessities, things will get worse.

10 years of PIP

This year is the tenth anniversary of PIP. Ten years of a broken PIP system has meant a decade of stress, indignity and humiliation for people with MS. We need a plan to fix PIP once and for all.

Our #10YearsOfPIP petition calling on the Government to launch a full review of PIP was signed by 22,524 of us. In October, we went to Westminster to meet MPs, and to hand in signatures to the Department of Work and Pensions.

Read about our #10YearsOfPIP petition hand in

Our survey of over 3,500 people living with MS found that:

  • 2 in 3 people (65%) said going through the process of applying for PIP had a negative or very negative impact on their physical and mental health
  • 6 in 10 (61%) said their assessment report didn't give an accurate reflection of their MS
  • over 3 in 5 (62%) said their assessor didn't consider their hidden symptoms

Download our report, PIP and MS: A decade of failure (PDF 8.2MB)

Making progress

September 2023: Calling for a review of the PIP system 

We launched our #10YearsOfPIP campaign with a petition calling for the UK Government to launch a full review of PIP. We also published a new report on the experiences of the MS community applying for PIP.

April 2023: Asking MPs to fix PIP

The UK Government’s plans published in March didn’t include plans to fix PIP. So over 3,000 people in our community across England, Wales and Northern Ireland emailed their MPs to ask them to call for a review of PIP.

March 2023: Health and Disability White Paper released

The UK Government published its Health and Disability White Paper, the biggest set of proposed changes to disability benefits in years. These proposals are a mixed bag for people with MS, but won't come in for years.

January 2023: The Scottish Government's ADP review

The Scottish Government released its review into the moving around criteria of the Adult Disability Payment (replacing PIP in Scotland). Over 100 of you responded to their consultation to tell them what would make benefits work for you.

September 2022: #BreakingPoint campaign

We launched our #BreakingPoint campaign calling on the UK Government to support people with MS through the cost of living crisis and beyond. Read more about our #BreakingPoint campaign.

October 2021: Telling the UK Government how to improve disability benefits

Almost 500 of our campaigners responded to a Government consultation on disability benefits using our online form. We were able to show the Department of Work and Pensions that people living with MS demand a fairer benefits system.

We also submitted a response from the MS Society to the consultation, based on information from people who responded to our online form.

August 2021: Speaking up for MS in Scotland

In Scotland we asked our community to email their Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP) about proposals to include the 20 metre rule in the new Scottish benefit Adult Disability Payment (ADP).

July 2021: Health and Disability Green Paper is out

The UK Government published its Health and Disability Green Paper, a set of proposals on how the welfare system can better meet the needs of disabled people and people with health conditions. They also launched a consultation for people to share their views. 

January 2020: Open letter to Justin Tomlinson MP

We handed in our open letter at 10 Downing Street. We received a reply from Minister for Disabled People Justin Tomlinson, which said the PIP assessment process would be considered as part of their planned ‘Green Paper’ on health and disability.

November 2019: PIP Fails campaign

Research with our MS community shows PIP assessments are failing people with MS. Together 20,000 of us signed an open letter to the next government calling for common sense changes to the process.

April 2019: Our report shows PIP 20 metre rule costs millions

We published research showing the PIP 20 metre rule isn't only failing people with MS, it also costs the government millions more than it will save.

Over 8,000 of us emailed the then Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd MP to call for the rule to be scrapped as part of the government’s next spending review.

December 2018: Government waste £1 million on PIP appeals

We highlighted that people with MS win 83% of their appeals on PIP – as the government wastes almost £1 million trying to stop them.

October 2018: PIPville comes to the Houses of Parliament

We handed in our 20 metre rule petition to the government and installed our PIPville stunt outside the Houses of Parliament.

June 2018:  Scrap the PIP 20 metre rule

We published research showing the PIP 20 metre rule isn't only failing people with MS, it also costs the government millions more than it will save.

Over 8,000 of us emailed the then Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd MP to call for the rule to be scrapped as part of the government’s next spending review.

May and June 2017 : No more cuts to disability benefits letter

Before the 2017 general election, more than 16,500 of us signed a letter to party leaders asking them for no further cuts to disability benefits.

November 2016: MPs pledge to help people with MS stay in work

More than 90 MPs signed our pledge to support people with MS getting the support they need to stay in work.

March 2016: Government U-turn on PIP changes

UK Government announced changes to PIP assessment scoring that would leave some people with MS £150 worse off each week. Together with other charities, we secured a full government U-turn. More than 22,000 signed our MS: Enough petition.

Over a single weekend 3,000 of us emailed your MPs, calling for an emergency debate on the issue.

September 2015: MS Enough launch

We launched MS: Enough with a petition and video asking 'Does Emma need benefits?