Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is a chronic, fluctuating, neurological condition that causes symptoms affecting many body systems, more commonly the nervous and immune systems.

ME affects an estimated 250,000 people in the UK, and around 17 million people worldwide.

People with ME experience debilitating pain, fatigue and a range of other symptomsassociated with post-exertional malaise, the body and brain’s inability to recover after expending even small amounts of energy.

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Sir David Amess says he has at least 500 constituents who suffer from ME.

Many sufferers are not believed he says, with many GPs failing to recognise the seriousness of the symptoms, whilst little is understood about the condition.

He calls on the government to "properly fund" the biomedic research that is urgently needed for ME.

"We must listen to patients. I sincerely hope this debate is not mere words...I do hope we can have some action", he adds.

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The SNP's Carol Monaghan says there are an estimated 250,000 people in the UK suffering with ME who are "currently being let down".

Adults cannot hold up employment, whereas children are falling behind in school, she adds. "It is a life sentence," she says, "a life spent existing but not living".

She says there is an attitude among some medical professionals that ME is a behavioural rather than pathological condition, which can be challenging to patients.

She says graded exercise therapy often hinders rather than helps patients, who are often pressured into saying their symptoms have improved by medical professionals.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) must put out a statement suggesting the harm this treatment can cause, she adds.

MPs have now moved onto their second backbench business debate, on appropriate treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME.

The debate is opened by SNP MP Carol Monaghan, who has argued the condition lacks sufficient funding and is poorly understood by many in the medical profession.

The motion MPs will debate this afternoon calls on the government to provide more funding for research into the condition.

It also calls for ministers to suspend graded exercise therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy as means to treat the condition, and more training for GPs.

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Winding up the debate for the government, Minister Heather Wheeler says few events have had such a "monumental impact on our democracy, our history and our values as the Holocaust".

The UK must do "everything we can to stop these atrocities from happening again", she says, whilst the rise of anti-Semitism in the UK is "shameful".

She says it has been "an honour" to be the minister winding up the debate today.

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Summing up the debate for Labour, Yvonne Fovargue says it is "appalling" that in this country and in this century members of the Jewish community are considering moving because they do not feel safe.

"They are being torn from home," she says.

We need to support those in our community who feel threatened today, she adds, noting that "nobody can afford to be a bystander" to discrimination and hate crime.

Ms Fovargue says she is "proud" that so many members of the Jewish faith have chosen to call Manchester and the UK home.

"The Holocaust may be a part of the past, but the causes continue to cast a dark shadow over the present," she concludes, adding: "we must remain vigilant and speak out".

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SNP MP David Linden says the Jewish community in the UK has had to deal with "some utterly despicable behaviour" in recent years, and calls for greater education about the contribution of the Jewish community to society.

Fellow SNP MP Peter Grant says despite the horrors seen in Germany, "we are failing to see the signs here today in these islands and in this Parliament".

Mr Grant calls for a better example to be set by MPs.

He thanks survivors who continue to share their stories, despite the pain it causes, "to give us an insight into the warnings of hate becoming normalised".

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Conservative MP Matthew Offord speaks about the funeral of Holocaust victims last Sunday.

The remains of five adults and one child were anonymously donated to the Imperial War Museum in 1997, and more than 1,000 people attended the service at Bushey New Cemetery in Hertfordshire, he says.

Mr Offord says at the funeral, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis moved people to tears in his address when he said hate speech "can easily be translated into hate crime", and reminded everyone to confront all forms of racism.

"When anti-Semitism is allowed to thrive, some people can do anything and some people can reach the lowest end of human conduct", he adds.

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SNP MP Lisa Cameron says anti-Semites want to silence victims, "but we must take courage and speak louder".

She encourages all individuals to listen to the stories of those who went through the terrors of the Holocaust.

Conservative MP Stephen Kerr says "we are all our brother's and sister's keepers", and that everyone is accountable for their attitudes and behaviours.

"When we give expression to hate, we descend into a pit of self-destruction," he adds.

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Labour MP Chi Onwurah says "those of us who support Palestinian rights" must recognise that "time and time again" anti-Semitic ideas have emerged in debate about the conflict.

There must be zero tolerance of this, she says, and zero tolerance of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.

Jewish people have told her that they no longer feel welcome in the party, she explains, adding that she has discussed this with the party leadership.

"I've been assured that the party is developing policies and allocating appropriate resources which will provide demonstrable evidence that we are committed to rooting out anti-Semitism", she says.

There needs to be educational resources in place so that views can still be expressed without implying anti-Semitic views, she says.

"The Holocaust must be remembered, not just in words, but also in deeds."

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Conservative MP Andrew Percy says anti-Semitism is a cancer "on the left and the right" which has been brought into the Brexit debate, with the Jewish ancestry of Speaker John Bercow and others attacked.

He says he converted to Judaism some years ago, and has been told that his faith should be reason for him not be an MP.

Labour's Luciana Berger says "unless we challenge the words, it is much harder to challenge the deeds. We cannot be bystanders."

Social media is where the manifestations of modern anti-Semitism can be found, she says, and it must be tackled "wherever it rears its head".

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Labour MP John Mann says Holocaust Memorial Day last year saw an increase of 30,000 online searches of "Holocaust hoax".

He says holocaust denial is a real problem, and "Holocaust revisionism" is the "current day plague we have to challenge and fight".

"Holocaust revisionism - it's a problem all over Europe, it's a problem in my political party, it's a problem in this country", he says.

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With the private notice question finished, peers have now moved onto their next debate, on the ability of local authorities to deliver essential services.

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Conservative Sir Peter Bottomley says he will be remembering all those affected by the Holocaust this weekend.

He says he hopes MPs from his party will not "make any remarks about the difficulties the Labour Party has got".

"We ought to concentrate on why Mr Hitler thought that he might get support in this country, and leave him a free hand to do what he wanted in continental Europe", he says.

"There were Conservatives in the late Thirties who would probably have been reasonably happy to have stayed out of conflict", he adds.

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Labour's Lord Collins of Highbury says it's vital that there is no repeat of the violence seen in 2017, and calls for all sides to adopt a peaceful approach.

"We need to uphold the law, human rights and democratic freedoms", he adds.

He seeks further clarity from the government however on its response, suggesting President Trump's response seeks to "add oil to the fire".

Baroness Goldie says the UK government makes its own decision. The government is very conscious of the seriousness of the situation, she say, adding: "we are doing what we can".

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Oral questions come to an end.

Next, Lib Dem Baroness Northover asks a private notice question on the government's response to President Tump's decision to recognise Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president.

Government spokesperson Baroness Goldie says the UK "fully supports the national assembly as a democratically elected institution".

As part of an international contact group, the UK and EU partners are seeking to assist moves to "bring moderate factions together" for negotiations and a peaceful transition, she says.

Baroness Northover asks if the UK is supporting the US action, to which Baroness Goldie replies that "the UK recognises states, not governments" and is seeking a democratic solution.

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Labour MP Ian Austin says he wants to pay tribute to survivors of the Holocaust and the Holocaust Educational Trust for their work on making society "more tolerant".

"Every single one of us has a duty to fight discrimination, intolerance and bigotry wherever we find it," he says, noting that his speech would be "meaningless" if he ignored anti-Semitisim in the Labour Party.

He says he is "shocked" that a party with such a long tradition of fighting racism "has caused such offence and stress to the Jewish community".

"We don't have any right to criticise our opponents on this issue if we don't get our own House in order first," he says.

Members of the People's Vote campaign say they can't win a Commons vote without Jeremy Corbyn's support.

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Lib Dem peer Lord Roberts of Llandudno asks what steps are being taken to ensure a sufficient supply of insulin after Brexit.

Government health spokeswoman Baroness Manzoor says contingency plans have been made to ensure there is no disruption in supply of vital medical goods.

All pharmaceutical companies have been written to and asked to ensure a minimum of six weeks' additional supply, she says.

Lord Roberts says diabetics want a "copper bottom" guarantee that there will be a sufficient supply. He requests a "legally binding" contract from the government that needs will be met.

Baroness Manzoor says the government has given an assurance; no guarantees "can be given" but "proper contingency plans" are in place, she says.

Labour Baroness Thornton says ports will have reduced capacity "for at least six months" in the event of no deal, so six weeks' supply could be insufficient.

She asks how the government plans to ration insulin in such a case and how they would decide who gets it.

"There's no such thing as rationing", Baroness Manzoor says, "we will not be rationing insulin". Work is being done to ensure medicine and medical products can "move freely into the UK".

If there is a shortage, "we will allow pharmacists to look at alternatives", she adds.

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Labour MP Ian Austin is now introducing the first of today's two backbench debates, which is on this year's Holocaust Memorial Day, to be commemorated on Sunday.