Rob Burrow has urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunk to make the remaining £20million pledged by the Government to help fund research into Motor Neurone Disease available as soon as possible after collecting an award at Downing Street on Monday.
The Leeds Rhinos legend received the Points of Light Award personally from Sunak on Monday, receiving further and deserved praise for the work he has done in shedding a light on the condition, which he thousands of Britons suffer with. The Government have promised £50million to help research MND further, £30million of which is already available.
But Burrow said he hoped it would not be long before the remaining funding was made available to the MND community, urging Sunak that sufferers of the condition do not have time to wait.
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He said: "I would like to thank the Prime Minister for this award, and also the £50million commitment that his Government have made for MND research. The first £30million is already making a huge a difference and I hope the remaining £20million will be available as soon as possible, as time is not a luxury that the MND community have."
Burrow also urged Sunk to think of MND sufferers when addressing fellow MPs and making major decisions surrounding funding for the condition. "I would like to accept this award on behalf of my fellow 5,000 people who have MND in this country and ask the Prime Minister that when he stands in the House of Commons and sees his fellow MPs, that he imagines six more people behind every one of those 650 MPs, each of them with the worst possible diagnosis in front of them.
"I would ask him to When he does that and makes the very important decisions his office demands, I would ask him to do it with compassion for each of those people. As my good friend Kevin Sinfield said, this country cares."
In response, Sunak said to Burrow that he was determined to deliver on his promise to make the remaining £20million available for the MND community. He said: "Very well said, Rob. That's why it's so important we get this research out there. I will take that away and make sure that research happens. It was a great pleasure and privilege to see you all."
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