The following statement is from Jane Colby (Child Services Development Officer, Action for ME).

The Daily Mail wrote an article on ME which Jane was misquoted in a couple of places. The result is that some people are under the impression that Jane thought that the House of Commons Report was the 'best thing since sliced bread'.

Jane Colby would like to inform anyone who read in the Daily Mail that she "welcomed" the recent report on ME for the House of Commons library, that she did not say this. The journalist telephoned Jane one Sunday, no doubt rushing to meet a deadline (which is often how mistakes occur). Jane told the journalist she was pleased that people were taking ME seriously enough to be writing reports about it. The journalist did not actually say Jane welcomed the CONTENTS of the report, but the wording of the piece has led many to think so. Jane discussed the limitations of the report with Dr Stephen Ware at the Palace of Westminster, and he has placed Jane's book (ME - The New Plague) in the House of Commons Library now.

NB. Jane also did not say that of all the children off school at any one time, 51% have ME. Of all the children on Long-Term Sickness Absence from schools taking part in the Dowsett/Colby research, 51% had ME. The school roll studied was in excess of 333,000. For further details see the Young Action Online website.