Assisted dying bill won’t put vulnerable at risk insists Labour as doctors issue warning – latest news

The foreign secretary’s state visit to China has been billed as a chance to reset Britain’s diplomatic ties with the world’s second biggest economy – but, says Rahima Mahmut, it would be a disgrace if he sidestepped the question of human rights abuses

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater was asked if she was worried about the so-called slippery slope argument, but responded that she would not be concerned so long as “we get this legislation right”.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned of such a danger ahead of a new Assisted Dying Bill being formally introduced in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Ms Leadbeater told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “That’s why the next six weeks and the debates that will come in the following months are really important.

“We’ve got the benefit in this country of looking at what other countries have done. And I’m very clear, based on what I’ve seen so far and the research that I’ve done is, if we get this right from the start, which some places have done, places like Oregon and certain states in Australia, we have very strict criteria, then those jurisdictions do not broaden out the criteria.

“So we have to get it right from the start with very clear criteria, safeguards and protections.

“And I’m not looking at the model that is going on in Canada. I’m looking at those other jurisdictions where this is done well and in some cases it’s been done for a long time, very well, and the criteria have never been extended.”

A Labour MP bringing forward proposals to legalise assisted dying has said that disabled and vulnerable people will not be at risk from the legislation as it will apply only to termially ill adults.

Kim Leadbetter said the end of life bill will have “stringent” criteria and the legislation was about giving “autonomy” to people at the end of their lives. The private members bill is due to be formally introduced to the House of Commons today.

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “The health inequalities in this country, the pressure that disabled people feel and the fact that they don’t feel they’ve got the same rights as other people, let’s address those issues, and I will champion those causes all day long.

“But this is about people who are terminally ill, who just want the autonomy to have the choice to end their lives in a way that they feel more comfortable with, that respects their family and their friends and their loved ones.”

Crossbencher Baroness Grey-Thompson is one of a number of people concerned about the proposed legislation being presented in the House of Commons today.

The former paralympic champion is particularly exercised about the safeguards that would allow terminally ill adults who had six months to live to be assisted to end their life.

She told Prospect: “The reality is there’s many conditions of disability that could fit into those six months,”

“People have said to me, ‘if my life was like yours, I’d end it’. And I have a massive amount of privilege. If you think that about my life, what do you think of other disabled people as well? So, I am really worried.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had said he was “committed” to allowing a vote on legalising assisted dying should his party win the general election, and now one of his MPs is bringing forward a bill.

On Wednesday, Kim Leadbeater will formally introduce her bill to give choice at the end of life for the terminally ill.

A debate and first vote are expected to take place on November 29.

If the bill – the formal title of which will be announced on Wednesday – passes the first stage in the Commons, it will go to committee stage where MPs can table amendments, before facing further scrutiny and votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned of a “slippery slope” ahead of an assisted dying bill being officially introduced to Parliament.

Justin Welby told the BBC on Tuesday: “I think this approach is both dangerous and sets us in a direction which is even more dangerous, and in every other place where it’s been done, has led to a slippery slope.”

A private members bill is due to be formally introduced to the House of Commons on Wednesday described as offering choice at the end of life.

It will be brought forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who has said that any change in the law would be “potentially one of the most important changes in legislation that we will ever see in this country”.

Speaking to BBC’s Newsnight on Tuesday, the MP for Spen Valley said: “There has to be a change in the law, I’m very clear about that, but we’ve got to get the detail right.”

Assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

In Scotland, it is not a specific criminal offence but assisting the death of someone can leave a person open to being charged with murder or other offences.

This, and the language used, varies depending on who you ask.

Pro-change campaigners Dignity in Dying say that assisted dying allows a person with a terminal condition the choice to control their death if they decide their suffering is unbearable.

They argue that, along with good care, dying people who are terminally ill and mentally competent adults deserve the choice to control the timing and manner of their death.

But the campaign group Care Not Killing uses the terms “assisted suicide” and “euthanasia”, and argues that the focus should be on “promoting more and better palliative care” rather than any law change.

They say legalising assisted dying could “place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a financial, emotional or care burden upon others” and argue the disabled, elderly, sick or depressed could be especially at risk.

Assisted dying can be “carefully legalised”, Dame Esther Rantzen has said as she urged people to write to their MP as proposed legislation is brought before the Commons for the first time in almost a decade.

The Childline founder said she is writing to her own representative in Parliament to make her case for a change in the law, telling her story of terminal illness and a wish to have a choice over the end of her life.

Dame Esther, who has stage four lung cancer, has been outspoken on the issue since revealing last December that she had joined Dignitas due to her fears around a drawn-out, painful death.

Dame Esther urged people to make their feelings known to their MPs, who will likely have a first vote on the issue at the end of November.

She said: “Please write to your MP and explain your reasons why this time they should vote for change and assisted dying should be carefully legalised.

“Tell them your story. I am writing to mine. Explain this is a life and death issue and all we are asking is the right to choose, not to shorten our lives, but to shorten our deaths.

“Your words may just make the difference. If so, thanks to you we may all, for the first time, be able to look forward with hope and confidence to a good death.”