Around 1,000 doctors urge MPs to vote against ‘unsafe' assisted dying Bill
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will return to the House of Commons for debate on Friday, with MPs expected to consider further amendments.
But in a letter, published this week, doctors from across the NHS have urged lawmakers to listen to those 'who would have to deliver the consequences of this deeply flawed Bill'.
They warn the Bill 'poses a real threat to both patients and the medical workforce'.
In its current form the proposed legislation, which applies only to England and Wales, would mean terminally ill adults with only six months left to live could apply for assistance to end their lives, subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.
Last month, MPs approved a change in the Bill to ensure no medics would be obliged to take part in assisted dying.
Doctors already had an opt-out but the new clause extends that to anyone, including pharmacists and social care workers.
Encouraging or assisting suicide is currently against the law in England and Wales, with a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.
The letter to MPs said: 'As experienced medical professionals who regularly work with dying patients and who have reviewed the worldwide evidence on assisted dying, it is our opinion that this Bill poses a real threat to both patients and the medical workforce, and we urge you to vote against it.
'We are concerned that the private member's Bill process has not facilitated a balanced approach to the collection of evidence and input from key stakeholders including doctors, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups.
'This Bill will widen inequalities, it provides inadequate safeguards and, in our collective view, is simply not safe.
'This is the most important piece of healthcare legislation for 60 years and we urge you to listen to the doctors who would have to deliver the consequences of this deeply flawed Bill.'
Sir Ed Davey welcomed the letter on Monday, telling Sky News he had 'real concerns'.
'I have voted against this assisted dying legislation, as I did on previous occasions,' the Liberal Democrat leader said.
'I have real concerns about the pressure on individuals, that they will put on themselves, if they think they are a burden on their family, so I welcome this letter.'
He added: 'I hope, as time has gone on, as the arguments have been better exposed, that MPs will switch sides and join the side that I and many MPs are on.'
But Sir Chris Bryant said he would be voting in favour.
The technology minister told Sky News: 'The Government doesn't have a formal position at all and individual members are free to choose how they vote.
'I'm not going to hide my own personal preference. I abstained on the first time round, I decided I wasn't going to vote because I wanted to hear the debate.
'I have listened to a lot of the debate. Of course, I don't want anybody to feel that they are a burden on society and that should lead them towards taking their own life, but I also have heard the cries of people who are absolutely miserable, and that's why I will be voting for the Bill.'
Some of the Bill's opponents have urged MPs to focus on improving end-of-life care rather than legislating for assisted dying.
Ahead of last month's Commons debate on the Bill, two royal medical colleges raised concerns over the proposed legislation.
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) said it believes there are 'concerning deficiencies', while the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) said it has 'serious concerns' and cannot support the Bill.
People with terminal illnesses, surrounded by loved ones, display their dying wishes on tags outside the Palace of Westminster in London to urge MPs to support the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Jas Lehal/PA)
Opinions among members of the medical profession remain varied, with TV doctor Hilary Jones describing assisted dying for the terminally ill as 'kind and compassionate', adding that he would help a patient to end their life if the law was changed.
The GP, often seen on ITV's Good Morning Britain and the Lorraine show, told the PA news agency he believes medicine will go 'back to the Dark Ages' if proposed legislation being considered at Westminster is voted down.
While Friday is expected to see debate on further amendments to the Bill, it is thought a vote on the overall legislation might not take place until the following Friday, June 20.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
19 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Nottingham attack families ask Streeting for names of staff who treated killer
The families of the Nottingham attack victims said they have told the Health Secretary they want the names of staff involved in treating killer Valdo Calocane to be made public. A February report into the care received by Calocane detailed how he was not forced to have long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles, and how other patients at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also went on to commit 'extremely serious' acts of violence. The relatives of 19-year-old students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates, met with Wes Streeting on Monday and asked for those responsible to be held accountable. After the meeting, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, Grace's father, said: 'It was the actions of a few people that put a dangerous man out in the community'. Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, killed three people and attempted to kill three more in Nottingham in June 2023. He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder. Calocane was admitted to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act four times between 2020 and 2022 because of his violent behaviour and refusal to take his medication, before NHS services lost track of him and discharged him in the months before the attacks. Three reports: including one by the Care Quality Commission (CQC); described failings in his care but none included practitioners' names, Dr Kumar said with copies of the documents in-hand. Speaking outside the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), he told reporters: 'We'd like to know who was involved in the care of this person who committed all this harm. Why aren't there any names? 'He was sectioned four times – was it four different consultants? Was it one consultant? Who were the teams who didn't do their jobs?' He said: 'I think we deserve to know the detail – everyone in the country who has suffered the way we have through mental health-related homicide deserves to have the detail. 'When an operation goes wrong, someone gets named.' Dr Kumar added: 'We want people to just know, if they did wrong, what is it they need to do to be put right? Whether it's retraining, whether it's … doing the professional development again. 'The point is that you just can't have people who are providing a risky service even now.' He added that the Health Secretary was 'very much on our side, he very much wants to see a way through' and that Mr Streeting has promised 'he's going to work hard at it'. Prior to the meeting, the families said in a statement that their correspondence with the mental health trust's chief executive, Ifti Majid, had been 'light on detail, vague, evasive, defensive and contradictory'. They added that he failed to answer Dr Kumar's questions. Dr Kumar said he has given Mr Streeting the questions he put to the chief executive. He said the Health Secretary 'has promised to do his best to get us all the answers', adding that he has confidence in Mr Streeting because he has 'taken a personal interest in this case' and likewise 'wants to end homicide by mental health'. Their meeting also follows a complaint lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) by the families regarding an 'offensive' encounter with one of the watchdog's regional directors. Dr Kumar told The Sunday Times newspaper that their meeting with the IOPC, nine months after the attacks, began with a prayer, which he found 'patronising'. The issue was not discussed with Mr Streeting on Monday and would require a different meeting, he told reporters. A DHSC spokesperson said: 'Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and NHS England have accepted all the recommendations made in both the CQC and NHS England-commissioned reviews into the care and treatment received by Valdo Calocane. 'The Health and Social Care Secretary has called for recommendations from both reviews to be implemented as soon as possible and met with the bereaved families today to discuss the NHS England-commissioned Independent Homicide Review. 'As part of this work, NHS England has developed and is actively implementing evidence-based national guidance, so that all trusts are clear on the standards of care expected for patients with serious mental illnesses.
BBC News
23 minutes ago
- BBC News
Spending review now settled, says Downing Street
The government's latest spending plans are settled, the prime minister's official spokesman has Rachel Reeves is expected to expected to announce funding increases for the NHS, schools and defence, along with a number of infrastructure projects, when she sets out her day-to-say spending and investment plans for each department in Wednesday's Spending Secretary Yvette Cooper was the last to fix a deal on Monday afternoon, following public warnings from police chiefs, calling for more Secretary Angela Rayner reached a deal with Reeves and the Treasury on Sunday evening. Reeves has loosened Treasury borrowing rules to free up about £113bn for investment in infrastructure projects, but will need to squeeze budgets elsewhere in order meet her own rules, which include not borrowing to fund day-to-day week, she admitted that she had been forced to turn down requests for funding for projects she would have wanted to seeking to protect their budgets remained locked in budget talks over the ministerial negotiations over the government's spending review had been completed, the prime minister's official spokesman said the chancellor would be investing in public services and growth."The spending review is settled - we will be focused on investing in Britain's renewal so that all working people are better off," he said."The first job of the government was to stabilise the British economy and the public finances, and now we move into a new chapter to deliver the promise and change."The Home Office had argued privately that police numbers must be maintained for the government to deliver its policy commitments on neighbourhood policing, but that under the spending proposals this would not be chiefs including Sir Mark Rowley, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, had publicly lobbyied the government for more money in recent weeks, and there were suggestions the Treasury might have "imposed" a settlement on the Home the weekend, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the chancellor was facing pressure from all departments for additional funding. Kyle said "every part of society was struggling" and declined to rule out a squeeze on last-minute talks with Cooper come ahead of what is set to be a highly significant week for every part of has already U-turned on removing Winter Fuel payments from all but the poorest pensioners, and will now give these 75% of pensioners, which will cost an estimated £ government has also pledged to hike defence spending, invest £86bn in science and technology, and give free school meals to half a million more balance the spending, Reeves has announced a £14bn package of savings in March, including £4.8bn of welfare opponents have accused the government of having the wrong shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "They have chosen to prioritise spending on Ed Miliband's mad green projects, on inflation-busting pay rises for their trade union paymasters and spending £100bn a year – five times the police budget – on debt interest payments."Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has urged the chancellor to rule out cuts to social care, which is financed through local said the government would have "more money in the pot, more growth, more revenue" if it pursued closer trading ties with Europe. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Daily Mail
25 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Inflation is so high, even Rachel Reeves's voice is going up: Chancellor suffers from technical gaffe as inflation surges to 3.5% - far higher than expected as Labour's economy spinsout of control
Rachel Reeves demonstrated it isn't just inflation soaring higher today as she was seen on TV defending her economic record in a bizarre falsetto. An unfortunate technical error meant the under-fire Chancellor's response to a dramatic spike in prices was delivered in a tone more akin to Mickey Mouse. The episode left Sky News presenter Wilfred Frost - son of Sir David - briefly dumbfounded before he said: 'I think we have a problem...' Ms Reeves said: 'The numbers today are clearly disappointing. We want to see inflation coming down after the cost of living challenges that people have been through these last few years.' Her voice was then silenced entirely as broadcast bosses realised things were going awry. The glitch sparked hilarity on social media, with users comparing the rise in Ms Reeves's voice to Labour party policies which have caused 'ballooning national debt'. Speaking to Sky News , Ms Reeves said: 'The numbers today are clearly disappointing. We want to see inflation coming down after the cost of living challenges that people have been through these last few years' Ms Reeves was facing the music after headline CPI rate rocketed from 2.6 per cent in March to 3.5 per cent last month, a peak not seen since January 2024. Worryingly, it was significantly more than the 3.3 per cent analysts had pencilled in, with Ms Reeves acknowledging the figures were 'disappointing' and her national insurance hikes were partly to blame. Core CPI - excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - was also at the highest for a year. The grim data will fuel Bank of England concerns about underling pressures, with chief economist Huw Pill having already warned that interest rate cuts have been too fast. Experts immediately suggested that Threadneedle Street might pause reductions at the next monetary policy committee meeting next month. The Bank had forecast that inflation would top out at 3.5 per cent in the third quarter of the year. The spike comes after Ofgem 's energy price cap rose by 6.4 per cent in April, having fallen a year earlier. That was alongside a raft of bill rises for struggling households, including steep increases to water charges, council tax, mobile and broadband tariffs. Meanwhile, Labour's NICs and minimum wage increases will have been stoking pressure in the system. Office of National Statistics (ONS) acting director-general Grant Fitzner said: 'Significant increases in household bills caused inflation to climb steeply. 'Gas and electricity bills rose this month compared with sharp falls at the same time last year due to changes to the Ofgem energy price cap. 'Water and sewerage bills also rose strongly this year, as did vehicle excise duty, which all pushed the headline rate up to its highest level since the beginning of last year.' Ms Reeves said: 'I am disappointed with these figures because I know cost of living pressures are still weighing down on working people. 'We are a long way from the double-digit inflation we saw under the previous administration, but I'm determined that we go further and faster to put more money in people's pockets. 'That's why we have increased the minimum wage for millions of working people, frozen fuel duty to protect commuters and struck three trade deals in the past two weeks that will go towards cutting bills.' Asked if the inflation figures had been pushed up by measures including the NICs hike, Ms Reeves said: 'When I became Chancellor last year, I faced the very difficult challenge that there was a £22billion black hole in the public finances. 'We had to fix that, and if we hadn't have done the Bank of England would not have been able to cut interest rates four times this last year, which has obviously had a direct effect on the mortgages and the rents that people pay. 'And also that money that we raised from national insurance, but also cracking down on non-doms, tax - VAT - on private schools, increasing capital gains, particularly on private equity firms, that money has gone into our National Health Service, which is why waiting lists and waiting times are going down after spiralling out of control the last few years. 'So I do recognise that all policies have consequences, but if I hadn't have acted to stabilise the public finances, we would be in a worse position today.' However, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride squarely blamed Ms Reeves for the hike in inflation. He said: 'This morning's news that inflation is up - and now well above the 2 per cent target - is worrying for families. 'We left Labour with inflation bang on target, but Labour's economic mismanagement is pushing up the cost of living for families - on top of the £3,500 hit to households from the Chancellor's damaging jobs tax. 'Higher inflation could also mean interest rates stay higher for longer, hitting family finances hard. 'Families are paying the price for the Labour Chancellor's choices.' Speaking at an event held at Barclays in London yesterday, Mr Pill said the pace of interest rate reductions since August last year has been 'too rapid'. He said progress of 'disinflation' was partly a signal that easing monetary policy – meaning rates coming down – was working. 'And in my view, that withdrawal of policy restriction has been running a little too fast of late, given the progress achieved thus far with returning inflation to target on a lasting basis.' 'I remain concerned about upside risks to the achievement of the inflation target,' he added. Mr Pill, who is a member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), was among the members to vote against cutting rates to 4.25 per cent, instead preferring to leave them unchanged. The bank's base rate has come down from a peak of 5.25 per cent, when it was hiked to try to quell surging inflation across the UK. He said his vote to hold interest rates at this month's policy meeting was more of a 'skip' than a 'halt' in rate cuts. This reflects his view that the 'pace of bank rate reduction should be 'cautious', running slower than the 25bp (basis points) per quarter we have implemented since last August', the economist said. 'That requires a 'skip' in that quarterly pattern at some point. And I decided that the May meeting was an appropriate moment for that 'skip'.' Meanwhile, Mr Pill stressed that he was concerned about inflation persistence – meaning price rises remaining elevated – which would mean 'you need to run the economy a little bit cooler'. 'That's an uncomfortable message, but it may be an important message for policymakers with inflation targets to normalise,' he said. 'I do worry about the fact that inflation has stayed stubbornly high, and pay dynamics have stayed stubbornly strong, even as activity has been relatively disappointing… over the last two to three years. 'So that's what I worry about… and I think that does influence the way I vote in the committee as an individual.' Daniel Casali, chief investment strategist at wealth manager Evelyn Partners, said: 'This acceleration in inflation for April was driven by a triple-whammy of factors. One, large indexed and regulated price increases, including mobile phone charges, vehicle excise duty, and water and energy bills. 'Two, a later-than-usual Easter weekend, which lifted airfare and accommodation prices, and three, businesses passing on the higher National Minimum Wage and employers' National Insurance (NI) contributions to consumers... 'If inflation exceeds expectations – as today's figure suggests it could - the MPC could well delay a further interest rate cut at its next meeting on June 19, particularly if news on the real economy remains stable.'
