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North Wales Chronicle
37 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Warning over assisted dying TikTok adverts as MPs further debate Bill
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has returned to the Commons for further debate, with an ad ban among the issues discussed. The Bill is undergoing a second day of report stage on Friday, with various amendments being debated and possibly voted on. Its third reading – where a vote is taken on the overall Bill – could take place next Friday. Opening debate, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater proposed an amendment to her Bill which would impose a duty on the Government to make regulations prohibiting advertisements to promote services relating to voluntary assisted dying should the legislation pass. She has previously said it 'would feel inappropriate for this to be something which was advertised'. Bill opponent and fellow Labour MP Paul Waugh warned of 'unspecified exceptions, which could make the ban itself worthless', adding he had put forward a tighter amendment to 'strengthen the Bill on this issue and to better protect the vulnerable'. Addressing the Commons, he said: 'Advertising works because we human beings are suggestible. Prone to messaging, visual clues and hints. Older people are bombarded with adverts for everything from stairlifts to care homes. 'One person's advert, though, is another person's public information campaign.' He added that unless Ms Leadbeater's amendment is tightened to limit the exceptions to a ban, social media ads on the issue in future would be possible. He said: 'Many in this House rightly try to protect teenagers from online harms. But the online harm of an ad for a website about assisted dying shared on TikTok could be a reality without the tighter safeguards in my amendment.' Other issues being debated on Friday include an amendment requiring the Health Secretary to publish an assessment of the availability, quality and distribution of palliative and end-of-life care one year after the Bill passing into law. Pledging her support for the amendment, which has been tabled by Liberal Democrat Munira Wilson, Ms Leadbeater said MPs should not have to choose between supporting assisted dying or palliative care as it is not an 'either/or' conversation for dying people. She said palliative care and assisted dying 'can and do work side by side to give terminally-ill patients the care and choice they deserve in their final days', and urged MPs to support 'all options available to terminally ill people'. Ms Wilson's amendment is supported by Marie Curie, which said it is 'desperately needed as the end-of-life care system is in crisis, with huge gaps in services and a lack of NHS leadership on this vital part of our health and care system'. The beginning of Friday's session saw MPs add a new opt-out clause to the Bill. The amendment, meaning no person including all health and social care professionals, can be obliged to take part in assisted dying had been debated and approved last month, but has now been formally added to the Bill. The Bill passed second reading stage by a majority of 55 during a historic vote in November which saw MPs support the principle of assisted dying. Various media reports have indicated some MPs who voted in favour last year could withdraw their support amid concerns around safeguards and how much scrutiny the proposed legislation has received, while others might switch to supporting a Bill that backers argue has been strengthened over time. Opinion in the medical community has been divided, with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) expressing concern, but some MPs who are doctors are among the Bill's strongest supporters. Seven RCPsych members, including a former president and vice president, have written to MPs to distance themselves from their college's concern, instead describing the current Bill as 'workable, safe and compassionate' with a 'clear and transparent legal framework'. Meanwhile, the Children's Commissioner for England has repeated her call for children's voices to be heard in the conversation, saying their views had been 'at best been sidelined, at worst written off entirely simply because they would not fall within the scope of the current scope of legislation'. Demonstrators both for and against a change in the law once again gathered outside Parliament to make their views known on the Bill. Disability campaigner George Fielding, representing campaign group Not Dead Yet UK, argued the Bill 'risks state-sanctioned suicide' but Claire Macdonald, director of My Death, My Decision said 'no-one should be forced to suffer, and the British public wants politicians to change the law on assisted dying'. In a letter to MPs this week, Ms Leadbeater said supporters and opponents appear in agreement that 'if we are to pass this legislation it should be the best and safest Bill possible'. She added: 'I'm confident it can and will be.' As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally-ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. MPs are entitled to have a free vote on the Bill and any amendments, meaning they vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines.
South Wales Argus
38 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Warning over assisted dying TikTok adverts as MPs further debate Bill
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has returned to the Commons for further debate, with an ad ban among the issues discussed. The Bill is undergoing a second day of report stage on Friday, with various amendments being debated and possibly voted on. Its third reading – where a vote is taken on the overall Bill – could take place next Friday. Opening debate, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater proposed an amendment to her Bill which would impose a duty on the Government to make regulations prohibiting advertisements to promote services relating to voluntary assisted dying should the legislation pass. She has previously said it 'would feel inappropriate for this to be something which was advertised'. Bill opponent and fellow Labour MP Paul Waugh warned of 'unspecified exceptions, which could make the ban itself worthless', adding he had put forward a tighter amendment to 'strengthen the Bill on this issue and to better protect the vulnerable'. Addressing the Commons, he said: 'Advertising works because we human beings are suggestible. Prone to messaging, visual clues and hints. Older people are bombarded with adverts for everything from stairlifts to care homes. 'One person's advert, though, is another person's public information campaign.' A person holds a hard copy of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Stefan Rousseau/PA) He added that unless Ms Leadbeater's amendment is tightened to limit the exceptions to a ban, social media ads on the issue in future would be possible. He said: 'Many in this House rightly try to protect teenagers from online harms. But the online harm of an ad for a website about assisted dying shared on TikTok could be a reality without the tighter safeguards in my amendment.' Other issues being debated on Friday include an amendment requiring the Health Secretary to publish an assessment of the availability, quality and distribution of palliative and end-of-life care one year after the Bill passing into law. Pledging her support for the amendment, which has been tabled by Liberal Democrat Munira Wilson, Ms Leadbeater said MPs should not have to choose between supporting assisted dying or palliative care as it is not an 'either/or' conversation for dying people. She said palliative care and assisted dying 'can and do work side by side to give terminally-ill patients the care and choice they deserve in their final days', and urged MPs to support 'all options available to terminally ill people'. Dame Rachel de Souza the Children's Commissioner for England has repeated her call for children's voices to be heard in the conversation (Aaron Chown/PA) Ms Wilson's amendment is supported by Marie Curie, which said it is 'desperately needed as the end-of-life care system is in crisis, with huge gaps in services and a lack of NHS leadership on this vital part of our health and care system'. The beginning of Friday's session saw MPs add a new opt-out clause to the Bill. The amendment, meaning no person including all health and social care professionals, can be obliged to take part in assisted dying had been debated and approved last month, but has now been formally added to the Bill. The Bill passed second reading stage by a majority of 55 during a historic vote in November which saw MPs support the principle of assisted dying. Campaigners supportive of a change in the law outside Parliament (James Manning/PA) Various media reports have indicated some MPs who voted in favour last year could withdraw their support amid concerns around safeguards and how much scrutiny the proposed legislation has received, while others might switch to supporting a Bill that backers argue has been strengthened over time. Opinion in the medical community has been divided, with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) expressing concern, but some MPs who are doctors are among the Bill's strongest supporters. Seven RCPsych members, including a former president and vice president, have written to MPs to distance themselves from their college's concern, instead describing the current Bill as 'workable, safe and compassionate' with a 'clear and transparent legal framework'. Meanwhile, the Children's Commissioner for England has repeated her call for children's voices to be heard in the conversation, saying their views had been 'at best been sidelined, at worst written off entirely simply because they would not fall within the scope of the current scope of legislation'. Demonstrators both for and against a change in the law once again gathered outside Parliament to make their views known on the Bill. Campaigners against a change in the law gather outside Parliament (James Manning/PA) Disability campaigner George Fielding, representing campaign group Not Dead Yet UK, argued the Bill 'risks state-sanctioned suicide' but Claire Macdonald, director of My Death, My Decision said 'no-one should be forced to suffer, and the British public wants politicians to change the law on assisted dying'. In a letter to MPs this week, Ms Leadbeater said supporters and opponents appear in agreement that 'if we are to pass this legislation it should be the best and safest Bill possible'. She added: 'I'm confident it can and will be.' As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally-ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. MPs are entitled to have a free vote on the Bill and any amendments, meaning they vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Moment BBC Question Time audience turns on Labour minister for 'outrageous' migrant claim - as more small boat migrants make crossing
This is the moment a BBC Question Time audience turned on a Labour minister for 'outrageously' claiming the most small boat migrants are women and children. More than 14,800 people have arrived in Britain after making the crossing so far in 2025 - making it the worst start to the year on record. The arrivals continued today, with pictures showing migrants being bussed away from Dover after being intercepted by a Border Force cutter. The issue was a major topic of debate on last night's Question Time, which hosted several senior politicians including Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Reform UK's Zia Yusuf. But Mr Jones provoked fury by claiming in front of a live audience that 'the majority of the people in these boats are children, babies and women'. Following cries of disbelief from members of the public, Mr Yusuf interjected to say that 'more than 90 per cent of them are adult men'. Home Office figures show 73% per cent of small boat arrivals in 2024 - or 26,999 out of all 36,816 arrivals - were adult males. Following Mr Yusuf's intervention, host Fiona Bruce turned to Mr Jones and asked: 'You're saying that's not true?' He replied: 'I'm saying it's not true. I'm saying this is controversial for a reason and you're told you're not supposed to challenge the audience on Question Time, but I'm going to. 'When there are babies and children put into that position by human trafficking gangs, who are coming across the Channel with skin burns from the oil from those boats mixing with the salt sea water, I would ask any of you to look at those babies and children and say 'go back'. Mr Yusuf hit back: 'In my previous answer, I made the case that this Government prioritises foreign citizens over citizens of the United Kingdom. After that testimony, I can rest my case. 'The vast, vast majority of people making the journey from France by small boat are fighting age, military age, males, not women and children. 'We're talking about asylum hotels, and Rachel Reeves saying we're going to shut down asylum hotels. 'I spent many weeks in the constituency of Runcorn and Helsby. Runcorn is a very deprived area. And do you know the issue that exercised people so much? The reason is primarily because of HMOs – houses of multiple occupancies. 'In an unholy alliance of Serco and Yvette Cooper, illegal migrants are being deposited into communities and there's no say for the local people.' At her spending review on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves pledged that migrants would be moved out of hotel accommodation by the time of the next general election, due in 2029. Ms Reeves also promised £1 billion of savings by speeding up the asylum system, along with £280 million investment in future years for the new Border Security Command. Latest figures show £3.1 billion was spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels in 2023-24, out of a total asylum support bill of £4.7 billion. More than 30,000 asylum seekers are housed in about 200 hotels across Britain, many of whom arrived illegally in dinghies, and ministers are looking at moving them into derelict tower blocks and student digs. But despite Ms Reeves' pledge to end the use of hotels, the Tories pointed out that the small print of her Spending Review documents revealed that £2.5 billion will still be spent each year on asylum support by the end of the decade. It comes as dramatic pictures emerged of French police using tear gas and pepper spray to disperse hundreds of migrants trying to board boats headed for Britain. Some officers were seen entering the water and dragging them back to shore. A major point of contention between Britain and France has been the French authorities' refusal to turn back migrants who are already in the water. Despite officers' efforts, a significant number of migrants were able to successfully cross this morning - with pictures showing them at Dover. A record five months of the year has brought the provisional arrivals today so far to 14,812 arrivals. This has also surpassed the highest total recorded for the first six months of the year, which was previously 13,489 on June 30 last year. In 2024, the number of arrivals did not reach more than 14,000 until July 9 (14,058). The Government has vowed to crack down on people-smuggling and Channel crossings since coming to power in July last year. This includes funding elite officers to increase patrols along the northern French coastline and launching a specialist intelligence unit in Dunkirk to track down people smugglers. It has also established a Border Security Command to lead strategy and its Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, currently going through Parliament, seeks to introduce new criminal offences and hand counter terror-style powers to law enforcement agencies to target smuggling gangs. However, critics have repeatedly warned the 'smash the gangs' strategy will not work unless there is a deterrent strong enough to prevent migrants from wanting to make the crossing in the first place.
