Latest news with #DameHarriettBaldwin
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Questions grow over true cost of UK-EU deal as Starmer stays silent
By Keir Starmer was last night under pressure to come clean about the bill for his controversial Brexit 'surrender'. The Prime Minister repeatedly ducked questions in Parliament about how much Britain will pay the EU for his deal amid speculation it will run to hundreds of millions of pounds a year. During clashes in the Commons, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch (pictured) said Sir Keir had not said 'a single word... about the money that we will now be sending to Brussels'. While Tory MP Dame Harriett Baldwin said it was time for the PM to set out 'how much UK taxpayers' money is he willing to hand over to the EU in order to sign up to its protectionist demands'. Sir Keir admitted that the deal will involve the UK making a 'proportionate contribution' to the EU but refused to say how much it would be. Tory grandee Sir Bernard Jenkin said the PM was 'submitting to EU regulations without any control and starting to pay money back to the European Union – he is giving up control over our laws and restoring payments to the European Union'. He predicted Labour would 'pay a bitter political price for this betrayal'. The PM, however, insisted his deal would be 'good for our country and good for the economy'. Downing Street denied the PM had signed a blank cheque to the EU but said the implementation of parts of the deal is still being negotiated. The agreement, announced on Monday, commits the UK to rejoining the EU's Erasmus+ scheme for young people. The cost of this has previously been estimated at more than £200million. But the UK must also make an 'appropriate financial contribution' to help with the EU's costs in monitoring Britain's compliance with the bloc's rules in areas like food and farming standards. Britain will also have to pay for its firms to access the EU's new £125billion defence procurement programme. But Sir Keir insisted that Britain will not be 'paying into the EU budget in the way that EU members do', with payments instead tied directly to benefits. No 10 said the financial cost of the deal would be dwarfed by the benefits, which it estimates will add £9billion to the economy by 2040. The PM was also boosted by an intervention from Morrisons' chief executive Rami Baitieh, who said the deal would 'ease a source of pressure on food prices'. In the Commons, Eurosceptic MPs condemned the deal. Mrs Badenoch said the deal was 'bad for bills; it is bad for jobs; and it is bad for borders'. She condemned the decision to extend EU fishing access to British waters for another 12 years as a 'sellout'. And she said the decision to permanently align with the EU's rules in areas like agriculture was a 'total capitulation', adding: 'The Prime Minister is going to pay the EU to abide by laws that we have no say on.' Tory MP Mark Francois said: 'The British people voted peacefully and democratically to leave the European Union, so why has the Prime Minister surrendered that right and made us a rule-taker from the EU once again?' Sir Keir described the warning as 'nonsense' and insisted that the UK 'will have a role in shaping any future rules'. He said the deal was just a 'first step', adding that Labour hoped to 'take our co-operation and co-ordination further, step by step.' But he appeared to rule out rejoining the EU's customs union, saying that would cut across other recent trade deals with India and the U.S., adding: 'I am not prepared to rip up the benefits that we have negotiated in those deals'. In Brussels, EU diplomats celebrated, with one telling the BBC: 'The deal is balanced – arguably with favourable terms for the EU – and simply shows that splendid isolation is not an option in today's climate.' The deal has provoked a furious backlash from the fishing industry, with senior figures describing it as a 'horror show'. Pictured: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R) leave after holding a press conference following the UK-EU summit at the Lancaster House in London, Britain, 19 May 2025. But Environment Secretary Steve Reed (pictured) claimed it was a 'reasonably good deal' for the sector. He said ministers had resisted pressure from Brussels to allow even more access for EU trawlers and that the deal should spell the end of the bloc's ban on British shellfish.
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Advertising assisted dying set to be banned in attempt to strengthen Bill
Kim Leadbeater has proposed that advertising assisted dying services should be banned as she attempts to strengthen her Bill before it is put before Parliament. The Labour MP, who is sponsoring the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill which would allow people in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to end their lives, suggested that those promoting such a service should be fined. On Friday all MPs will be able to debate changes to the legislation in the House of Commons for the first time since voting to legalise assisted dying in principle in November. Ms Leadbeater has tabled an amendment to the Bill banning adverts 'whose purpose or effect is to promote a voluntary assisted dying service'. It comes after the pressure group Dignity in Dying posted adverts on the London Underground network ahead of the first Commons vote on the Bill. One of them featured a woman alongside the phrase: 'My dying wish is my family won't see me suffer and I won't have to.' Dame Harriett Baldwin, a critic of the legislation, said: 'I still plan to vote against the Bill when it returns to the House of Commons but if MPs choose to approve this legislation, I wanted to make sure that we don't face the nightmare scenario of our daytime TV screens full of troubling adverts offering assisted suicide.' Ms Leadbeater said: 'I promised to return to the issue of advertising after it was raised during the committee stage of the Bill. There's widespread consensus that if the law is to change we wouldn't want to see adverts for assisted dying. 'I was happy to work with Dame Harriett Baldwin and Rebecca Paul, two MPs who didn't support the Bill when it was last voted on, to put this into the legislation. I've always made it clear I'm ready to work with people across the House to make the Bill stronger and more effective and I hope this change will be supported when it comes before MPs for approval on Friday.' Last week, Ms Leadbeater told the Hansard Society podcast: 'I've spoken to colleagues across the House about this issue, and one thing I am very clear about is that if the law is to change it would feel inappropriate for this to be something which was advertised.' Critics have expressed concern that there remains a lack of safeguards to protect vulnerable groups after MPs on the Bill committee heard from experts. In another blow to the Bill, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) came out in opposition to the legislation this week. Dr Lade Smith, president of the RCP, said the organisation remained neutral on the principle but had a number of concerns about the legislation in its current form. It found 'a number of issues' including the possibility a terminally ill patient could be suffering from a 'very treatable' mental disorder and the fact that there was no requirement by someone who wanted to end their life to inform family members MPs have since tabled an amendment to ensure that t he next of kin of adults under the age of 25 must be informed if their relative is seeking an assisted death. Members of Parliament voted to legalise assisted dying by 330 votes to 275 last year. The Government has remained neutral on the issue and parliamentarians were able to vote according to their conscien ce. Sir Keir Starmer voted in favour of the Bill, along with Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor. But Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary and Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, all voted against it.
