Latest news with #GeorgeFreeman
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
More protections have been added to assisted dying bill, says Kim Leadbeater
The bill to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill people in England and Wales will be strengthened and made more workable by proposed changes, Kim Leadbeater, the MP behind the legislation, has said. As the House of Commons prepared to debate amendments, Leadbeater said fresh protections had been introduced to allow a further check on applications for assisted dying, and ensure doctors and others were able to opt out of involvement in the process. More than 100 campaigners on both sides of the assisted dying argument gathered outside parliament in a sign of strength of feeling about the issue. The bill, which passed its second reading by 55 votes, had been due to face another yes-or-no vote on Friday, the committee stage. But the Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, granted more time for the debate, meaning the only votes will be on specific amendments. Despite the lack of overall vote, the debate will be closely watched for any signs of shifting sentiment among MPs. Opponents of the bill have talked up the idea that a number of supporters have since changed their minds, but only a few MPs have said this publicly. The Conservative MP George Freeman, who backed the second reading in November, has since said he will vote no, and there are a handful of others understood to be changing their minds. The TV presenter and campaigner Esther Rantzen has urged all MPs to back Kim Leadbeater's 'strong, safe, carefully considered bill' to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. In an impassioned letter, the broadcaster, who has stage-four lung cancer, said she and other terminally ill adults asked MPs to allow 'a good, pain-free death for ourselves and those we love and care for'. In Friday's debate, Jess Asato, a Labour MP, intervened to ask Leadbeater if she would dissociate herself from what she said was Esther Rantzen's 'distasteful and disrespectful' comment about opponents of the bill being motivated by undeclared religious beliefs. Leadbeater said she had not seen the remarks. During the debate, some MPs raised concerns that the bill could allow applicants to 'shop around for doctors' to agree to approve their assisted dying request. Leadbeater said: 'I reject the assertion that patients will shop around, bearing in mind we are talking about dying people: they're not in a position to start shopping around for services.' Othes, including the Tory MP Rebecca Paul, objected to the idea that people with anorexia, mental health problems or learning difficulties could under some circumstances become eligible for assisted dying through loopholes in the bill, and urged further safeguards. A group of MPs from medical backgrounds also implored colleagues to support the bill, saying most healthcare professionals 'understand that the current law is not working'. The MPs' letter is signed by three former doctors – Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative), Simon Opher and Peter Prinsley (both Labour) – and a former nurse, Kevin McKenna (Labour). They criticised what they called the 'misleading' idea that medical professionals tended to oppose assisted dying, saying surveys had shown at worst mixed sentiments. They wrote: 'In our experience, most healthcare professionals understand that the current law is not working. It criminalises compassion and forces dying people into situations no civilised healthcare system should accept: unbearable pain, unmitigated suffering, or the traumatic decision to end their lives overseas. 'As doctors and clinicians, we would not tolerate such a system in any other area of care. As parliamentarians, we cannot defend it now.' Under the timetable set out by Hoyle, two sets of the amendments agreed in the committee stage will be voted on, first on Friday and then on 13 June. Leadbeater insisted on Thursday that there had been no major drop in support. 'There might be some move in either direction but certainly not a huge amount of movement,' she told LBC radio.
Times
14-05-2025
- Health
- Times
Sentiment turning against assisted dying bill, MPs claim
Opponents of assisted dying have said criticism from psychiatrists is a 'blow to the foundations' of a contentious bill that returns to the Commons on Friday — but both sides believe it is still likely to pass. Those opposed to changing the law believe they are seeing 'multiple' MPs come over to their side as practical concerns mount about the bill, while some in government believe sentiment is turning against legalising assisted dying. George Freeman, the former Conservative minister, has become only the third MP to publicly say he will switch sides, after Lee Anderson and Rupert Lowe. He told Times Radio that the bill put forward by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater risked creating a 'suicide culture' and a 'Dignitas industry'. • Sarah Ditum:
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Residents nervous about flood risk, says Mid Norfolk MP
An MP said constituents in his county were increasingly "nervous and worried" about inland flooding and appealed to the government to take action. George Freeman, the Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk, told a debate in Parliament that 1,000 properties in the county have been flooded in the past 18 months "with sewage washing between houses".He called for housebuilders to be compelled to provide adequate drainage and for more central funding for drainage boards, which manage water levels in inland Hardy, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for water and flooding, said she took the concerns "very seriously" and a record amount of money was going into flood prevention. Freeman added that 22 villages in his constituency have suffered serious flooding in the past five years. Freeman told MPs internal flooding was no longer a marginal issue in places such as Norfolk, as a combination of climate change and housebuilding had caused it to occur in places where it had not been seen five or six years ago. "The patient people of Mid Norfolk are getting really impatient with this," he said. "On behalf of all those people who are very nervous and worried - one constituent was so worried about this that they took their own life - I urge the minister to be bold and brave," he added. Mr Freeman is working on a parliamentary bill to give homeowners more protection from flooding."The only way to make [developers] take this seriously is to say, 'Look if you build and within five or ten years there is significant flooding that never used to happen you're going to be on the hook for upgrading the drains… and doing the repair work'."We have to make the directors of those companies say, "I think we'd better upgrade, we'd better do the investment upfront," he said. Freeman was supported by Steff Aquarone, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk, who said: "We need more homes… but although North Norfolk Council does an excellent job pushing developers as hard as it can, it needs the government to provide it with the legislative teeth to achieve more."Terry Jermy, the Labour MP for South West Norfolk, called for more funding for local drainage boards, which he said were struggling with old equipment while their pumps use more expensive electricity."For every pound that King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council collects in council tax, 43p now goes to internal drawing board levies, which is completely unsustainable," he said 'Record investment' In February the government committed £2.65bn over two years for flood and coastal erosion risk management, which included the repair and maintenance of existing infrastructure. Some of the funding has been allocated to Norfolk, as well as funding for internal drainage boards was increased by £ told the debate the government was "committed to building the homes that the country needs, while maintaining the highest levels of flood protection"."Inappropriate development should be avoided and where no suitable sites are available developers should ensure development is appropriately flood resilient and resistant," she added. The number of MPs in this debate showed that flooding has become a major concern in many parts of the country. Freeman believed the solution lied within giving local councils and other bodies more power and money to deal with flooding pinch government has strengthened the planning rules when it comes to flood risk and it said it would consider whether further changes were needed. Hardy said she was listening to the concerns of MPs. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brickbat: Up, Up, and Away
George Freeman, a Conservative Party member of the British Parliament, says the United Kingdom should become a global leader in regulating space activities, acting like a "watchdog" for satellite launches, space debris, and even lunar mining. Freeman says space is becoming a chaotic "wild west." He wants the United Kingdom to create rules to make space safer and more sustainable, like requiring satellites to be recyclable for easier access to licenses and financing. The post Brickbat: Up, Up, and Away appeared first on
The Guardian
07-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK has ‘huge opportunity' to be space watchdog, says former science minister
The UK's role in the next generation of interplanetary exploration should be that of a space 'watchdog' leading on regulation, insurance and finance, a former science minister has said, in an effort to rein in a situation he compared to the wild west. George Freeman, the MP for Mid Norfolk who was minister for science, research, technology and innovation under Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, said the need for standards was pressing. 'The truth is, with little or no regulation space is in danger of becoming a free-for-all wild west of commercial and military satellites being launched in the new space race,' he said. 'There are now 40 tonnes and a million pieces of debris. Ninety-eight per cent of satellites are uninsured. As the global commercial space sector takes off and more and more businesses are reliant on satellites, space is not unlike the early days of the automobile. But who wants to drive down a highway where 90% of vehicles are unmanned, have no insurance and you have to navigate around debris and broken down vehicles?' Freeman said as space minister he had focused on UK leadership in space regulation, insurance and finance; convening the industry partnership with the UK space sector and Lloyds of London to create the Earth∞Space Sustainability Initiative (ESSI), which aims to set global standards for the sector, and securing the backing of Canada, Japan and Switzerland through the global summit at the Royal Society. 'The idea of my space debris regulation and the creation of the Earth Space Sustainability Initiative was very simple,' he said. 'If you're compliant with the UK [standards] – if your satellite is retrievable, if it's rechargeable, if it's recyclable – you'll get quicker licensing, cheaper insurance and access to ESG [environmental, social and governance] finance.' Freeman added that by smart regulation, markets can be created for innovative UK companies, noting the satellite retrieval company Astroscale has a base in the UK. A shift from launching ever more satellites to increasing the spectrum bandwidth on satellite constellations, could also produce opportunities. 'It just isn't sustainable to continue the race for constellation coverage on the basis of the volume of satellites,' he said, arguing for a system where contractors carry ' multiple data streams in safely encrypted spectrum bandwidth for multiple operators'. While Freeman noted the UK does not have a fully integrated space industrial sector, he said it does have world-class science and technology and innovation. 'We are a Formula One pit lane of smart satellite manufacturing, telemetry, SatComms services and EO [Earth observation] applications,' he said. But it isn't only in the field of satellite technology where regulation will be important. From crewed missions to Mars to the prospect of lunar mining and even creating data centres on the moon, the opportunities space offers are myriad. Regulations around space debris, Freeman said, could act as a gateway to rules in other areas. 'It can gradually evolve,' the MP explained. 'You could imagine, say, on space traffic control, that you wouldn't get permission to launch from aviation authorities unless you've got a licence to operate. Licence to operate says you must be compliant with basic standards. 'You can't be littering space with metal. You can't be doing unregulated and dangerous nuclear, biological or chemical experiments on the surface of the moon. You can't be ripping out minerals, unless you've got an abstraction licence. So once you start to create a framework, you intermesh the permissions and stop rogue actors.' Freeman added the UK is well placed to lead on such matters. 'Space needs a global regulatory alliance led by and headquartered in a trusted nation. You need a country that's got a long and distinguished history as a trusted partner, a long, 300-year role as a regulator of choice, that believes in and is respected internationally for its legal system and is connected to financial market and international courts and jurisdiction,' he said. 'This is a huge opportunity for the UK. We should seize it.'
