Latest news with #SarahBool
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
New Northants MPs reflect on 'amazing' and 'challenging' year
Just over a year ago Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government swept to power, winning a huge parliamentary well as the political map of the country changing, Northamptonshire underwent a significant shift, with six of the seven constituencies getting brand new them were Sarah Bool in South Northamptonshire, who held the seat for the Conservatives, and Mike Reader, Labour MP for Northampton South, who won his seat from the has the past 12 months been like for them and what is life like in the role? 'The British public are really watching' Bool has previously stood in Vauxhall in the 2019 election before succeeding Dame Andrea Leadsom in South back on the last 12 months, she says: "The very first time I actually sat in the chamber was a real pinch me moment."You touch the green leather and think of everything and everyone who has spoken there. "For me, that was quite a magical moment, after years and years of being interested and wanting to get into politics, to finally be there was absolutely incredible."Bool is the Private Parliamentary Secretary (PPS) for the shadow Home Office and shadow Attorney General, as well as being on a select committee and the vice chair of another parliamentary says being in opposition brings plenty of challenges, including time management, and there is "all the national legislation and all the constituency things that are the most important" to consider. However, she says she gets interesting experiences as part of her job, such as when she did "a loop-the-loop in an aeroplane" as part of an armed forces parliamentary scheme. Bool got to ask her first Prime Minister's Question (PMQ) last month about the need for early the experience, she says: "[It was] Nerve-wracking, it's the one moment where you know the British public are really watching and the chamber is full."Bool says it was "quite intimidating, but what was lovely is you can get the support from your colleagues, so you hear the 'here, here's' as you're standing there". 'The other side of parliament' Reader joined the Labour Party in 2015 and was selected for the party's future candidate programme in 2022, before being elected to on his first day in Westminster, he says: "Going into parliament that day was the first time I'd ever been into the chamber, so it was a real experience that will live with me forever."He says he works six days a week and thinks it's more than just a job, adding: "It's more of a calling because you are always on call, people scrutinise everything you do, and the rewards are amazing, but also the stress and the experiences are quite challenging sometimes." Reader's office is in Richmond House, and the building previously housed the Department for Health. He shares the space with another MP. In his half of the room, he's got a desk area for his staff, and plenty of trinkets that he has collected over the past 12 months from his travels."The commando comic I got when I visited the commandos in Plymouth," he explains, going through his shelf. "Some little logistics trucks because one in five people in Northampton South work in the logistics sector, and then little trinkets I've collected when I've been to different events and other things, including my boarding passes from when I went to the Falklands."In the corner of the room is a pop-up banner from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Wrestling, which Reader the summer recess, his office offers two tours every Tuesday and Wednesday for community groups in Northampton."I thought it was a nice way to use this privilege of having full access to a UNESCO World Heritage site, a beautiful building, to demystify it for people and show them the other side of parliament that they would maybe never see." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Independent
27-01-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Diabetic MP's bid to ensure her condition is not included as cause for assisted death
An MP who developed type 1 diabetes has spoken of her fears that the proposed assisted dying legislation is so vague her condition could be included as a valid reason to end someone's life. Sarah Bool, the new Tory MP for South Northamptonshire, laid an amendment to Kim Leadbeater 's controversial bill last week to highlight the issue, and is calling for a list of conditions that should or should not included. Currently, there are no specific illnesses which are listed in the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. However, the draft legislation only specifies that someone should be diagnosed as having six months or less to live. The bill committee is due to debate the amendments on 4 February. Ms Bool told The Independent: 'I had a type 1 diabetes diagnosis three years ago, but the way the bill is drafted as it stands, I am caught potentially, because type 1 diabetes is a progressive illness that is not reversible by treatment. It's something that I can only manage. 'If I stop taking treatment, and there's no obligation for me to take it under this bill either, then I could reasonably die within six months, and actually die much quicker. 'I think one of the amendments that we've tried to put forward as well is potentially having the idea that actually there should be a list of conditions that that should or shouldn't be included, but this is one of my concerns.' The Tory MP first got the symptoms of diabetes in May 2021 and noticed she was eating a lot but losing weight. Type 1 diabetes is the most serious form and is incurable requiring daily medication. It was a condition former prime minister Theresa May also lives with. Ms Bool said: 'I've had a lot to come to terms with and I think that's possibly why I feel even stronger now about some of these issues because I looked and I was like, 'well, hold on a minute. I should never come within the remit of this bill'. 'I just know how vulnerable other people who have disabilities are, that there is that sort of expectation and that sort of pressure.' Critics of the bill, which passed its second reading in the Commons before Christmas, have previously raised concerns that the public perception it only applies to serious diseases like cancer rather than just manageable health conditions is wrong. Former multi gold medal winning paralympic athlete turned disability campaigner Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson argued that the bill could apply to her if she had a sore that failed to heal properly. Added to that section 15 of Bill would allow for someone else other than the patient to sign the relevant document as a proxy requesting termination of their life, which critics believe potentially opens it up to abuse from bad families and doctors. The draft bill does say that mental illness should not be included but even with this clause, Ms Bool, a trained lawyer, has warned that the language does not properly protect people with mental health problems. Ms Bool pointed out that the mental health caveat used the language ' for the avoidance of doubt, a person is not to be considered if they have one or both of a mental disorder or a disability.' However, she noted: 'That wording 'for the avoidance of doubt' is just legalese. It's not binding. There was no weight behind it.' Ms Leadbeater, the MP behind the historic bill, has previously said she is 'very open' to hearing how safeguards can be strengthened. She said some 40 people have been invited to give evidence to the committee when it meets next month.
