Assisted dying: Medical students voice opposition as some MPs urge vote delay
It would be the first vote on the overall Bill to take place since November, when the proposed legislation passed second reading stage by a majority of 55 on a historic day which saw MPs support the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales.
But, days ahead of third reading, a group of Labour MPs opposed to the Bill have written to Commons leader Lucy Powell asking for more time to scrutinise a Bill they brand as 'perhaps the most consequential piece of legislation that has appeared before the House in generations'.
They added that it 'alters the foundations of our NHS, the relationship between doctor and patient, and it strips power away from Parliament, concentrating it in the hands of future secretaries of state for health'.
They also raised concerns that MPs might not have a copy of the final Bill by the time they vote, as some outstanding amendments will still be being considered on Friday morning.
The MPs, including Dame Meg Hiller, wrote: 'We implore you as the Leader of the House to allocate more Parliamentary time to the scrutiny of this Bill, the valid concerns that members have about its implementation, and the consequences it could have on vulnerable populations.'
Their letter came as medical students sent their own to MPs, citing concerns about the Bill.
The student doctors, from universities across the UK, said: 'We do not oppose dignified death – far from it. We oppose a Bill that risks offering death in place of care, that widens health inequalities, that places vulnerable patients in danger, and that reshapes the ethical foundation that our profession is built upon without any clear support.
'As future doctors, we may not yet be the voice of this profession – but we will be. And we are asking to be heard.'
But doctor and MP Simon Opher, who backs the Bill, said it is 'no surprise that medical students, like GPs and most other professionals, have a range of opinions on assisted dying'.
He referenced one survey he said had been shared with him and showed a majority of medical students supported assisted dying in cases of terminal illness and unbearable suffering.
The Bill's sponsor, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, has repeatedly stated that her proposed legislation has been strengthened since it was first introduced last year, insisting it is subject to robust safeguards.
As it stands, the Bill 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 decide according to their conscience rather than along party lines.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer voted in favour of the Bill last year, but said the Government remains neutral on the issue.
Both Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood voted against.
Last week, a majority of MPs approve a new clause, tabled by Dame Meg, to ensure medics cannot raise the topic of assisted dying with under-18s.
Her separate amendment to prevent health workers from bringing up the issue with adults patients before they have raised it was voted down.
A ban on advertising assisted dying should the Bill pass into law was also supported.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Labour is 'tinkering around the edges' with its £100m plans to crackdown on small boat migrant crossings, Tories warn
Labour has been accused of 'tinkering around the edges' with its plans to crackdown on small boat crossings. The Home Office has announced measures to get tough on smuggling gangs, despite more than 25,000 illegal arrivals so far this year – but the Tories branded them 'a series of gimmicks'. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper this weekend unveiled plans to introduce sentences of up to five years in prison for anyone who advertises small boat crossings or fake passports on social media. She said she would introduce a fast-track scheme to tackle the asylum backlog, with a new law to overhaul the appeals system, in a bid to get decisions on cases within weeks. And today, the Home Office has announced £100 million of extra funding to support the pilot of the new 'one in, one out' returns agreement between the UK and France. It will also pay for up to 300 more National Crime Agency officers and new technology and equipment to step up intelligence gathering on smuggling gangs. And there will be more overtime for immigration compliance and enforcement teams as well as funding for interventions in transit countries. The deal, agreed last month, means the UK will be able to send migrants back to France in exchange for asylum seekers with links to Britain. But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticised the announcements. He told the Daily Mail last night: 'This weak Labour Government has come up with a series of gimmicks to grab headlines instead of fixing the issue. 'Tinkering around the edges which will make no real difference. 'There have been more than 25,000 illegal crossings so far this year, making it the worst year in history. 'Labour has failed and their laughable claim to smash the gangs lies in tatters. They have no serious plan, just excuses, while ruthless criminal gangs flood our borders with illegal immigrants.' A No 10 source hit back: 'The Tories focused on headlines and gimmickry, we're focused on what works. 'Through our returns deal with France, investment in a border security and speeding up returns, we're making steady progress.' Public anger over small boat crossings has focused on the issue of taxpayer-funded migrant hotels, which have been the centre of a series of protests in recent weeks including in London, Newcastle and Epping in Essex. Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick warned that 'the public's patience with the asylum hotels and with the whole issue of illegal migration has snapped'. In response, Dame Angela Eagle promised that the Government was 'doing the detailed work' to crack down on small boat crossings. Asked on Sky News what her message was to protesters, Dame Angela said: 'Anger doesn't get you anywhere. 'What we have to do is recognise the values we have in this country, the rule of law we have in this country, the work we're doing with the police to protect people. 'We will close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament. We'll do it faster if we can.' Dame Angela also said: 'We are doing all we can to deal with the challenges that the police are facing on the streets to make sure that women and girls are safe, and in fact, that everybody is safe on our streets.' She had earlier told Times Radio: 'Those who are worried and demonstrating have an absolute right to do that, so long as they do it peacefully. 'People don't have a right to then have a pop at the police, which has been happening in some isolated cases outside hotels.' Referring to plans to let police seize devices from people suspected of facilitating people smuggling, Dame Angela said the Government does not 'want absolutely every phone'. She told Times Radio: 'But we do want the phones of the people that we think are organising and facilitating, and this extra money will enable us to do much quicker analytics of the phones that we seize. 'But of course, we've got to get the Border Security Bill on the statute book to give us those extra powers.' The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill has cleared the Commons but must undergo further scrutiny in the Lords before it becomes law. Turning to social media creators who advertise illegal routes into the UK, Dame Angela said: 'We will stop anyone who comes to the UK where we've got evidence, and what happens is that the people smugglers are getting people to say how safe the journeys were and do adverts once they're in the UK. 'We will stop that, and we will also deal with other jurisdictions and ask them to help us deal with this as well, we could certainly do that in the EU with our colleagues in Germany, in France.' Where there is 'evidence that legal routes to visas are being misused', the Government will 'tighten up the rules to stop that abuse happening', the minister added. The National Crime Agency has 91 ongoing investigations into people smuggling networks affecting the UK, the agency's director general of operations Rob Jones said. But speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Jenrick said: 'The public's patience with the asylum hotels and with the whole issue of illegal migration has snapped. 'This is an issue that is beyond party politics. 'It is causing immense harm to communities, and people's lives are being wrecked as a result of it, and we simply have to fix it. 'I respect those people who are peacefully protesting outside hotels this weekend, I understand why they feel so concerned. 'They're seeing their communities damaged, and I'm afraid there is increasing evidence of a serious link between illegal migration, migration generally, and crime, particularly sexual crime, against women and girls.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Now Rachel Reeves is urged to slap VAT on private healthcare as ex-Labour leader Neil Kinnock sets out plans to raise billions more for the NHS
Rachel Reeves is being urged to charge VAT on private healthcare in order to raise billions of pounds more for the NHS. Lord Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader, has called on the Chancellor to remove the VAT exemption on private healthcare at her autumn Budget. The Labour peer - who also recently told Ms Reeves to introduce a 'wealth tax' - claimed this would 'generate much–needed revenue' for the NHS and would be 'widely supported' by the British public. The Government's recent U–turns on welfare reform and winter fuel payments have left Ms Reeves with a multibillion–pound black hole to fill in the nation's finances. This has fuelled expectations she will opt for further tax rises in the autumn. Ms Reeves has insisted she will stick to Labour's manifesto commitment not to hike taxes for 'working people'. Prior to last year's general election, the party said this involved not raising 'National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT'. But Labour could see removing the VAT exemption on private healthcare as a loophole to get around their manifesto pledges. After winning power in July 2024, Labour moved swiftly to charge 20 per cent VAT on private school fees. Analysis by the Good Growth Foundation found that charging 20 per cent VAT to private acute healthcare – but excluding the use of private hospitals by the NHS – could raise more than £2billion. The think tank, which has close links to Labour, also conducted polling that found support for greater taxation on public healthcare in order to help fund the NHS. A survey of more than 2,000 adults, conducted in June, showed that more than half (55 per cent) supported a windfall tax on private healthcare firms. Lord Kinnock said: 'Introducing VAT on private health provision could provide vital funding for the NHS and social care. 'After 14 years of underinvestment, many people are turning to private healthcare not out of choice, but because they cannot afford to wait. 'This has increasingly led to unequal access to care. Ending the VAT exemption to generate much–needed revenue is a reasonable and widely–supported step.' Praful Nargund, director of the Good Growth Foundation and a Labour parliamentary candidate at last year's general election,said: 'We have sleepwalked into a two tier-healthcare system, and we have to back the NHS. 'It is in a dire state: from 8am GP scrambles to months-long waiting lists. It's simply not good enough. 'People are being forced to go private for care they should get for free. That's not a system in need of tweaks, that's a system on the brink and in need of major reform. 'A windfall tax on private healthcare would be a bold, fair first step to fund an NHS the British public deserve.' Last month, Lord Kinnock - who led Labour between 1983 and 1992 - outlined his plans for a 'wealth tax' on Britons. He said a two per cent levy on assets worth more than £10million would raise up to £11billion a year and be popular with a 'great majority of the general public'. The Tories condemned such a tax as 'the worst thing to do' as they warned of a fresh exodus of wealth-creators from Britain.
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Rachel Reeves must slap VAT on private healthcare, warns ex-Labour leader Neil Kinnock
Ex-Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock said Rachel Reeves should remove the VAT exemption on private healthcare in the same way she did with private schools in this autumn's Budget Rachel Reeves should slap VAT on private healthcare to raise billions for the NHS, ex-Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock has said. The prominent politician said Rachel Reeves should remove the VAT exemption in the same way she did with private schools in this autumn's Budget. He said the move would raise 'vital funding' for public services and be 'widely supported' by the public. It comes as . The Chancellor is battling to plug a hole in the public finances following recent Government U-turns on cuts to disability benefits and the winter fuel allowance. Labour is constrained by how it can raise money after pledging in the election not to hike income tax, national insurance or VAT. But removing a VAT exemption on private healthcare could provide an opportunity for Ms Reeves to raise cash without breaking her election promise. Lord Kinnock told the i newspaper: 'Introducing VAT on private health provision could provide vital funding for the NHS and social care. 'After 14 years of underinvestment, many people are turning to private healthcare not out of choice, but because they cannot afford to wait. This has increasingly led to unequal access to care. Ending the VAT exemption to generate much-needed revenue is a reasonable and widely supported step.' Analysis by the Good Growth Foundation (GGF) think tank, which supports the policy, found more than £2billion could be raised by applying 20% VAT to private acute healthcare. This would excluding putting VAT on the use of private hospitals. Private acute healthcare covers short-term care and treatment for illnesses or injuries but does not include things like optician and dental appointments. The GGF said the area of care was worth £12.4bn in 2024. Some 55% of Brits support a 'windfall tax' on private healthcare firms, with 17% against it, according to a poll of 2,054 adults by the think tank in June. Praful Nargund, GGF's founder, said: 'We are sleepwalking into a two-tier healthcare system, and we have to back our NHS. 'The NHS is in a dire state: from 8am GP scrambles to months-long waits for cancer care, this is simply not good enough. People are being forced to go private for care they should get for free. 'That's not a system in need of tweaks – it's a system on the brink, in need of major reform. A windfall tax on private healthcare would be a bold, fair first step to fund the innovation and change we need in the NHS.' During the election, Labour pledged to scrap the VAT exemption enjoyed by private schools to pay for 6,500 new teachers for state schools. From January this year, all private education and boarding services became subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20%. The Department for Education says ending tax breaks on private schools will help raise around £1.8billion per year by the 2029/30 financial year. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has faced fury over the policy from right-wing parties. Critics claim it will put pressure on state schools as they will have to accept kids from families who can no longer afford private schools, if their provider chooses to hike fees to pay for the VAT uplift. In December, Ms Phillipson said she had received abuse over the policy but added: 'I'll wear that as a badge of honour if it means that we drive up standards in state schools and invest in better life chances for our children.'
