The Health Secretary is to vote against legalising assisted dying – because of the state of NHS end-of-life care.
Wes Streeting will use his free vote to oppose plans to allow euthanasia being introduced by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater.
Her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was formally introduced to Parliament last week and is due to be debated and possibly voted on for the first time at the end of next month.
But sources confirmed a report in the Times today that Mr Streeting feels that people are unable to make an informed choice about ending their lives because of the dire situation in palliative care.
He spoke on the subject at the regular meeting of Labour MPs on Monday night, after launching a new campaign to improve the public health service.
That followed a weekend visit to a hospital in his constituency, where, according to the Sun on Sunday, he told staff: ‘The challenge is, I do not think palliative care, end-of-life care, in this country is good enough to give people a real choice.’
Mr Streeting is the most high-profile minister to say they will vote no to changing the law in England and Wales, following Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s confirmation yesterday.
Wes Streeting will use his free vote to oppose a law change being introduced by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater.
Ms Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was formally introduced to Parliament last week and is due to be debated and possibly voted on for the first time at the end of next month.
High-profile voices for change include Dame Esther Rantzen, while the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and actor and disability campaigner Liz Carr have voiced their opposition.
High-profile voices for change include Dame Esther Rantzen, while the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and actor and disability campaigner Liz Carr have voiced their opposition.
Mr Welby has warned that introducing any form of legislation for assisted dying could lead to a ‘slippery slope’ which widens the eligibility criteria, while Silent Witness star Carr said the disabled could be especially vulnerable.
Sir Keir Starmer had said he was ‘committed’ to allowing a vote on legalising assisted dying should his party win the general election.
The Bill’s long title states that it would ‘allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life’.
Expected to be more commonly referred to as Ms Leadbeater’s Bill for choice at the end of life for the terminally ill, it will be debated and likely voted on on November 29.
The precise detail of the proposed legislation – setting out the circumstances which could lead someone to be eligible – is unlikely to be published until closer to that debate.
Although Ms Leadbeater has indicated she would like to see a ‘time frame’ on the diagnosis of patients, and she told BBC’s Newsnight there must be both medical and judicial safeguarding when it was put to her that the Bill could require two medical professionals and a judge to agree.
If the Bill passes the first stage in the Commons, it will go to committee stage where MPs can table amendments, before facing further scrutiny and votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, meaning any change in the law would not be agreed until next year at the earliest.