dying – Hoang Viet

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Nov 23 2024

Justice secretary’s assisted dying intervention is explosive – and potentially embarrassing for the PM | Politics News

With six days to go before Friday’s historic Commons showdown on assisted dying, it’s the opponents who are turning up the heat.

The explosive attack on the bill by Shabana Mahmood follows the poignant and personal plea from Gordon Brown to MPs to reject the bill.

We knew the justice secretary is opposed to the bill. She has already made that clear. But her attack on it, in a letter to constituents, is brutal.

Read more: UK on ‘slippery slope’ to ‘death on demand’, warns justice secretary

She talks about a “slippery slope towards death on demand”. Savage. The state should “never offer death as a service”, she says. Chilling.

So much for Sir Keir Starmer attempting to cool the temperature in the row by urging cabinet ministers, whatever their view, to stop inflaming or attempting to influence the debate.

Ms Mahmood talks, as other opponents have, about pressure on the elderly, sick or disabled who feel they have “become too much of a burden to their family”.

She hits out at a “lack of legal safeguards” in the bill and pressure on someone into ending their life “by those acting with malign intent”.

Malign intent? Hey! That’s quite an assertion from a secretary of state for justice and lord chancellor who’s been urged by the PM to tone down her language.

It’s claimed that Sir Keir ticked off Wes Streeting, the health secretary, after he publicly opposed the bill and launched an analysis of the costs of implementing it.

Read more: Where does the cabinet stand on assisted dying?

Will the justice secretary now receive a reprimand from the boss? It’s a bit late for that. Critics will also claim Sir Keir’s dithering over the bill is to blame for cabinet ministers freelancing.

Shabana Mahmood is the first elected Muslim woman to hold a cabinet post. Elected to the Commons in 2010, she was also one of the first Muslim women MPs.

She told her constituents in her letter that it’s not only for religious reasons that she’s “profoundly concerned” about the legislation, but also because of what it would mean for the role of the state.

But of course, she’s not the only senior politician with religious convictions to speak out strongly against Kim Leadbeater’s bill this weekend.

Gordon Brown, son of the manse, who was strongly influenced by his father, a Church of Scotland minister, wrote about his opposition in a highly emotional article in The Guardian.

He spoke about the pain of losing his 10-day-old baby daughter Jennifer, born seven weeks prematurely and weighing just 2lb 4oz, in January 2002, after she suffered a brain haemorrhage on day four of her short life.

Read more: Gordon Brown says assisted dying should not be legalised

Mr Brown said that tragedy convinced him of the value and imperative of good end-of-life care, not the case for assisted dying. His powerful voice will strongly influence many Labour MPs.

And what of Kim Leadbeater? It’s looking increasingly as though she’s now being hung out to dry by the government, after initially being urged by the government to choose assisted dying after topping the private members bill ballot.

All of which will encourage Sir Keir’s critics to claim he looks weak. It is, or course, a private members bill and a free vote, which makes the outcome on Friday unpredictable.

But the dramatic interventions of the current lord chancellor and the former Labour prime minister are hugely significant, potentially decisive – and potentially embarrassing for a prime minister who appears to be losing control of the assisted dying debate.

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Nov 15 2024

Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman | Politics News

Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.

Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.

MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.

But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.

He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.

Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.

👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈

“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.

“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.

“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.

“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”

Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.

She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.

“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.

Read more on this story:
‘Fix care before assisted dying legislation’
Why assisted dying is controversial – and where it’s already legal

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.

The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.

Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.

The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.

MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.

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Nov 1 2024

Blur drummer calls assisted dying law ‘psychopathic’ after ex-wife travelled to Dignitas alone | Politics News

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree has called the UK’s current assisted dying law “psychopathic” after his terminally ill ex-wife travelled to Dignitas in Switzerland to die alone.

The 60-year-old supported former music industry and charity sector worker Paola Marra – who he married in the 1990s – as she battled breast and bowel cancer before she flew alone to Zurich in March following a terminal diagnosis.

She made the decision because the “pain and suffering can become unbearable”, she said in a film released after her death at the age of 53 called The Last Request.

Rowntree told The Guardian the current legal system showed “absolutely no empathy for the sufferer”.

He said he was joining calls for a change in the law ahead of the second reading later this month of a bill proposing the legalisation of assisted dying in England and Wales under strict controls.

The Parklife musician said the choice of criminalisation or a slow and uncomfortable death was “brutal” and he was “bloody angry” about the situation.

“If you’re considering taking your own life, you are to do it isolated and alone, and anyone that is even suspected of helping in any material way can be arrested [and] you can get 14 years in jail,” he told the paper.

“It’s utterly brutal for the ill person because anyone they tell is potentially at risk of arrest, so they have to creep around like a criminal.

“Not only that, but when the time comes, if they do decide to die with dignity and end their life at a time of their choosing, and in a way of their choosing, they have to do it unsupported by anyone, on their own, not able to hold anyone’s hand, not able to hug somebody and say goodbye.”

Rowntree offered to travel with Marra to Switzerland

Rowntree said he had offered to go to Switzerland with Ms Marra, after trying to persuade her of what he considered a more comfortable death in her home in London, but she said no.

She changed her mind for a time before later deciding to die alone, and pushed him to back the campaign to change the assisted dying law.

Although the full text has not yet been published, a second reading is scheduled for 29 November of a private member’s bill that would allow terminally ill adults to request and be provided with assistance to end their own lives – providing certain safeguards and protections are met.

When it is eventually put before MPs, possibly next year, they will be given a free vote, meaning they can follow their conscience rather than the party whip.

Dame Esther Rantzen and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby have backed the campaign calling for a change in the law.

‘This is psychopathic’

Rowntree, whose father John had bowel cancer and died earlier this year, said of the current law: “It is the system washing its hands of difficult problems in a way that I can’t stomach.

“That’s the whole point of the state. The state can declare war… and if the state isn’t going to take these kind of difficult decisions, what the f*** is the point in having the state?

“This is psychopathic, where we are now, because the whole point of this [should be] to try to make things easier for the real victim in this – the terminally ill person.”

The law states a person could face 14 years in prison for accompanying their loved ones to Dignitas, but Crown Prosecution Service guidance says they are “unlikely” to be prosecuted.

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Sep 13 2024

Assisted dying should be allowed in England, according to ‘citizens’ jury’ | UK News

Assisted dying should be legalised in England, according to a panel made up of members of the public.

The so-called “citizens’ jury” – a randomly selected group brought together to discuss the topic by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) – deliberated for eight weeks.

It concluded that if a person has a terminal illness and capacity to make their own decision about an assisted death, they should be able to legally access both physician-assisted suicide (where healthcare professionals prescribe lethal drugs to eligible patients to take themselves) and voluntary euthanasia (where healthcare professionals administer lethal drugs to patients with the intention of ending their life).

“This is a significant finding that will be valuable for policy makers who are considering whether and how to take forward legislative change,” said Professor Anne Kerr, chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ Assisted Dying Advisory Board.

Twenty-eight members of the public made up the jury, participating in an eight-week process designed to explore the complexity of assisted dying.

They heard from a range of experts and considered evidence before voting on whether the law should be changed to allow assisted death.

Read More:
Sir Keir Starmer says there is no money for the NHS without reform
Tories ‘squandered golden inheritance on NHS’, says Wes Streeting
Junior doctors begin voting on 22% pay offer

Twenty members either strongly agreed or tended to agree the law should change to permit assisted dying in England, while seven said they either strongly disagreed or tended to disagree with a law change and one person was undecided.

Assisted dying is legal in several countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Switzerland, and remains illegal in the UK.

Encouraging or assisting a suicide in England and Wales can lead to criminal prosecution and up to 14 years in prison.

The top two reasons for supporting a change in the law were to stop pain and a belief in an individual having the choice to end their own life legally.

The top two reasons against a change in the law were that it could be used for the wrong reasons if safeguarding is not in place, and that it could be misinterpreted or misused causing challenges for both society and the legal system.

Professor Katherine Sleeman, Laing Galazka Chair in Palliative Care at Kings College London warned safeguarding in this issue is not straightforward.

“The Nuffield Council’s jurors agreed that vulnerable people should not be pressured into choosing assisted deaths,” she told Sky News.

Professor Sleeman pointed to this week’s Darzi review and a recent King’s College London/Marie Curie Time To Care report which highlighted the perilous state of NHS services, and inadequacies in palliative and end of life care, with difficulty accessing services and support for dying people all too common.

“The big question is how to ensure this in a context where health and care services for dying people are frequently inadequate,” Professor Sleeman said.

Nearly all jury members felt that more funding should be put towards improving NHS palliative care.

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Jul 12 2024

Starmer ‘doubles down’ on promise for assisted dying vote – but hints it could take a year | Politics News

Sir Keir Starmer has “doubled down” on his promise to hold a free vote on assisted dying in the future.

The new prime minister has not committed to a timeline for considering a change of law, although hinted it may not be in the coming year.

But his stance is that MPs will be able to choose to vote with their conscience, rather than along party lines.

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Speaking on his trip to NATO in the US, the new prime minister was asked when he would hold the vote he had previously promised on the topic.

He said: “What I said was that we would provide time for this, obviously by way of a private member’s bill.”

A private member’s bill is a proposed change of law suggested in the Commons by an MP and not on behalf of the government.

The prime minister added: “There’ll be a free vote – that remains my position for reasons I set out.

“Having probably got more experience in this than most people having personally, looked at, tens of cases in my time as director of public prosecutions.

“As to the timing of it. I haven’t made a commitment on that, and I don’t want to because… It’s just, we’ve got to set our priorities for the first year or so.

“But I will double down on the commitment that we are going to do that. We will allow time for a private member’s bill. It will be a free vote.”

A free vote is when MPs can vote with their conscience or personal belief, as opposed to being told how to by their parties.

It is common on matters to do with health, religion or military intervention.

Read more:
Starmer promises Dame Esther vote on assisted dying
Five stories that bring the assisted dying debate home

The debate on assisted dying is often impassioned, and has come to the fore recently following comments from Dame Esther Rantzen.

The That’s Life! presenter revealed she had joined the Swiss Dignitas clinic after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

She said she believed it was “important the law catches up with what the country wants” in making assisted dying legal.

More than 200,000 people signed a petition calling for a vote on assisted dying, and MPs debated the matter at the end of April this year.

Many shared stories related to losing relatives and loved ones, and how it informed their view on the topic of assisted dying.

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Mar 14 2024

Cancer cases on the rise despite fewer middle-aged people dying from the disease | UK News

Fewer middle-aged people are dying from cancer than at any point in 25 years, despite cases rising, according to new research.

A Cancer Research UK study found death rates among people aged between 35 and 69 have nosedived, thanks to screening, better treatment and fewer people smoking.

However, the Britain-wide study warned that improvements in survival are slowing down, while cancer cases are rising, with a 57% jump in men and a 48% jump in women over the quarter of a century studied.

In 1993, 55,014 cancer cases were registered in males, but this rose to 86,297 in 2018, while in women the rise was from 60,187 to 88,970.

Researchers said the rise was largely driven by increases in prostate and breast cancer, mostly due to better screening.

However, there were also “concerning” rises in melanoma, liver, oral and kidney cancers.

While cases are also rising due to population growth, obesity, drinking and inactivity are also playing a part, the researchers said.

Cancer Research UK claims that policies being brought in to combat smoking, obesity and alcohol, could prevent around 37,000 by 2040.

According to the study, four cancers (liver, melanoma, oral and kidney) showed “substantial increases in incidence” of more than 2% per year in both sexes across the period.

These are linked to lifestyle factors, such as alcohol, smoking, sun exposure and obesity, according to the study.

“Increases in liver cancer incidence and mortality for both men and women are very concerning, with nearly one in two attributable to modifiable risk factors,” they said.

“With high prevalence of overweight and obesity and diabetes in the general population, other studies expect the rates to remain high.”

Being overweight or obese can cause 13 types of cancer including stomach, bowel, liver, pancreatic, gallbladder, breast, uterus, ovary, kidney and thyroid.

Alcohol has been linked to seven types of cancer, including mouth, upper throat, larynx, oesophagus, breast and bowel cancer.

Read more:
Olivia Munn reveals breast cancer diagnosis
Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers dies aged 66
Esther Rantzen ‘disappointed’ after assisted dying report

The study found that, overall, death rates have dropped by 37% in men and by 33% in women over the 25 years, when accounting for the growing and ageing population.

Success against individual cancers is noted.

Deaths from cervical cancer fell by 54%, reflecting the success of NHS cervical screening and HPV vaccine programmes.

Lung cancer deaths also fell, by 53% in men and 21% in women, thanks to a fall in the number of smokers.

Drops were also observed for stomach, mesothelioma and bladder cancers in men, and stomach and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in women.

Cancer Research UK’s head of cancer intelligence and lead author of the study Jon Shelton said: “We must continue to prevent as many cancer cases as possible, diagnose cancers sooner and develop kinder treatments.”

“Cancer patients won’t feel the full benefits of advances in research breakthroughs and innovation, including new cancer treatments, without a long-term plan and funding from the UK government.”

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “I welcome the positive findings of this report. Through innovations in technology and treatment, cancer screening programmes and measures to help people quit smoking, survival rates are improving across almost all types of cancer.”

For the study, researchers used UK-wide data to examine trends in men and women aged 35 to 69 who were newly diagnosed with, or died from, cancer between 1993 and 2018.

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Nov 11 2023

Mother found dying from stab wound by her two children in Greater Manchester | UK News

A mother who was found dying from a stab wound by her two young children in Greater Manchester has died.

Perseverance Ncube, 35, was discovered with a single wound to her chest before being taken to hospital where she later died of her injuries.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said a 45-year-old man had been arrested by officers on suspicion of murder and remains in custody after fleeing the scene.

Officers were called to reports of a woman found with serious injuries on Dukesgate Grove in Little Hulton, near Salford, at around 2.40 am on Friday.

The force said its inquiries indicated Ms Ncube was known to the suspect and it was a targeted attack.

She ‘lived for her children’

Her family said in a statement: “It is with immense pain that we say goodbye to Perseverance Ncube, also known as Percy to her loved ones.

“She was a loving and devoted mother who lived for her children, family, and friends.”

They added: “Percy had just celebrated her 35th birthday in October, and her passing has left us with an immeasurable sense of loss.

“Our focus now is on supporting her children as they continue their journey without their mother.”

‘Horrific attack on a mother’

Detective Chief Inspector Gina Brennand of GMP’s Major Incident Team said: “We are in the early stages of our investigation, and an experienced team of detectives continue to work extremely hard to understand a comprehensive timeline of events that will help us piece together what has happened earlier this morning.

“This was a truly horrific attack on a mother, witnessed by her two young children and we really need the public to come forward and give information to us that may be able to assist our enquiries to find answers for them.”

GMP is appealing to motorists and residents in the area who may have captured dashcam, CCTV or doorbell camera footage to get in contact.

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Mar 16 2023

Leila Borrington: Woman who filmed stepson, 3, as he lay dying from brain injury jailed for 15 years | UK News

A woman who filmed her three-year-old stepson as he lay dying from a brain injury has been jailed for 15 years for manslaughter, assault and causing grievous bodily harm.

Leila Borrington, 23, was handed the jail sentence at Nottingham Crown Court today in relation to three-year-old Harvey Borrington’s death in Nottinghamshire in August 2021.

Mr Justice Nicklin said while passing sentence that Harvey’s death must have been the result of a “sustained violent assault”.

The judge also said that the unlawful killing of the three-year-old, who had severe non-verbal autism, had had a profound effect on his loved ones.

The stepmother, from Jacksdale, Nottinghamshire, was cleared of murder but found guilty of unlawful killing, wounding and assault last month.

The month long-trial heard Harvey had sustained a fatal head injury.

Text messages sent by Ms Borrington after she had broken Harvey’s arm in April 2021 showed “a shocking lack of care and concern” for the child, the judge noted.

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Jan 1 2023

‘Up to 500 people could be dying each week’ due to emergency care delays | UK News

About 500 people could be dying each week due to emergency care delays, a senior healthcare official has warned.

Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said he thinks waiting times for December will be the worst he has ever seen.

More than a dozen NHS trusts and ambulance services declared critical incidents over the festive period as a severe flu outbreak and rising COVID cases are adding pressure to the system.

Read more: Number of flu cases in hospital seven times higher than November

Dr Boyle told Times Radio: “We went into this December with the worst-ever performance against our target and the highest-ever occupancy levels in hospital.

“We don’t know about the waiting time figures because they don’t come out for a couple of weeks; I’d be amazed if they’re not the worst ever that we’ve seen over this December.

“What we’re seeing now in terms of these long waits is being associated with increased mortality, and we think somewhere between 300-500 people are dying as a consequence of delays and problems with urgent and emergency care each week. We need to actually get a grip of this.”

In November, 37,837 patients waited more than 12 hours in A&E for a decision to be admitted, NHS England figures show.

This is an almost 355% increase on the previous November, when about 10,646 patients waited longer than 12 hours.

Dr Boyle added: “If you look at the graphs, they all are going the wrong way, and I think there needs to be a real reset. We need to be in a situation where we cannot just shrug our shoulders and say ‘This winter was terrible, let’s do nothing until next winter’.

“We need to increase our capacity within our hospitals, we need to make sure that there are alternative ways so that people aren’t all just funnelled into the ambulance service and emergency department.

“We cannot continue like this – it is unsafe and it is undignified.”

Patients have been reportedly waiting hours for a bed and ambulances carrying patients have been stuck outside hospitals for hours as they wait to hand them over.

Sky News revealed on New Year’s Eve that more than half of Staffordshire’s ambulances were queuing outside Royal Stoke Hospital, with a paramedic and UNISON representative saying it was the “worst we’ve ever seen”.

Last week, one in five ambulance patients in England waited more than an hour to be handed over to A&E teams.

Dr Boyle added it is “absolutely never too late” to get a flu vaccination and said those who are eligible should do so to reduce pressure on hospitals.

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Nov 10 2022

Just Stop Oil protester defends M25 disruption: ‘Birds are falling out of the sky, pensioners are dying’ | UK News

A Just Stop Oil campaigner has defended the disruption caused by protests as activists blocked the M25 for a fourth day, warning that “this is just the beginning”.

In a fiery exchange with Sky News’ Mark Austin, Indigo Rumbelow exasperated the climate crisis is set to get “worse and worse and worse unless we act.”

Appearing on The News Hour With Mark Austin, Ms Rumbelow described the situation as “incredibly grave” and said Just Stop Oil has one simple demand – for the government to stop licencing new gas and oil in the UK.

“We need everybody to come and join us so that we don’t have to cause this type of disruption on the motorways,” she said.

“We need to be sat outside parliament with tens and tens of thousands of people demanding an end to new oil and gas.”

Ms Rumbelow added: “It is very clear the disruption will end as soon as the government issue a statement to stop new oil and gas.

“Protests will have to continue because, at the moment, I just do not know what else we’re going to do.”

The campaigner was interviewed as police forces scramble to deal with demonstrations which have caused severe delays on Britain’s busiest motorway.

The actions of protesters have been branded “criminal, reckless and dangerous” by a police chief, who warned they will no longer be tolerated.

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