UK’s longest-serving MP calls for assisted dying vote delay as not enough time ‘to consider immense complexities’

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7 months ago

November 20, 2024

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The UK’s longest-serving MP has called for the assisted dying bill to be delayed as he said there is not enough time “to consider the immense complexities”.

MPs will get a free vote, where they can vote however they want, on legalising assisted dying on 29 November, after the details were published on 11 November.

Sir Edward Leigh, the longest-serving MP (father of the House), told the Commons on Wednesday: “There has simply not been enough time to consider the immense complexities of the issue until we are required to make a decision.”

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The Conservative, who has been an MP since 1983, introduced a bill to parliament to require the government to issue guidance on the criminal law of health professionals administering pain relief to terminally ill people.

He said the bill is an attempt to delay the assisted dying vote and to provide more information to those voting. It has been given a second reading on 6 December – after the assisted dying bill’s first vote.

Sir Edward and Diane Abbott, the longest-serving female MP, have also written a joint letter calling for the Commons to reject the assisted dying bill, arguing it has been rushed through and puts vulnerable people at risk.

The assisted dying bill has caused a split among MPs of all parties, but about 100 are still believed to be undecided.

Speaking in the Commons, Sir Edward said there should be an impact assessment, including on the NHS and judges.

Two independent doctors would have to be satisfied a person is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge would have to sign it off.

He said the state of palliative care and the current options available to people who are dying needs to be made clear to the public before a vote can go ahead.

“So much of the impetus in favour of assisted suicide comes from an understandable fear of dying in pain,” he said.

But, he said hospices help people die “as peacefully… as possible” without administering legal drugs.

Palliative care nurses have told him a patient can be given as much morphine as they like but it will not kill someone.

However, he said sometimes nurses, normally in hospitals, are unwilling to double the dose “for fear of legal consequences”.

“I hope that if I’m dying of terminal cancer, a nurse won’t hesitate to give me as much as necessary,” he said.

And while he has spoken to palliative care nurses and doctors, and been with a friend in hospice as they died peacefully after being knocked out with morphine, he said the public deserves to know more.

The increasingly older population in the UK means more funding is needed for palliative care, including for hospices and care homes, he added.

Sir Edward said the assisted dying bill debate in 10 days time could be seen as a “useful airing of the issues that in a year or two, we could make a measured and well-informed decision”.

“What we don’t want is pressure for assisted suicide for old people, because there are not enough resources to pay for them in the present system. Again, we need much more information on this whole area,” he said.

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Break Singapore’s new crypto rules and you could face $200K fine or jail

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June 22, 2025

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Break Singapore’s new crypto rules and you could face 0K fine or jail

Singapore is tightening its grip on crypto misconduct. Under new rules, unlicensed promotions or shady practices could lead to steep fines or prison time.

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Lummis’ RISE Act is ‘timely and needed’ but short on details

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10 hours ago

June 22, 2025

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‘Stability in Middle East is priority,’ says Starmer – as world reacts to strikes

Published

12 hours ago

June 22, 2025

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'Stability in Middle East is priority,' says Starmer - as world reacts to strikes

Sir Keir Starmer has said stability in the Middle East is “a priority” following US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as the world reacted to the attack.

The prime minister also called on Iran to “return to the negotiating table” to “reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis”.

The US struck three sites in Iran early on Sunday morning, with Donald Trump boasting the country’s key nuclear sites were “completely and fully obliterated” in an address to the nation from the White House. He warned there could be further strikes if Iran retaliates.

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In a statement, Sir Keir said: “Iran’s nuclear programme is a grave threat to international security. Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat.

“The situation in the Middle East remains volatile and stability in the region is a priority. We call on Iran to return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.”

He said the UK was not involved in the attack but was informed about them in advance.

Sir Keir later told reporters there was a “risk of escalation” and added: “That’s a risk to the region. It’s a risk beyond the region, and that’s why all our focus has been on de-escalating, getting people back around to negotiate what is a very real threat in relation to the nuclear programme.”

The prime minister will chair a meeting of the government’s COBRA crisis committee on Sunday afternoon.

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Israel‘s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Mr Trump for the strikes, saying: “Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history.

“History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime the world’s most dangerous weapons.”

UN secretary-general ‘gravely alarmed’ by US attack

But UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed by the use of force” by the US against Iran.

“This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security. There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged all sides to step back and return to the negotiating table. “Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon,” she said in a post on X.

“I urge all sides to step back, return to the negotiating table and prevent further escalation,” she said, adding that EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation tomorrow.

How the world reacted to the strikes

World leaders reacted to the strikes with calls for diplomacy and de-escalation, with some fearing they could push the region towards a wider conflict.

Russia’s former president and current deputy chair of its security council, Dmitry Medvedev, said on the Telegram messaging app: “Trump, who came in as a peacemaker president, has started a new war for the US.”

China strongly condemned the attack, with its foreign ministry saying the move seriously violates the UN charter and worsens tensions in the Middle East. It urged the parties involved to cease attacks as soon as possible and begin negotiations.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Iran to enter immediate talks with the US and Israel to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, a government spokesperson said.

France urged all sides to show restraint, with its foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot saying Paris is “convinced that a lasting resolution to this issue requires a negotiated solution within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty”.

Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said after the attack that his country’s government hopes “a de-escalation can begin and Iran can sit down at the negotiating table”.

Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on X: “We strongly condemn the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, which constitutes a dangerous escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. The aggression seriously violates the UN Charter and international law and plunges humanity into a crisis with irreversible consequences.”

Venezuela’s foreign minister Yvan Gil said his country’s government “condemns US military aggression” and “demands an immediate cessation of hostilities”.

NATO member Turkey said the strikes raised the risk of a regional conflict spreading globally, with the foreign ministry saying the spread of the conflict into a wider global war must not be allowed.

The Iraqi government condemned the strikes, saying they create a grave threat to peace and security in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia expressed “deep concern” but stopped short of condemning the attack.

Both Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen – part of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance – condemned the strikes, with the Houthis vowing to support Iran in its fight against “the Zionist and American aggression”.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said his country needs to stay away from any possible regional spillover from the conflict.

Qatar said it “regrets” the escalating tensions and its foreign ministry urged all parties to show restraint and “avoid escalation, which the peoples of the region, burdened by conflicts and their tragic humanitarian repercussions, cannot tolerate”.

The United Arab Emirates called for an immediate halt to the escalation to “avoid serious repercussions” in the region, with its foreign ministry warning they could lead the region to “new levels of instability”.

Oman condemned the strikes, with a spokesperson for its foreign ministry warning they threaten “to expand the scope of the conflict and constitute a serious violation of international law and the United Nations charter”.

Maryam Rajavi, the head of Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran, said from Paris: “Now [Supreme Leader] Khamenei must go. The Iranian people welcome the end of the war and seek peace and freedom.

“Khamenei is responsible for an unpatriotic project that, in addition to costing countless lives, has cost the Iranian people at least $2trn (£1.5trn) – and now, it has all gone up in smoke.”