Assisted dying in doubt as rollout could be delayed until at least 2029
Assisted dying may not available in England and Wales until at least 2029 after MPs approved an extension of the rollout period.
An initial two-year “backstop” will now increase to four years after the change was proposed by Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Ms Leadbeater said she was disappointed to propose the extension and acknowledged the “upset” felt by some supporters of the bill, but said it was “more important to do this properly than to do it quickly”.
The four-year delay, passed by the committee scrutinising the legislation, now means the law is unlikely to be operational until at least 2029 – the year by which the next general election must take place.
After the vote in the early hours of Wednesday, Ms Leadbeater said the bill will come back to the Commons in a “safer, fairer, and more workable” form.
MPs on the committee also voted for assisted dying to be available free on the NHS.
One MP said the extension of the backstop risked the bill being abandoned.
Tom Gordon, a Liberal Democrat MP, told The Guardian that “delaying implementation risks pushing it beyond the next election, where it could be abandoned altogether”.
“We have thoroughly scrutinised and strengthened this bill, ensuring it is safe and robust. Every extra year means more unnecessary suffering for those who cannot afford to wait,” Mr Gordon said.
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Why has assisted dying bill divided opinions?
The charity Humanists UK, which backs the assisted dying bill, said it regretted the delay.
Its chief executive Andrew Copson said: “Many other countries already have safe assisted dying laws and none of them has taken more than 19 months to implement them, apart from one that was subject to a court challenge.
“So it really shouldn’t have to take four years for the one here. If it does, people who need this change in law will continue to die in ways not of their choosing.”
But Conservative MP Danny Kruger argued that the bill was a fundamental change to the founding principles of the NHS, which he said would become the “national health and assisted suicide service”.
Read more:
What is in the legislation?
Assisted dying is the biggest societal change in 50 years
The overnight vote marks the end of two months of committee scrutiny, and the bill is likely to return for a debate and vote by all MPs in the coming months.
Opponents of the bill have warned that people could be put under pressure to end their lives.
But supporters have said the law will allow people suffering with difficult illnesses the choice over when to end their lives.
Last month, Ms Leadbeater removed a key safeguard that said every assisted dying case must be scrutinised by a High Court justice.
Citing concerns this could overwhelm the court system, Ms Leadbeater instead proposed that cases will be reviewed by panels including a senior lawyer, a psychiatrist, and a social worker.
The bill would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales who are expected to die within six months to request assistance from a doctor to end their life.
MPs initially voted in support of the bill in November, with 330 MPs supporting it and 275 rejecting it.
Meanwhile, the Isle of Man’s parliament became the first part of the British Isles to pass assisted dying legislation.
Its assisted dying bill will be sent for royal assent, having had its final reading by members of the legislative council on Tuesday.
The bill, for adults resident on the island for five years who have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of no more than 12 months, could formally become law later this year with an assisted dying service potentially in place by 2027.
Voting is under way in local elections across England, as well as in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
Due to Ofcom rules, Sky News is limited on what it can report until polls close at 10pm.
The votes mark the first electoral test for the party leaders since last year’s general election.
In total, 23 of England’s 317 local authorities are holding elections, alongside the Isles of Scilly.
The make up of around 1,270 parish councils are also due to be decided.
Read more:
Follow local elections results here
Where are they and how do I vote?
And six metro mayors are up for election.
The West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Doncaster, and North Tyneside mayoralties already have a mayor in place – while Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire are choosing a mayor for the first time.
Meanwhile, a by-election is being held in Runcorn and Helsby after previous Labour MP Mike Amesbury agreed to stand down following his conviction for punching a man in the street.
While this result is likely to come in overnight, most local election results won’t be known until Friday.
All voters in these elections must be over 18, and be registered.
Join Sky News presenter Jonathan Samuels and deputy political editor Sam Coates from midnight as the results start coming in. Lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge, political editor Beth Rigby, and data and economics editor Ed Conway will be taking over on Friday to report and explain what has happened.
North Carolina’s House of Representatives has passed a bill allowing the state’s treasurer to invest public funds in approved cryptocurrencies, which will now head to the Senate.
The House passed the Digital Assets Investment Act, or House Bill 92, on its third reading on April 30 by a vote of 71 to 44.
Republican House Speaker Destin Hall introduced the bill in February, which would allow the treasurer to allocate 5% of the state’s investments into designated digital assets.
The investments can only be made after obtaining an independent third-party assessment confirming that the crypto holdings are maintained with a secure custody solution and risk oversight and regulatory compliance standards are met.
New amendments allow the treasurer to examine the feasibility of allowing members of retirement and deferred compensation plans to elect to invest in digital assets held as exchange-traded products (ETPs).
The House also passed a related bill, the State Investment Modernization Act, or HB 506, with little discussion on April 30, in a 110 to 3 vote.
The bill aims to create the North Carolina Investment Authority (NCIA) to take over investment management from the treasurer.
If passed into law, authority to invest in digital assets would transfer from the treasurer to NICA, and it would require approval from its board of directors based on third-party assessments to make crypto investments.
Local news outlet NC Newsline reported that Treasurer Brad Briner supports both bills.
Arizona leads the crypto bill race
North Carolina is second to Arizona in the state-level race to approve legislation allowing local governments to invest in cryptocurrencies.
Related: New Hampshire Bitcoin reserve bill heads to full Senate vote
On April 28, Arizona’s House approved two bills, SB 1025 and SB 1373, proposing different methods for the state to establish a crypto reserve.
Arizona is the only state whose House and Senate have passed crypto-related bills, which are both awaiting Governor Katie Hobbs’ decision.
Magazine: ZK-proofs unlock trillions in Bitcoin for DeFi — BitcoinOS and Starknet
Nearly 30 crypto advocate groups led by the lobby group the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) have asked the Securities and Exchange Commission for clear regulatory guidance on crypto staking and staking services.
The CCI’s Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA) group argued in an April 30 letter to the agency’s Crypto Task Force lead, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, that staking is fundamentally a technical process, not an investment activity.
“Staking isn’t niche — it’s the backbone of the decentralized internet,” the letter said.
The letter responded to the SEC’s call for public input on whether staking and liquid staking, where crypto users lock up their tokens to earn more, should be regulated under federal securities laws.
The coalition called for the SEC to support responsible inclusion of staking features in exchange-traded products (ETPs), and “avoid overly prescriptive rules that could freeze market structures and stifle innovation in the staking space.”
The group argued that staking fails to meet the securities-defining Howey test definition of an “investment contract” as stakers retain ownership of their assets.
They added that blockchain protocols, not a staking provider’s efforts, determine rewards, and providers don’t deliver profits through managerial decisions like a company does.
The letter requested that the SEC Issue principles-based guidance similar to recent SEC staff statements on proof-of-work mining.
“In the past 4 months, we’ve seen more movement and constructive dialogue with the SEC than in the past 4 years,” the group said. “Now, the industry is stepping up with concrete principles to include in guidance — a reflection of this new collaborative approach.”
Related: Ethereum ETF staking will have little impact without multimonth rally: Analyst
The group argued that the existing securities disclosure regime is ill-suited for staking services, which are fundamentally technical rather than financial in nature.
Big names in support of staking clarity
The Proof of Stake Alliance includes several high-profile crypto organizations and companies, including the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), blockchain software firm Consensys, and the crypto exchange Kraken, which restored staking services in the US earlier this year.
The SEC has yet to approve a crypto staking exchange-traded fund (ETF) and delayed the decision on allowing staking for Grayscale’s spot Ether ETF on April 14.
In April, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart predicted that an Ether ETF that includes staking could come as soon as May.
Magazine: ZK-proofs unlock trillions in Bitcoin for DeFi — BitcoinOS and Starknet
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