The huge intervention that could decide the fate of the End Of Life Bill

Published

10 months ago

November 12, 2024

admin

The full details of the End Of Life Bill are now known, and MPs and peers will have time to study its contents ahead of making one of their most important decisions.

We have not had societal change like this since the Abortion Act of 1967.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has done some exhaustive research in preparing her bill, which is due to be published on Tuesday.

It should go some way to allay fears around safeguarding the most vulnerable communities and to stop the “slippery slope” effect: when the bill identifies one particular cohort but is then changed – usually through legal challenges – to include more and more groups.

This is what has happened in other jurisdictions.

But the MP insists that only terminally ill patients with six months or less to live can qualify for an assisted death and that once passed, the bill cannot be changed or altered.

The application to die will only be allowed after being signed off by two independent doctors and a High Court judge.

Leadbeater says it is the strictest safeguarding applied to assisted dying legislation anywhere in the world. That might help change the minds of some politicians who are still undecided.

However, the concerns around the further erosion in palliative care still exist.

👉 Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈

Even the Health Secretary Wes Streeting said this is why he opposes the move.

This is a huge intervention and one that could decide the bill’s fate.

Leadbeater makes a powerful argument when she says the two: good palliative care and the option for some terminally ill patients to end their own lives, can happen simultaneously.

There is also some resistance from NHS staff who say the health service cannot cope with the extra burden. That is a valid concern that needs to be addressed.

It is a deeply complex and divisive issue, many people will have deep rooted opinions and will not be swayed by any argument in favour or against.

The rest now have an opportunity to study the detail and make up their own minds.

Politics

Japan’s finance minister endorses crypto as portfolio diversifier

Published

2 hours ago

August 25, 2025

admin

Japan’s finance minister endorses crypto as portfolio diversifier

Japan’s Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said crypto deserves a spot in portfolios, while pledging to build a sound trading environment for the sector.

Politics

Grayscale seeks SEC approval for Spot Avalanche ETF under AVAX ticker

Published

2 hours ago

August 25, 2025

admin

Grayscale seeks SEC approval for Spot Avalanche ETF under AVAX ticker

The Avalanche ETF filing marks another step in Grayscale’s expanding suite of crypto investment products, following XRP and DOGE filings earlier this year.

Politics

Starmer facing mounting pressure over immigration as MP says far right ’emboldened’

Published

4 hours ago

August 25, 2025

admin

Starmer facing mounting pressure over immigration as MP says far right 'emboldened'

Sir Keir Starmer faces mounting pressure over the small boats crisis after protests outside asylum hotels continued over the bank holiday weekend.

A poll suggested that voters believe the prime minister is failing to grip the problem, despite his government setting out measures to speed up removals.

It comes as Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer warned that “the far right feels emboldened and validated” by other political parties.

So far this year a record 28,076 people have made the perilous journey across the English Channel in small boats, 46% more than in the same period in 2024.

Like many other European countries, immigration has increasingly become a flashpoint in recent years as the UK deals with an influx of people fleeing war-torn and poorer countries seeking a better life.

Official figures released earlier this month showed a total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.

There were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of the same month.

Protests and counterprotests at sites housing asylum seekers continued over the weekend and the government is braced for further legal fights over the use of hotels.

A YouGov poll for The Times found that 71% per cent of voters believe Sir Keir is handling the asylum hotel issue badly, including 56% of Labour supporters.

The survey of 2,153 people carried out on August 20-21 found 37% of voters viewed immigration and asylum as the most important issue facing the country, ahead of 25% who said the economy and 7% who said the health service.

Ms Denyer, who is MP for Bristol Central, condemned threats of violence in the charged atmosphere around immigration.

“The far right feels emboldened and validated by other political parties dancing to their tune.

“The abuse I’ve been sent has got noticeably worse in the last few months, escalating in some cases to violent threats, which are reported to the police.

“It doesn’t matter how much you disagree with someone, threats of violence are never, ever OK. And they won’t silence me.”

Is it time for gunboats to help stop the people smugglers?

Jon Craig

Chief political correspondent

@joncraig

Curbing the power of judges in asylum cases to tackle the migrant hotel crisis is a typical Keir Starmer response to a problem.

The former director of public prosecutions would appear to see overhauling court procedures and the legal process as the answer to any tricky situation.

Yes, the proposed fast-track asylum appeals process is fine as far as it goes. But for a government confronted with a massive migrant crisis, opponents claim it’s mere tinkering.

And welcome and worthy as it is, it isn’t going to “smash the gangs”, stop the boats or act as a powerful deterrent to the people smugglers plying their trade in the Channel.