The Health Secretary – one of the top opponents of the legislation – said assisted dying would take ‘time and money’ away from other parts of the health service
Wes Streeting has claimed there “isn’t a budget” in the NHS for assisted dying services after a historic Commons vote on the issue.
The Health Secretary – one of the most senior opponents of the legislation – said it would take “time and money” away from other parts of the health service. On Friday the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was passed by MPs with a majority of 23 in a move championed by campaigners.
Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves voted for the legislation, which would allow terminally ill adults with six months left to live the option to end their life early. The application would be approved by two doctors and an expert panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.
But Mr Streeting was among several Cabinet ministers, including Deputy PM Angela Rayner and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, to vote against the bill. In a post on his Facebook page over the weekend, said he had “no doubt that this is a major and profound social change for our NHS and our country”.
READ MORE: Assisted dying law PASSES Commons in historic moment – see how your MP voted
He said the Department of Health and Social Care “will continue to work constructively with Parliament to assist on technical aspects of the Bill” as it goes through the House of Lords.
But he warned: “Even with the savings that might come from assisted dying if people take up the service – and it feels uncomfortable talking about savings in this context to be honest – setting up this service will also take time and money that is in short supply.
“There isn’t a budget for this. Politics is about prioritising. It is a daily series of choices and trade-offs. I fear we’ve made the wrong one.”
Assisted dying campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen also urged peers not to block the landmark legislation. Dame Esther told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday: “I don’t need to teach the House of Lords how to do their job.
“They know it very well, and they know that laws are produced by the elected chamber. Their job is to scrutinise, to ask questions, but not to oppose.
“So yes, people who are adamantly opposed to this Bill, and they have a perfect right to oppose it, will try and stop it going through the Lords, but the Lords themselves, their duty is to make sure that law is actually created by the elected chamber, which is the House of Commons who have voted this through.”
Dame Esther, who has terminal cancer, acknowledged the legislation would probably not become law in time for her to use it and she would have to “buzz off to Zurich” to use the Dignitas clinic.
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