Health Secretary Wes Streeting is facing pushback from senior Labour figures over his repeated strident interventions against a move to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales.MPs will have their say on the issue later this month – in what is known as a free vote, where they are not instructed how to vote by their parties.The government is attempting to maintain a neutral stance.Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, the UK’s most senior civil servant, told ministers last month they should “exercise discretion and should not take part in the public debate”. But Streeting’s view became public after he told a large, notionally private, meeting of Labour MPs what he thought. Since then, in interviews, he has repeatedly set out his objections.This week, he suggested a change in the law would mean the NHS would have less money for other things.Some of those hoping for a change in the law fear the health secretary’s interventions risk putting plenty of Labour MPs off backing it.Others, some publicly, some privately, are irritated with Streeting and think he ought to wind his neck in a bit.The bill, which was published this week, would allow terminally ill adults expected to die within six months to seek help to end their life.Two doctors and a High Court judge would have to verify that they were eligible, and had made their decision voluntarily.Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, said she found some of Streeting’s remarks “quite disappointing and quite upsetting”.And Labour peer Baroness Hodge, a former minister, told the BBC’s Politics Live programme that Streeting should take account of what the cabinet secretary had asked of ministers and “hold fire a little bit”.She added: “His argument about costs? We spend most of the NHS money on the last months of life.”And now, Streeting’s cabinet colleague Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, has spoken out in support …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnHealth Secretary Wes Streeting is facing pushback from senior Labour figures over his repeated strident interventions against a move to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales.MPs will have their say on the issue later this month – in what is known as a free vote, where they are not instructed how to vote by their parties.The government is attempting to maintain a neutral stance.Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, the UK’s most senior civil servant, told ministers last month they should “exercise discretion and should not take part in the public debate”. But Streeting’s view became public after he told a large, notionally private, meeting of Labour MPs what he thought. Since then, in interviews, he has repeatedly set out his objections.This week, he suggested a change in the law would mean the NHS would have less money for other things.Some of those hoping for a change in the law fear the health secretary’s interventions risk putting plenty of Labour MPs off backing it.Others, some publicly, some privately, are irritated with Streeting and think he ought to wind his neck in a bit.The bill, which was published this week, would allow terminally ill adults expected to die within six months to seek help to end their life.Two doctors and a High Court judge would have to verify that they were eligible, and had made their decision voluntarily.Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, said she found some of Streeting’s remarks “quite disappointing and quite upsetting”.And Labour peer Baroness Hodge, a former minister, told the BBC’s Politics Live programme that Streeting should take account of what the cabinet secretary had asked of ministers and “hold fire a little bit”.She added: “His argument about costs? We spend most of the NHS money on the last months of life.”And now, Streeting’s cabinet colleague Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, has spoken out in support …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
