Wes Streeting says he is ‘conflicted’ on assisted dying and voices concerns about coercion
The Shadow Health Secretary said his answer ‘depends on when you catch me on this'.
Wes Streeting has given a nuanced response to calls from campaigners to secure the right of assisted dying in Britain.
Speaking to Times Radio this morning, Labour’s Health Secretary, said he feels “genuinely conflicted” about the major moral debate.
The intervention comes ahead of a week in which MPs will discuss assisted dying, with Labour supporting a free vote on the issue.
Mr Streeting said the topic is “one of those rare occasions where I feel genuinely conflicted”.
He said that while he voted in favour of assisted dying the last time MPs had their say, there are major ethical concerns about the right to end one’s life, an issue that has become a major culture war in Canada.
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Mr Streeting explained: “I voted in favour of the last assisted dying bill brought before Parliament”.
“Mainly because I thought it was a debate that we needed to have, and I was going to follow the passage of the bill through Parliament to see if there would be sufficient checks and balances and safeguards in place.
“But, it depends, to be honest, when you catch me on this question, I watched my grandmother die before late last year, of terminal cancer. I had another friend die just a few weeks ago with cancer. And in those final weeks and days, I would have given anything to stop the suffering.
“And in those moments, I think very strongly I'd vote in favour of assisted dying.
“And then in the cold light of day, I think, well, you've got to make sure that no one feels forced or coerced into taking that, that choice.
“You've got to make sure that there are those checks and balances in place.
“So, I sort of lean towards it, but I think I'd need reassurance that no one would feel coerced into ending their life sooner, that no doctor would be coerced or forced to take part in ending someone's life in that way.”
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This morning Conservative MP Danny Kruger called on MPs to “step back from the brink” and oppose changes to the law that would allow people to end their lives.
The top Tory MP warned: “You cannot write a law that will not be bent, abused or simply expanded over time”.
Mr Kruger pointed to Canada as an example of where those who are allowed to end their lives has expanded since the law was introduced in 2016.
When first legalised, Canada’s assisted dying law was only applicable to the terminally ill.
However activists are now lobbying to extend euthanasia laws to people suffering from a mental illness.
Those dealing with addiction, depression and even learning difficulties could be offered assisted dying by 2027.
He also claims that in the Netherlands and Belgium, children have been euthanised, as well as seeing calls to kill people who are “tired of life”.
Mr Kruger says the idea that the NHS should be allowed to actively cut lives short is “perverse”, and some advocates such as the Times columnist Matthew Harris have said it should be supported because old people could save money for the taxpayer and hand over their inheritance sooner.
