63 minutes ago UK politics LIVE: Starmer refuses to rule out further tax rises at fiery PMQs

The prime minister’s clash with the Tory leader comes as MPs continue to voice their opinions over the upcoming assisted dying vote in the Commons on Friday.

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2 hours ago UK politics live: Starmer refuses to rule out further tax rises at fiery PMQs

The prime minister’s clash with the Tory leader comes as MPs continue to voice their opinions over the upcoming assisted dying vote in the Commons on Friday.

Politics

4 hours ago Assisted dying bill vote will be ‘very close’, says Kim Leadbeater – UK politics live

Leadbeater, the Labour MP who proposed the private member’s bill, has been defending the proposed new lawIn an interview with BBC Breakfast, Kim Leadbeater said she expected the vote her assisted dying bill to be “very close”.MPs have been doing consultations with their constituents, holding events, holding round tables, doing huge amounts of amounts of research into this really important issue, and I think the vote will be very close. Continue reading...

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5 hours ago Liz Truss opposes assisted dying bill saying NHS should be ‘protecting lives, not ending them’ – UK politics live

The Telegraph, which first reported Truss’s stance, also said Theresa May and Boris Johnson were against the billGood morning. We have got PMQs later, which means party politics will probably dominate for much of the day in the chamber, but increasingly MPs are preoccupied with a free vote, non-partisan matter, the vote on the assisted dying bill on Friday. This morning there are at least two interesting developments on that story.Three former Conservative prime ministers are all opposed to the bill, the Telegraph is reporting. The paper has a quote from Liz Truss who says:It is wrong in principle: organs of the state like the NHS and the judicial system should be protecting lives, not ending them.No doubt, as we have seen in Canada, vulnerable people would be put under appalling pressu...

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8 hours ago MPs will vote, but there is a better way to decide who has the right to die | Rafael Behr

In an age of cynicism and mistrust, politicians must work harder to involve the public in difficult decisionsWhen MPs vote this Friday on assisted dying, they will be trying to answer two questions folded into one. First comes the ethical choice. Is it ever permissible for one person to help someone else take their own life? Then comes the regulatory challenge. Under what conditions might that permission be granted in law?It isn’t easy to separate those considerations. Sometimes you have to work through scenarios of implementation before arriving at a view on the prior principle. But when legislation is being drafted, the two questions must logically be answered in sequence, not in parallel. When and how are only relevant debates if the answer to the question of whether assisted dying c...

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21 hours ago SARAH VINE: This Government disdains pensioners. Do you REALLY trust them not to use assisted dying to solve the social and financial pressures we face?

Almost a year ago now, when Dame Esther Rantzen first launched her campaign for assisted dying, I was very much in favour of decriminalisation. Now I'm not so sure...

Events

21 hours ago Assisted dying plans face fresh hurdle after group of MPs tries to scupper vote

MPs are due to vote on assisted dying in an historic moment on Friday but seven MPs from across parties have supported a bid to halt the plans going through the Commons

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26 hours ago Former top judge warns MPs about impact of assisted dying laws on courts ahead of historic Commons vote

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, the Lord Chief Justice in England and Wales from 2013 to 2017, said 'no-one has grappled with the detail' of how courts will be affected.

Events

28 hours ago Blaming people for poor mental health not part of Labour’s jobs plan, says minister – UK politics live

Alison McGovern says UK was unusual in not seeing employment rise after the pandemicAlison McGovern, the employment minister, said this morning she still has not decided who she will vote on teh assisted dying private member’s bill on Friday. MPs have a free vote.Explaining her dilemma, McGovern said:I haven’t decided how I’m going to vote. I’ve listened to my constituents who have been so kind and so generous to share with me their experiences, and I want to listen to my colleagues in the debate in full and decide how to vote.”I think it’s so important that people are able to have a good death and that families feel that their loved one was able to die in the most peaceful way possible in accordance with their views, but I haven’t decided on this issue.McGovern said it was good that pe...

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