UK politics live: Esther Rantzen pens heartfelt letter on assisted dying - urging MPs to vote on ‘vital’ issue
Dame Esther, who is terminally ill, has been a strong advocate for changing the law to allow dying adults to take their own lives in limited circumstances, without fear of their families being prosecuted for helping them
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Your support makes all the difference.Dame Esther Rantzen has urged MPs to attend the assisted dying debate, saying it is unlikely the issue will come before Parliament again in the next decade.
The broadcaster, who is terminally ill, has been a strong advocate for changing the law to allow dying adults to take their own lives in limited circumstances, without fear of their families being prosecuted for helping them.
She has written to MPs ahead of the debate on Friday, after which it is expected a vote will take place on whether to send the proposed legislation to a committee for further scrutiny.
She said no matter which way MPs feel on the controversial issue of assisted dying, they should attend the debate and listen to both sides and make a decision because “every vote will be crucial”.
In a letter in conjunction with pro-change campaign group Dignity in Dying, Dame Esther wrote that it was a “vital life-and-death issue” and one “we the public care desperately about”.
Her intervention comes as MPs continue to voice their opinions over the upcoming assisted dying vote in the Commons on Friday.
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The government will water down rules which demand car makers switch to making battery-powered cars after pressure from the industry.
But the move comes too late to save Vauxhall’s van plant in Luton, where 1,100 jobs are at risk.
Ministers have agreed to review rules which say at least 22 per cent of cars made in British factories must be battery-powered. Breaking the rules means either buying credits from competitors who are beating these targets or paying a fine of £15,000 per car.
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Assisted Dying Bill will be scrutinised more than other legislation, says Leadbeater
Kim Leadbeater said she believes her Bill will probably be scrutinised more than other legislation because of the level of public debate on the issue of assisted dying.
The Labour MP told the Today programme: “In terms of time and scrutiny, look, this is not a new debate. This debate has been going on for decades.
“It’s been going on, as you quite rightly said, particularly in recent years, in no short part to due to high-profile campaigners like Esther Rantzen.
“But I think we can already see from what’s happened in the last few months, this Bill will receive more scrutiny and more discussion and more debate, probably, than any piece of legislation.”
Former prime ministers unite against assisted dying as Grieve hints it is against rule of law
Three former prime ministers have come out against the assisted dying bill, as Dominic Grieve warned it would breach the rule of law.
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And ex-attorney general Mr Grieve claimed the bill would be blocked on several grounds by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Archie Mitchell reports
Former PMs unite against assisted dying as Grieve hints it is against rule of law
Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Theresa May come out against bill, which would allow terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to end their lives early
Assisted dying Bill will be ‘very close’, says Leadbeater
Kim Leadbeater said she thinks the vote on the assisted dying Bill will be “very close” and that it will get “hours and hours and hours of scrutiny” if MPs vote to put it through to the next stage on Friday.
The MP behind the Bill told BBC Breakfast: “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.
“There are strongly held views on each side of the argument and there are people who instinctively feel that the law needs to change because it isn’t fit for purpose but, quite rightly, are concerned about the detail.
“And that’s why they’ve been analysing the Bill. The Bill has been out there for nearly three weeks now.
“They’ve been looking at it in great detail. And I think the sense is that people think the right thing to do is to pass the Bill at second reading, which would then mean we would go into the Committee stage in the new year, where there would be hours and hours and hours of scrutiny of the Bill.
“The debate will continue in the public domain, no doubt, as well.”
Irish leader’s gaffe blows election wide open and leaves Starmer facing Brexit reset setback
Sir Keir Starmer risks a blow to his pledge to reset relations with the European Union after Brexit amid fears one of his key allies could be ousted in Friday’s elections in Ireland.
The Labour prime minister has built a strong personal rapport with the Irish leader Simon Harris since his election in July.
But a new poll for The Irish Times suggests Mr Harris’s Fine Gael party has slumped from first to third place, after a gaffe which has been compared to Gordon Brown’s 2010 “bigoted woman” comments.
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Irish leader’s gaffe blows election wide open as Starmer faces Brexit reset setback
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Business secretary to give statement in Commons on electric vehicles
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will give a statement in the Commons today after announcing a “fast-track” consultation on plans for boosting the number of electric vehicles.
Asked whether the phase out of new petrol and diesel vehicles under the zero-emission vehicles (Zev) mandate could happen as quickly as planned, minister Stephen Morgan told Sky News: “We’re going to work very closely with industry UK to make sure that this is rolled out effectively.
“There will be a consultation, which I know the Business Secretary will be setting out in due course, and there will be a statement in the House later today.”
He added: “It is absolutely right that we’ve got the right infrastructure in place to make this a suitable journey and an easy journey for motorists to move towards ... We’ve set out the ambition, we obviously need to take consumers with us.
“And I know that Johnny Reynolds would do a good job on this work, and he will also be setting out more detail on this later in the House.”
What is happening today?
9.30am: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) to publish data about domestic abuse in England and Wales.
Morning: Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, are due to visit a mental health charity in London.
Midday: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
12.30ish: Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will make a statement to the Commons about.
3.30pm: Foreign secretary David Lammy it due to give evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Watch: Overnight visitors to Wales could pay ‘tourism tax’, Welsh government announces
Comment: Why we can’t (and shouldn’t) separate God from the argument over assisted dying
That we are one people under God has long been the cornerstone of our treatment of others. Take it away and you take away what it means to be human, writes Catherine Pepinster
Why we can’t (and shouldn’t) separate the God argument from assisted dying
That we are one people under God has long been the cornerstone of our treatment of others. Take it away and you take away what it means to be human, writes Catherine Pepinster
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