I WOULD VOTE AGAINST ASSISTED DYING BILL, SAYS FORMER LABOUR SHADOW HEALTH SECRETARY

FORMER Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth has said he would vote against the assisted dying bill if he was still an MP.

Ashworth, now chief executive of Labour Together, told GB News: “For what it’s worth, if I was still an MP, I’ve decided I would not vote for it.

“That is my position, by the way, that is not the position of the think tank I’ve associated with, because obviously, it doesn’t have a position. It’s just my personal position.

“There are two things that would concern me. First of all, I just worry about the pressure that this would put people who are in the most desperate of circumstances, the pressure they would be under.

“I just think it would change societal norms about that and I’m not sure that we’re ready for that as a society.

“And secondly, we all know that end of life care in the country is just not satisfactory. The hospice movement is phenomenal, but they have been underfunded for years, and I just don’t want people feeling that they are a burden or that they feel their time is up and they have to make these decisions.”

He was also asked about the government’s planned crackdown on benefits claims for long-term sickness: “Out of all the G7 countries, we’re the only one who hasn’t recovered its employment rate from before the pandemic.

“Essentially, when you look at the figures, actually the last Labour government, the numbers of people on this type of benefit were coming down and they really shot up under the last Conservative government.

“Now, I always believe that getting into work is good for you. It’s good for your mental wellbeing. It means you can make something of your life if you are written off, particularly in your 20s.

“There’s nearly a million young people out of work in their 20s or early 20s or young people. If you’re written off, that is you are risking a life on the margins.

“These are important reforms…we should be helping people.”