Health Secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed that he has not changed his mind about the assisted suicide Bill and will not be voting for the Bill when it returns to the Commons.
While Streeting did vote in support of an assisted suicide Bill in 2015, as Health Secretary, he voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at Second Reading in November and, earlier this week, confirmed that he would not be voting for the Bill at the Third Reading.
Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday, when asked if he would vote for it, he said “No, I won’t be voting for it”.
He went on to say that it is “fine” that other colleagues in the Government “take a different view”.
“It’s a free vote and it will remain so as this Bill goes through”.
Before the vote at Second Reading in November, Wes Streeting asked his department to produce a detailed report on the cost of assisted suicide if it becomes legal and raised concerns that cuts will have to be made elsewhere in the NHS.
“I would hate for people to opt for assisted dying because they think they’re saving someone somewhere money, whether that’s relatives or the NHS. And I think that’s one of the issues that MPs are wrestling with as they decide how to cast their vote”, he said at the time.
Speaking to reporters at an NHS Providers conference in Liverpool, when asked about Leadbeater’s Bill, he said “Now that we’ve seen the bill published, I’ve asked my department to look at the costs that would be associated with providing a new service to enable assisted dying to go forward”.
“That work is now under way, so I can’t give you a precise figure today. You do touch on… the potential for cost savings if people choose to opt for assisted dying rather than stay in the care of providers or the NHS. I think that is a chilling slippery slope argument”.
Delivering assisted suicide would “come at the expense of other competing pressures and priorities”, he added.
This is further confirmation that the Bill is in serious trouble. You can help stop the push to state-sanctioned murder by writing to your MP, urging him or her to vote for life!