PLANS to let terminally ill adults end their lives have been thrown into chaos after moves to tear up key legal safeguards.
Labour’s Kim Leadbeater will amend her legislation so that assisted dying cases will not have to be signify by a High Court judge.
PAKim Leadbeater will amend her legislation so that assisted dying cases will not have to be signify by a High Court judge[/caption]
Instead, psychiatrists and social workers will be involved in approving the applications.
She argued it would be a “change for the better” and would actually strengthen safeguards.
But the last-minute tweak, proposed just hours before MPs began debating the Bill on Tuesday, has sparked a backlash — throwing its future into doubt and turning former supporters cold.
It comes after Ms Leadbeater had dismissed warnings that judges couldn’t handle the cases due to scarce capacity, insisting her Bill would be the “most robust” in the world.
Senior Tory James Cleverly blasted: “The protections that were promised in the assisted dying Bill are being watered down even before this becomes law.
“This Bill is being rushed, it is not properly thought through, none of the concerns raised at second reading have been addressed.”
The Bill will face further scrutiny and votes in the Commons and Lords, meaning any change in the law would not be agreed until later this year at the earliest.
Ten Labour MPs, including Meg Hillier and Florence Eshalomi, have warned the Bill has been “fundamentally changed” from what was originally presented to Parliament.
In a statement, they said: “Every MP voted at second reading with a promise of High Court scrutiny of each application for assisted dying.
“Yet despite repeated assurances until just days ago the proponents of the Bill have changed their argument – and fundamentally changed the Bill.”
GettyPlans to let terminally ill adults end their lives have been thrown into chaos after moves to tear up key legal safeguards[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
