The assisted dying bill: what it means for patients in England and Wales
The 40-page terminally ill adults (end of life) bill will be published on Tuesday,The bill’s main elements, released in advance, set out what it contains,Adults with a terminal illness who are expected to die within six months will be eligible for an assisted death,The person must have the mental capacity to make a choice about the end of their life, and must express a “clear, settled and informed” wish, free from coercion or pressure,The bill excludes disability and mental illness as eligibility criteria.
If the bill is passed, only permanent residents of England and Wales registered with a GP for at least 12 months will be eligible.The person must make two separate declarations of their wishes, which must be signed and witnessed.They can change their mind at any time.Two independent doctors must be satisfied the person is eligible, and if necessary consult a specialist or expert in mental capacity.The application will then be heard by a high court judge.
The assisted death cannot take place for a further 14 days unless the person’s death from illness is imminent,The life-ending medication must be self-administered by the patient,It cannot be administered by a doctor or anyone else,Under the proposed legislation, it will be illegal to coerce or pressure someone to choose an assisted death, punishable by up to 14 years in prison,The proposals most closely align with the law in Oregon, the US state that legalised assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults with a prognosis of six months or less in 1997.
The Oregon law has not been extended beyond terminally ill adults.The proposed legislation for England and Wales is significantly more restrictive than the law in the Netherlands, which allows people who have an incurable condition, face unbearable suffering and are mentally competent to choose voluntary euthanasia or assisted dying.Kim Leadbeater, the proposer of the new bill, says it contains “the strictest protection and safeguard of any legislation anywhere in the world”.No doctor will be under any obligation to participate in any part of the process.The British Medical Association (BMA) has lobbied hard for a conscience clause, arguing that healthcare professionals should have to opt in to an assisted dying service rather than opting out.
Surveys by professional bodies [pdf] have found a mixed response,In 2023, the Royal College of Surgeons found 53% of respondents were in favour of assisted dying and 25% opposed,In 2019, a Royal College of Physicians survey found 31% in favour and 43% opposed, and a Royal College of GPs survey the same year found 40% in favour and 47% opposed,A BMA survey in 2020 found 50% backed assisted dying with 39% opposed,MPs will debate and vote on the bill on 29 November.
They have a free vote, meaning they can vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines.If it passes, it will move to the committee stage, in which it will be scrutinised and probably amended.Further votes in both the Commons and the Lords are needed before it can become law.The last time MPs voted on whether to legalise assisted dying was in 2015, when it was rejected 330 to 118.This time, the vote is expected to be much closer.
P&O Ferries spent £47m on mass layoffs amid financial woes, accounts show
P&O Ferries spent more than £47m on sacking hundreds of UK seafarers in 2022, according to its long overdue accounts that will be published in the coming days.The filings, which the Guardian has seen, confirm the financial cost of the company’s actions two and a half years ago when it outraged the public and parliament by dismissing 786 mainly British ferry workers – and then largely replacing them with low-cost agency staff from countries including India, the Philippines and Malaysia.The scandal re-emerged last month when the prime minister, Keir Starmer, rebuked his transport secretary, Louise Haigh, after she referred to the ferry operator as a “rogue operator”. DP World, P&O’s Dubai-based owner, had reportedly threatened to pull out of a £1bn investment in the UK on the back of the comments.P&O had always argued it had been forced into the sackings in order to save the company
US inflation rises to 2.6% in October; Post Office closures put 2,000 jobs at risk – as it happened
Time to wrap things up.A key measure of US inflation has risen for the first time since March, underlining its bumpy ride down to lower levels.The consumer price index (CPI), which measures price growth across a basket of goods, ticked up to an annual pace of 2.6% in October – from 2.4% in September, which had been the slowest rate in more than three years
Post Office plan to close 115 branches and cut jobs condemned as ‘immoral’
The Post Office plans to close more than 100 branches and says about 2,000 jobs are at risk in a move that has been condemned by unions as “tone deaf and immoral” after the Horizon IT scandal.The Post Office confirmed on Wednesday it was seeking to offload 115 branches, known as crown post offices, it centrally owns, but said it expected to maintain the total network at 11,500 branches across the UK.The plans come against the backdrop of the public inquiry into Horizon , described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in UK history.The closures put at risk approximately 1,000 jobs, although the Post Office expects that all the branches will be refranchised to new owners over the next five years.Approximately 2,000 branches are operated by partners including Tesco, WH Smith and Morrisons, and about 9,000 are run by independent operators that have a contract with the Post Office
It’s time for the RBA to admit its fears of a wage-price spiral were misguided – and cut interest rates | Grogonomics
The latest wage growth figures should make the Reserve Bank cut rates in December as their absurd worries about a wage-price spiral have been completely blown to bits.Six years ago, Gareth Hutchens and I wrote a special report titled “Whatever happened to wage rises in Australia?” It’s kind of annoying how well it holds up.On Wednesday the latest wage price index figures revealed that in the past year private sector wages rose 3.5%, down from 4.1% in the June quarter
Key US inflation measure ticks higher for first time since March
A key measure of US inflation has risen for the first time since March, underlining its bumpy ride down to lower levels.The consumer price index (CPI), which measures price growth across a basket of goods, ticked up to an annual pace of 2.6% in October – from 2.4% in September, which had been the slowest rate in more than three years.Stripping out volatile food and energy costs, the closely watched “core” inflation index held firm at 3
Klarna chooses New York over London for much-anticipated IPO
The buy now, pay later company Klarna has filed for a much-anticipated flotation in the US, a move that marks another blow for the London market.The Swedish fintech firm confirmed on Wednesday morning that it had “confidentially submitted” an application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission “relating to the proposed initial public offering of its ordinary shares”.Klarna, which is one of the world’s largest buy now, pay later (BNPL) companies, said the price range for its proposed IPO and the number of shares that would be offered was yet to be determined. The firm is expected to easily fetch a multibillion-pound valuation.The company, which was founded in Sweden in 2005, hit a peak valuation of $46bn (£36bn) after a funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank in 2021
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