Did Stephen Kinnock give false evidence today? Asked if people with unmet needs might receive AS, he said: “The conclusion of the [Equality Impact Assessment] is that those nine protected characteristics do receive adequate protection.” @SKinnock what page of the EQIA is that?

150,000 a year unable to access needed #palliativecare and an “increasingly indebted hospice sector” raise “a dystopian prospect… that people may feel compelled to accept” #assistedsuicide for want of “care that might make life still worth living.” theguardian.com/commentisfre…

Assisted suicide supporters constantly mislead the public about this dangerous piece of legislation. Assisted suicide has not strengthened care culture in Australia. The Daily Telegraph reported that palliative care funding was cut while assisted suicide funding got a boost.

"Palliative and end-of-life care and assisted dying can and do work side by side to give terminally ill patients the care and choice they deserve in their final days." Last week @kimleadbeater made the case for choice at the end of life

So refreshing to hear witnesses in the Select Committee yesterday focusing on the practical dimensions of how the assisted dying Bill would work for terminally ill patients.

Prof Martin Vernon, of the British Geriatrics Society, says there could be “pressure within the system” for assisted suicide to become a solution for the funding crisis in health and social care. “I do think that is a very real and present threat.”

Capacity, decisions to end one’s own life, and the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: mentalcapacitylawandpolicy.o…

#andthewinneris… @AgnesAyton from @OxfordhealthNHS. The judges noted that there were several impressive nominations for Psychiatric Educator of the Year, but Dr Agnes Ayton’s application stood out for her contributions at national level. Her most impressive contributions have been her leading on the rollout of UK’s first Credential in Eating Disorders and Treating Patients Well (AoMRC, 2024 AOMRC Treating Patients Well ) - the first national guidance to formally recognise eating disorders as a required area of learning for all medical professionals are significant pieces of work which impact on training, leadership and patient safety. #rcpsychawards

1. How do assisted suicide laws affect palliative care? Big question this week, with Gordon Brown warning that the Leadbeater bill prioritises death over palliative care, and Leadbeater arguing “this is not an either-or”. Where does the evidence point?

💊ORWELLIAN! Pharmaceutical expert tells Peers it is "Orwellian" to suggest assisted suicide drugs are ‘medicines’ - they bring about death, whereas medicine treats & heals! This is so obvious but assisted suicide supporters love euphemism to disguise the reality of their Bill.

💊ORWELLIAN! Pharmaceutical expert tells Peers it is "Orwellian" to suggest assisted suicide drugs are ‘medicines’ - they bring about death, whereas medicine treats & heals! This is so obvious but assisted suicide supporters love euphemism to disguise the reality of their Bill.

“Introducing VAD has strengthened, not weakened, care culture. 80-85% of people who use VAD are already in receipt of palliative care & governments have invested more than A$1bn (£500m) in new palliative-care…. palliative care & choice go hand in hand” theguardian.com/society/2025…

Seems clear an assisted suicide service will mean NHS cuts elsewhere. Asked what will be cut, Kinnock doesn’t deny the premise, but says “there will need to be some reprioritisation, identifying funding.” He can’t yet say “what we might stop doing, or doing in a different way.”

🔥Baroness @LucianaBerger eloquently reminds the assisted suicide select committee about the lack of funding for hospice & asks how there could then be money available for an assisted suicide industry instead!