“I also intend to advocate in Parliament for increased investment into palliative and end of life care ….”. If that sentence sounds familiar, it is because it is usually included in letters from Labour MPs who want to sound friendly but also want to remain non-committal in respect of the forthcoming Bills on Assisted Dying. The sentence is part of the standard response as drafted by Labour HQ.
It should have been given more thought. It should not be presented as a binary choice. In countries that have legalised Assisted Dying, investment in palliative care has gone up, not down. Palliative care facilities in such countries are notably better than in places like the UK where Assisted Dying remains illegal. In fact, the all-Party Select Committee of the House of Commons came to just that conclusion earlier this year.
Also, the sentence may prove to have been unwise politically. If the forthcoming budget from Rachel Reeves is as tough as everyone expects then it will not contain above-inflation spending for hospices. Therefore there will be Opposition amendments to say that it should. Labour MPs will find themselves whipped to vote against the very thing they have just supported in their letters.
