The health minister Stephen Kinnock has said he will vote in favour of the assisted dying bill next week, arguing that it is the “compassionate” thing to do and will not automatically place NHS palliative care services under extreme pressure.
Kinnock, the minister responsible for palliative care, said he did not believe there was a conflict between backing a change in the law and supporting hospices, as had been suggested by his boss Wes Streeting, the health secretary.
He told ITV News: “I will be voting for the bill on November 29. I don’t think it’s an either/or question on hospices and palliative care but evidence shows that often countries and places that go with assisted dying actually see improvements in palliative care coming from that.”
Streeting said last week that he was worried about the impact on hospice care if assisted dying was legalised, and he dismayed some colleagues by ordering his officials to review the costs of implementing any changes.
He was personally rebuked by Keir Starmer over his repeated public interventions opposing the move in England and Wales, after Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, had told cabinet ministers to remain neutral and not to take part in a public debate.
Starmer, who is in Brazil for the G20 summit, has given his strongest indication yet that he will vote in favour of the bill by referring to his previous position backing a change in the law when MPs last voted on the issue.
He told the BBC: “I have dealt with this … that’s why we must be neutral. That’s why we must have free vote. I’ve talked to all of the cabinet, I do all the time, but the government position is neutral. But I don’t want to influence or put pressure on people on this because I think everybody needs to make their own mind up on it. It is a significant issue.
“I dealt with it for five years when I was chief prosecutor, so I saw every single case that was ever investigated, so I know what the issues are. And I also really do appreciate just how strongly people feel. Obviously, people will see the way in which I will vote. I will vote, and I’ve set out my views previously in relation to this.”
In his interview with ITV News, Kinnock refused to be drawn on whether he thought Streeting had been wrong to order his department to calculate the costs of the legislation and to warn that it could divert money away from other NHS services.
“You’re asking me a direct question about my view, I’m giving that to you. I think that assisted dying is the right thing to do from the point of view of compassion,” he said. “Hundreds of people a year are taking matters into their own hands in uncontrolled environments. It’s not safe, it’s not compassionate, and I think it’s also right that people should have the choice to die a good death in the warm embrace of the people that they love.”
In recent days, the welfare secretary, Liz Kendall, said she would vote in favour of the private member’s bill, which has been tabled by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, while the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said she would vote against it.
