MP opposed to assisted dying bill to hold meeting

A North Yorkshire MP who opposes the assisted dying bill will hold a meeting later to discuss the legislation and talk about the importance of end-of-life care.

Labour MP for York Central Rachael Maskell said she "could not" support the proposed law because it was "simply not safe".

Maskell has said the bill should include further safeguards to ensure people explore palliative care options before opting for an assisted death.

But Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Tom Gordon, who is on the parliamentary committee in charge of scrutinising the legislation, said the "robust" bill had some of "the strongest safeguards in the world".

Maskell said she believed there were "very few safeguards when you actually tear the bill apart".

She said she was concerned about the scope of people who would be eligible for an assisted death under the legislation, listing diabetics who choose to stop taking insulin as an example of those who could be eligible.

"Therefore there would be millions of people who could be in the scope for an assisted death and that does really concern me," Maskell said.

• What is assisted dying and how could the law change?
• What happens next to the bill on assisted dying?
• Assisted dying bill: How did my MP vote?

Maskell said she was holding the meeting, at York's Friargate Quaker Meeting House on Thursday evening, to discuss the legislation and to talk about a palliative care parliamentary committee she had established.

She has been pushing for a commission into palliative and end-of-life care, and said the bill should include further safeguards to ensure people explore palliative care options before opting for an assisted death.

Maskell added: "How we die really does matter.

"It's really important people aren't dying in pain and with poor symptom control and that's why I've been focussing on investing in palliative medicine."

She said York's St Leonard's hospice demonstrated "the advances of this speciality of medicine".

She added: "It's incredible what can be achieved to control those symptoms and ensure that people do have dignity when they die."

However, Gordon told BBC Radio York the assisted dying bill "would have really strict criteria and really strong safeguards, and as a member of the bill committee I'm trying to make it even better and stronger".

Gordon said he supported the bill to "give people choice at the end of life".

He added: "We know many people who have terminal illness have a lot of pain and suffering and the option to have an assisted death is the compassionate thing to do."

MPs backed proposals to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales in November, by a majority of 55.

However, it will be debated further by the House of Commons and Lords later in the year, and the final version requires the approval of both before it becomes law.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.