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Dan Hitchens

@ddhitchens • 16,559 subscribers

Senior editor @firstthingsmag | Co-author, Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Johnson | Newsletter: https://t.co/yj4GPUYs00

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Quite an argument from Alex Cole-Hamilton (Lib Dem): “Please don’t vote against this bill because you are waiting for a safer one. “In this moment of final decision, all that is left for us to decide is whether we support the idea of choice at the end or we don’t”.

Quite an argument from Alex Cole-Hamilton (Lib Dem): “Please don’t vote against this bill because you are waiting for a safer one. “In this moment of final decision, all that is left for us to decide is whether we support the idea of choice at the end or we don’t”.

44,312 views

Falconer says Clause 5 requires doctors to make “sure all options are made available”. This is wholly misleading. There is absolutely no requirement to make other options available. Kim Leadbeater rejected an amendment to guarantee a meeting with a palliative care specialist.

Falconer says Clause 5 requires doctors to make “sure all options are made available”. This is wholly misleading. There is absolutely no requirement to make other options available. Kim Leadbeater rejected an amendment to guarantee a meeting with a palliative care specialist.

86,727 views

Stephen Kinnock, who would be the minister for assisted suicide implementation, tells the Lords Committee it’s “impossible to say” how much profit could be made by companies providing the service:

Stephen Kinnock, who would be the minister for assisted suicide implementation, tells the Lords Committee it’s “impossible to say” how much profit could be made by companies providing the service:

60,572 views

Lord Falconer: “Of course nobody wants the absence of palliative care to be the reason you apply for an assisted death. “But we have to give everybody this choice on the basis of the way the world is for them.”

Lord Falconer: “Of course nobody wants the absence of palliative care to be the reason you apply for an assisted death. “But we have to give everybody this choice on the basis of the way the world is for them.”

35,082 views

A Leadbeater U-turn. Doctors will do Zoom assessments. Including eg prisoners or—potentially—victims of hidden domestic abuse. Baroness Gerada reassures us: “This issue will never be a routine tick-box exercise…being in Tenerife rather than Torbay is the choice of the patient”

A Leadbeater U-turn. Doctors will do Zoom assessments. Including eg prisoners or—potentially—victims of hidden domestic abuse. Baroness Gerada reassures us: “This issue will never be a routine tick-box exercise…being in Tenerife rather than Torbay is the choice of the patient”

21,804 views

Baroness Scotland, former Attorney General: “If we remove the coroner [as the bill does], do you think we’ll be as easily able to identify abuse? Or identify when people may have behaved improperly?” Thomas Teague, former Chief Coroner: “Certainly not. The reverse.”

Baroness Scotland, former Attorney General: “If we remove the coroner [as the bill does], do you think we’ll be as easily able to identify abuse? Or identify when people may have behaved improperly?” Thomas Teague, former Chief Coroner: “Certainly not. The reverse.”

17,858 views

2. Jim Dickson MP told the Commons: “In the words of the Impact Assessment on the bill now, it says we have the strongest safeguards in this bill of any jurisdiction in the world.” No phrase anything like this appears anywhere in the Impact Assessment.

2. Jim Dickson MP told the Commons: “In the words of the Impact Assessment on the bill now, it says we have the strongest safeguards in this bill of any jurisdiction in the world.” No phrase anything like this appears anywhere in the Impact Assessment.

13,283 views

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Speech of the day from former attorney general Baroness Prentis, who is undergoing chemotherapy: “When I’ve been waiting, literally on the floor, having fainted, of a less than perfectly clean NHS corridor, I have had a vision in my head of crisp white sheets and certainty that would come from knowing you were instantly going to die. “For me, and I suspect for most vulnerable people, that vision passes and life becomes worth living and good again. But I don’t think we should deny for one minute that that vision is briefly an attractive one. “My Lords, we owe the dying better than this bill.”
5:00
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Speech of the day from former attorney general Baroness Prentis, who is undergoing chemotherapy: “When I’ve been waiting, literally on the floor, having fainted, of a less than perfectly clean NHS corridor, I have had a vision in my head of crisp white sheets and certainty that would come from knowing you were instantly going to die. “For me, and I suspect for most vulnerable people, that vision passes and life becomes worth living and good again. But I don’t think we should deny for one minute that that vision is briefly an attractive one. “My Lords, we owe the dying better than this bill.”

Dan Hitchens

340,116 views • 1 month ago

Falconer confirms: people will die under his AS bill because they are poor. “Where the reason…is because in your mind you are influenced by your circumstances—for example, because you are poor—should you be barred from having an assisted death...? In my view [you should] not.”
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Falconer confirms: people will die under his AS bill because they are poor. “Where the reason…is because in your mind you are influenced by your circumstances—for example, because you are poor—should you be barred from having an assisted death...? In my view [you should] not.”

Dan Hitchens

394,152 views • 6 months ago

Remarkable speech from Pam Duncan-Glancy (Independent): “There will be countless disabled people in our constituencies who haven’t had the choice to have a shower in weeks. People who can’t choose when they go to bed. Some who will already be in bed. “People who can’t choose what to eat. People who can’t choose to go out of their house, because it isn’t accessible. People tonight who can’t choose the care or the healthcare they need, including at the end, because it simply isn’t available for them. “And crucially, there will be disabled people whose struggle is so hard that they’ve given up hope, given up fighting, and will be considering tonight taking their own lives. “I know this, because I have been all of these people I’ve described. They live in fear every single day, worrying about what new limit someone else will put on their lives, and what little power they will have to change it. They live every single day without choice at all… “In a world where so many have little or no choice, we can’t risk making death the only choice they ever have.”
1:54
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Remarkable speech from Pam Duncan-Glancy (Independent): “There will be countless disabled people in our constituencies who haven’t had the choice to have a shower in weeks. People who can’t choose when they go to bed. Some who will already be in bed. “People who can’t choose what to eat. People who can’t choose to go out of their house, because it isn’t accessible. People tonight who can’t choose the care or the healthcare they need, including at the end, because it simply isn’t available for them. “And crucially, there will be disabled people whose struggle is so hard that they’ve given up hope, given up fighting, and will be considering tonight taking their own lives. “I know this, because I have been all of these people I’ve described. They live in fear every single day, worrying about what new limit someone else will put on their lives, and what little power they will have to change it. They live every single day without choice at all… “In a world where so many have little or no choice, we can’t risk making death the only choice they ever have.”

Dan Hitchens

156,276 views • 2 months ago

Ruth Maguire (SNP), who is stepping down as an MSP due to a cancer diagnosis: “I find it really hard to put into words the impact that the language of dignity and compassion being used to talk about ending life has had on me—as if somehow wishing to carry on but with help is undignified and burdensome, unfair to people who love me… “My blood runs cold thinking about sitting in a room in a hospital and having a doctor raise that with me as we weigh up treatment options… “If it weighs so heavily on me, someone in a position of financial privilege, with a large loving family who are able to care for each other—indeed, someone whose job it’s been for 10 years to have difficult conversations… I want colleagues to see how this all plays out for people who don’t have the privilege that we have. “And in doing so, let’s have our eyes open to the strain our health and social care systems are under.”
1:30
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Ruth Maguire (SNP), who is stepping down as an MSP due to a cancer diagnosis: “I find it really hard to put into words the impact that the language of dignity and compassion being used to talk about ending life has had on me—as if somehow wishing to carry on but with help is undignified and burdensome, unfair to people who love me… “My blood runs cold thinking about sitting in a room in a hospital and having a doctor raise that with me as we weigh up treatment options… “If it weighs so heavily on me, someone in a position of financial privilege, with a large loving family who are able to care for each other—indeed, someone whose job it’s been for 10 years to have difficult conversations… I want colleagues to see how this all plays out for people who don’t have the privilege that we have. “And in doing so, let’s have our eyes open to the strain our health and social care systems are under.”

Dan Hitchens

144,827 views • 2 months ago

Naz Shah explains that she has to leave early: the sitting has been extended to 10pm and her hearing aids need recharging—without them she can’t hear. “I have raised this issue repeatedly with the bill’s sponsor and the committee and it saddens me that I am unable to continue.”
0:49
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Naz Shah explains that she has to leave early: the sitting has been extended to 10pm and her hearing aids need recharging—without them she can’t hear. “I have raised this issue repeatedly with the bill’s sponsor and the committee and it saddens me that I am unable to continue.”

Dan Hitchens

636,621 views • 1 year ago

There will be relief today in many hospices, which Kit Malthouse said would be defunded if they declined to provide assisted deaths:
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There will be relief today in many hospices, which Kit Malthouse said would be defunded if they declined to provide assisted deaths:

Dan Hitchens

69,001 views • 1 month ago

Profoundly moving story from Baroness Finlay, former BMA president and a leading figure in palliative care, about one of her patients. “36 years ago a GP referred a distraught young man whose prognosis—as estimated by him, the surgeon, and the oncologist—was about three months, saying: ‘He is the most clear-cut case for euthanasia I have ever seen.’ “In total pain, desperate for lethal drugs, with his youngest child only six weeks old, his care was challenging, particularly in the first fortnight. “Eleven years after that visit, and after many times of complex care, David phoned me. His beautiful young wife was dying of advanced cancer. By then a wheelchair user, he and his three children were with her in the hospice as she died. “Just two days ago, I visited David, who—with his three fine adult children who he has brought up on his own despite his disability—said I could speak of this, in tribute to him and all his care has taught me. “They’re watching this debate today. I know they have tuned in. It’s a great privilege to be entrusted with such care.” (h/t Nikki da Costa)
1:28
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Profoundly moving story from Baroness Finlay, former BMA president and a leading figure in palliative care, about one of her patients. “36 years ago a GP referred a distraught young man whose prognosis—as estimated by him, the surgeon, and the oncologist—was about three months, saying: ‘He is the most clear-cut case for euthanasia I have ever seen.’ “In total pain, desperate for lethal drugs, with his youngest child only six weeks old, his care was challenging, particularly in the first fortnight. “Eleven years after that visit, and after many times of complex care, David phoned me. His beautiful young wife was dying of advanced cancer. By then a wheelchair user, he and his three children were with her in the hospice as she died. “Just two days ago, I visited David, who—with his three fine adult children who he has brought up on his own despite his disability—said I could speak of this, in tribute to him and all his care has taught me. “They’re watching this debate today. I know they have tuned in. It’s a great privilege to be entrusted with such care.” (h/t Nikki da Costa)

Dan Hitchens

126,990 views • 2 months ago

Ten Labour MPs backed an amendment to stop doctors raising assisted suicide with children (who aren’t eligible for the procedure). Kim Leadbeater: “We shouldn’t prohibit open conversation with terminally ill young people…this creates openness.” The amendment was defeated 13-8.
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Ten Labour MPs backed an amendment to stop doctors raising assisted suicide with children (who aren’t eligible for the procedure). Kim Leadbeater: “We shouldn’t prohibit open conversation with terminally ill young people…this creates openness.” The amendment was defeated 13-8.

Dan Hitchens

511,947 views • 1 year ago

Lord Falconer confirms it again. Under the Starmer assisted suicide bill, some people will be given lethal drugs by the state because they are poor. “Your financial position might be an element.” Key excerpts and full video: Lord Falconer: “Choice is the key thing. Your financial position might be an element in what makes you reach a decision.” Lord Harper: “I am slightly incredulous at this, so I just want to make sure I understand him correctly. He’s talking about…someone’s autonomy. If you are in a financial position where you feel that you are unable to live properly because you have no money, and as a result of that you decide that you want to end your life, that isn’t a freely reached decision. That is being done because of your circumstances. Is he really saying that he’s OK with poor people ending their lives with the assistance of others because they’re poor? Because that is what it sounds like.” Falconer: “I am saying that what this bill does is allow you to make your own decision.” Harper: “I think people would be horrified that he is suggesting that somebody because of their financial circumstances should be more likely to end their life than somebody who isn’t.” Falconer: “I’m saying it’s their choice.”
2:43
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Lord Falconer confirms it again. Under the Starmer assisted suicide bill, some people will be given lethal drugs by the state because they are poor. “Your financial position might be an element.” Key excerpts and full video: Lord Falconer: “Choice is the key thing. Your financial position might be an element in what makes you reach a decision.” Lord Harper: “I am slightly incredulous at this, so I just want to make sure I understand him correctly. He’s talking about…someone’s autonomy. If you are in a financial position where you feel that you are unable to live properly because you have no money, and as a result of that you decide that you want to end your life, that isn’t a freely reached decision. That is being done because of your circumstances. Is he really saying that he’s OK with poor people ending their lives with the assistance of others because they’re poor? Because that is what it sounds like.” Falconer: “I am saying that what this bill does is allow you to make your own decision.” Harper: “I think people would be horrified that he is suggesting that somebody because of their financial circumstances should be more likely to end their life than somebody who isn’t.” Falconer: “I’m saying it’s their choice.”

Dan Hitchens

129,763 views • 4 months ago

Nov 2023: now-leaked Labour strategy doc proposes “private member’s” bill where govt “controls the parameters” by “working with advocacy groups…to draft the legislation”. Jan 2025: Leadbeater reacts with fury after Danny Kruger claims the bill was “written by a campaign group”.
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Nov 2023: now-leaked Labour strategy doc proposes “private member’s” bill where govt “controls the parameters” by “working with advocacy groups…to draft the legislation”. Jan 2025: Leadbeater reacts with fury after Danny Kruger claims the bill was “written by a campaign group”.

Dan Hitchens

155,212 views • 6 months ago

Kit Malthouse uses PMQs to propound a novel constitutional theory: that the Lords isn’t allowed to reject a bill, even when it isn’t a manifesto promise or even a government bill. Starmer rightly sends him packing: “Scrutiny of the bill in the Lords is a matter for the Lords.”
1:09
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Kit Malthouse uses PMQs to propound a novel constitutional theory: that the Lords isn’t allowed to reject a bill, even when it isn’t a manifesto promise or even a government bill. Starmer rightly sends him packing: “Scrutiny of the bill in the Lords is a matter for the Lords.”

Dan Hitchens

161,951 views • 6 months ago

Nothing showy or emotive here, but still the best speech I can remember from any living parliamentarian.
2:24
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Nothing showy or emotive here, but still the best speech I can remember from any living parliamentarian.

Dan Hitchens

312,457 views • 1 year ago

Should each assisted suicide applicant get a meeting with a palliative care specialist? When MPs proposed this, care minister Stephen Kinnock raised a “concern” that it “would increase demand for palliative care specialists”. He joined Kim Leadbeater in voting down the proposal.
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Should each assisted suicide applicant get a meeting with a palliative care specialist? When MPs proposed this, care minister Stephen Kinnock raised a “concern” that it “would increase demand for palliative care specialists”. He joined Kim Leadbeater in voting down the proposal.

Dan Hitchens

299,756 views • 1 year ago

Amateur hour. Lord Falconer, reading from his notes, vaguely cites “someone called Sarah Cox”. She was speaking as President of the Association for Palliative Medicine! He then distorts her position—a misrepresentation Dr Cox corrected last year—and refuses an intervention.
1:17
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Amateur hour. Lord Falconer, reading from his notes, vaguely cites “someone called Sarah Cox”. She was speaking as President of the Association for Palliative Medicine! He then distorts her position—a misrepresentation Dr Cox corrected last year—and refuses an intervention.

Dan Hitchens

84,040 views • 4 months ago

Under the Bill a doctor can raise assisted suicide with your anorexic 16-year-old daughter who’s never thought of it. Neil Shastri-Hurst rejects a ban on raising it with a child: “To deny them the opportunity for a considered conversation about their future…is to abandon them”
0:37
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Under the Bill a doctor can raise assisted suicide with your anorexic 16-year-old daughter who’s never thought of it. Neil Shastri-Hurst rejects a ban on raising it with a child: “To deny them the opportunity for a considered conversation about their future…is to abandon them”

Dan Hitchens

178,437 views • 1 year ago

A simply astonishing moment from yesterday. Naz Shah, a former NHS commissioner, points out there’s a good chance that the big four outsourcing firms will help deliver assisted suicide. Kim Leadbeater: “I don’t know very much about those companies… Do they deliver healthcare?”
2:55
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A simply astonishing moment from yesterday. Naz Shah, a former NHS commissioner, points out there’s a good chance that the big four outsourcing firms will help deliver assisted suicide. Kim Leadbeater: “I don’t know very much about those companies… Do they deliver healthcare?”

Dan Hitchens

177,229 views • 1 year ago

Worth watching. Falconer ally Baroness Murphy attacked the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the Lords, claiming they had been manipulated by a single member. The College wrote to Murphy and she refused to clarify. So former president Baroness Hollins sets the record straight:
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Worth watching. Falconer ally Baroness Murphy attacked the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the Lords, claiming they had been manipulated by a single member. The College wrote to Murphy and she refused to clarify. So former president Baroness Hollins sets the record straight:

Dan Hitchens

81,589 views • 5 months ago

Lord Stevens, former NHS CEO, always chooses his words with care. So it’s striking to hear him describe Clause 41 of the Leadbeater/Falconer bill as “a Trojan horse clause for fundamental change to the National Health Service by the back door”.
0:37
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Lord Stevens, former NHS CEO, always chooses his words with care. So it’s striking to hear him describe Clause 41 of the Leadbeater/Falconer bill as “a Trojan horse clause for fundamental change to the National Health Service by the back door”.

Dan Hitchens

36,815 views • 2 months ago

Moment of the day? Baroness Finlay quotes to Lord Falconer *his own* 2011 report, which said people should not receive an assisted death because of “lack of access to adequate end-of-life care and support.” Falconer suddenly stops nodding.
0:58
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Moment of the day? Baroness Finlay quotes to Lord Falconer *his own* 2011 report, which said people should not receive an assisted death because of “lack of access to adequate end-of-life care and support.” Falconer suddenly stops nodding.

Dan Hitchens

73,062 views • 6 months ago