🚨 BREAKING: Andy Burnham says the assisted dying debate should wait until after palliative care and social care is fixed

I think Andy Burnham has a very serious point here. How can we introduce assisted dying when we do not yet have properly functioning social care and palliative care systems? People must have a genuine choice to live with dignity before they are offered the choice to die.

Burnham makes a strong ethical point. True compassion means guaranteeing excellent end-of-life care so that assisted dying isn't the default option for those who feel like a burden. Rushing legislation before fixing the fundamentals would be a serious failure of responsibility.

Whether you agree or not, it's hard to ignore the point that social care has been neglected for far too long

Completely agree with Burnham here. The assisted dying debate cannot be detached from the reality of our broken social care system. Until every terminally ill person has access to high-quality palliative care, any 'choice' offered will be heavily distorted by inadequate support.

So, Labour are going to drop the obsession about culling the weak? That’s good

This is a mature position. Too often this debate focuses solely on individual autonomy while ignoring systemic failures. We have a duty to ensure no one chooses death because nursing care, pain management or family support isn't there. Sort palliative and social care first.

Burnham says we can’t discuss assisted dying until social care and palliative care are fixed. He’s basically telling the terminally ill to hang on while the government finishes its group project. The project that started in 1997.

He's not wrong there, I agree totally.

Fair play, he's absolutely right.

Andy Burnham is right. Legalising assisted dying while palliative care is underfunded risks people feeling they have 'no choice'. Fix pain relief, 24/7 support and social care first, that's responsible governance.

He is right. Look at how Canada and other nations completely messed it up by bringing it in too quickly and for such a broad set of people who would be eligible. MAID in Canada has euthanized thousands and thousands who could have been helped in other ways

Burnham’s position: let’s finally sort social care and palliative care… then we can talk about helping people die. After thirty years of not sorting either, the queue for the debate is going to be longer than the waiting lists.

Assisted dying has never been at odds with palliative or social care. 2024 Health and Social Care Inquiry found that where assisted dying is introduced, palliative care can improve. Improving care doesn’t mean forcing terminally ill people to suffer right now.

Yes. #FundPalliativeCare #NationalCareService 🙏.

Good.

A PM that understands assisted dying? A true breath of fresh air

@MaxCryptic5 He’s bang on here. I feel like all sides have to agree on this

Absolutely sensible. They add horrible incentives.

Thank you @andyburnham this means a lot its one the most dangerous policy disabled elderly and vulnerable people are facing. Hopefully its scrapped altogether as the uk doesn't want end up like Canada.

@sasswashere I agree

This is 100% the right way to go and might draw some of the toxicity out of the debate - poison created by the unnecessarily partisan and frightfully rude way the proponents of the bill sought to present their case.

Wasn't this voted down already? 🤷🏼‍♂️

Very sensible. The Labour Party are still dreadful for the most part but this man is already infinitely better than Starmer.

he is talking a lot of common sense and he is 100% right about the need to improve palliative and social care services. we cannot have a situation where vulnerable people feel pressured to end their lives

The vast majority of the Country agrees with the right to assisted dying for terminally ill. He's wrong on this.

Assisted dying is state-sanctioned killing. It is used to kill problem citizens in Canada. Britain is a police state where the local population/culture is being replaced by Muslims. Such power over life/death of innocents must never be put into the hands of such evil people.

At last!! A politician who gets this fundamental point. Assisted dying shouldn’t be used in place of proper medical pain control or palliative care.

So in other words, those that are slowly dying, should continue to slowly die until he says so 🤔

It’s nonsense to equate the need for assistance suicide with poor palliative care or lack of social care I want the right to end my life when it becomes a misery to me! I want access to means of ending my life painlessly and in good order I may never exercise the right

He is right about this.The Bill should not be brought back any time soon. Next he needs to ditch the Chagos ‘deal’ once and for all. Then via a Budget reduce Employers’NI back to where it was. And announce a timetable for increase in defence expenditure.

🚨WATCH: Reporter asks Burnham Do you think 85% of care homes run on for Profit Basis is too high? Burnham says England's social care system is as unfair as American healthcare and leaves the vulnerable with nothing.

This is the right decision. Without good palliative and social care the choice is not available and assisted dying should be a real choice with good alternatives available . Without these alternatives people will just be panicked into choosing to die.

Ironic, coming from the man who is now assisting in Labour's death.

I get where he's coming from but it does just feel like he dodged the question