Keir Starmer rebukes Wes Streeting over assisted dying NHS warning

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said assisted dying must be made workable after Health Secretary Wes Streeting voiced concerns about whether the NHS could afford to run it

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Keir Starmer has slapped down Health Secretary Wes Streeting for saying there was no budget for assisted dying.

The Prime Minister said he was "confident" that the right preparation had been made so an assisted dying service can be set up if the bill becomes law.

MPs voted to support the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill with a majority of 23 last week, which now passes to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.

The Government remains neutral on assisted dying and MPs were given a free vote, as it is treated as a matter of conscience.

Mr Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves were among the MPs who voted to legalise assisted dying, in last week's landmark vote.

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But a number of top ministers are against the idea - including Mr Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Mr Streeting told his constituents last week that providing an assisted dying service would drain "time and money" away from other parts of the NHS.

In a Facebook post, he quoted former PM Gordon Brown's position that "there is no effective freedom to choose if the alternative option... is not available", referring to palliative care.

Mr Streeting wrote: "The truth is that creating those conditions will take time and money.

"Even with the savings that might come from assisted dying if people take up the service - and it feels uncomfortable talking about savings in this context to be honest - setting up this service will also take time and money that is in short supply.

"There isn't a budget for this. Politics is about prioritising. It is a daily series of choices and trade-offs. I fear we've made the wrong one."

But the Prime Minister dismissed his comments, and said assisted dying must be made to work.

Asked about the Health Secretary's comments, Mr Starmer told reporters at the NATO summit in The Hague, he said: "It is my responsibility to make sure the bill is workable, and that means workable in all its aspects. I’m confident we’ve done that preparation.”

The legislation, spearheaded by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, will allow terminally ill adults with six months left to live to apply for an assisted death.

Their appeal would need to be approved by two doctors and an expert panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.

Up to four years has been set aside to establish an assisted dying service on the NHS after the bill gets royal assent.

It could be available in 2029 if it passes through the House of Lords and becomes law later this year.

The bill has undergone intense Commons scrutiny since November, when it passed its first hurdle by 330 votes to 275, a majority of 55.