James Cleverly emotional as he tells MPs of best friend's death

James Cleverly spoke in the House of Commons on Friday during the debate on the assisted dying bill.
He revealed that his closest friend recently passed away "painfully" from esophageal cancer, after Mr Cleverly spent the final weeks of his life with him.
Mr Cleverly, a leading opponent of the Bill, stated his concerns are practical and not based on faith or ignorance.
He expressed a desire to alleviate suffering but said the Bill, which was voted through with a narrow margin, was not a good enough piece of legislation to pass.
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The Independent

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Palestine Action to be banned after break-in at RAF base

The Home Secretary is preparing to ban Palestine Action following the group's vandalism of two planes at an RAF base, the PA news agency understands. Yvette Cooper has decided to proscribe the group, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support Palestine Action. The decision comes after the group posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine. The incident is being also investigated by counter terror police. The Home Secretary has the power to proscribe an organisation under the Terrorism Act of 2000 if she believes it is 'concerned in terrorism'. Proscription will require Ms Cooper to lay an order in Parliament, which must then be debated and approved by both MPs and peers. Some 81 organisations have been proscribed under the 2000 Act, including Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas and al Qaida, far-right groups such as National Action, and Russian private military company Wagner Group. Another 14 organisations connected with Northern Ireland are also banned under previous legislation, including the IRA and UDA. Belonging to or expressing support for a proscribed organisation, along with a number of other actions, are criminal offences carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Friday's incident at Brize Norton, described by the Prime Minister as 'disgraceful', prompted calls for Palestine Action to be banned. The group has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli defence company Elbit, and vandalising Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire. The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) welcomed the news that Ms Cooper intended to proscribe the group, saying: 'Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF jets.' CAA chief executive Gideon Falter urged the Home Secretary to proscribe the Houthi rebel group and Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, adding: 'This country needs to clamp down on the domestic and foreign terrorists running amok on our soil.' Former home secretary Suella Braverman said it was 'absolutely the correct decision'.

Telegraph

an hour ago

• Telegraph

How JK Rowling became a lightning rod for attacks by pro-trans activists

These are dark times in the wizarding world. Stephen Fry, who narrated all seven of JK Rowling's Harry Potter audio books, has become the latest celebrity to lambast the author for her views on trans issues. Fry told the Show People podcast that Rowling 'has been radicalised by terfs' (a slur meaning 'transgender-exclusionary radical feminists') and described his former friend and colleague as a 'lost cause'. But Fry's censure won't deter the author. Rowling has spent the past five years fending off increasingly vitriolic attacks and even death threats as she became the chief spokesperson for women's rights – and the biggest lightning rod for attacks by pro-trans activists. It was in 2019 that Rowling began sharing her views publicly, initially by supporting other campaigners. In December of that year, she robustly defended Maya Forstater, a researcher locked in an employment discrimination battle for expressing gender-critical opinions. Rowling posted on Twitter: 'Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who'll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill'. Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who'll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 19, 2019 Rowling progressed to leading the charge in 2020. In June, she posted a scathing tweet in response to an article about 'people who menstruate'. Rowling commented: 'I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?' It prompted an online backlash in which her critics called her transphobic – an allegation she denied. 'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud? Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020 Still, it wasn't entirely clear what was motivating her involvement until she published a lengthy and thoughtful essay on her website that same month. Rowling wrote that her interest in this subject actually went back two years: she had been closely following the debate, and reading books and articles by trans people, gender specialists, psychologists, doctors and more. Rowling explained that she also had a very personal interest. She revealed that she was a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor, and that was part of her concern around the erosion of protected single-sex spaces. Rowling's remarkable candour is part of what makes her such an effective advocate, says her friend, fellow campaigner and Telegraph columnist Suzanne Moore. The pair first got in touch in 2020 – also an eventful year for Moore, who left The Guardian after 338 of its employees wrote a critical open letter in response to Moore's column about women's rights. Moore says of Rowling: 'Her experience of domestic violence, and her understanding of what it is to be poor, to be a single parent, to not to have access to services, that is a crucial aspect. Although she's incredibly rich and famous, a part of Jo will always be worrying about how to pay the next bill or afford childcare. That means she understands the vulnerability of others. I think people relate to that – it's a very human thing.' Rowling's emotional response is balanced, says Moore, by her conviction about the core issues, including 'that women and girls matter, and that children should not be medicalised. She sees this as one of the biggest medical scandals of the past decade.' Mandy Rhodes, editor of Holyrood magazine and a long-time campaigner for women's rights in Scotland, admits she was initially sceptical about Rowling's involvement. 'I did have that moment of thinking 'Oh, it's someone very famous jumping on the bandwagon'. But within days I understood how committed she was.' Crucially, argues Moore, Rowling 'didn't come into this for her own ego'. Nor was it a fashionable position to take; quite the opposite. 'She could have just sat back and enjoyed her massive success,' says Moore. 'She chose to take a stand. You see all these men like Stephen Fry or Boy George coming at her and they end up looking absolutely stupid. She's what everybody fears: a woman who doesn't give a f---. She doesn't need to be liked – she's already loved. She's a rock star.' Rhodes explains: 'Many of us who put our heads above the parapet were then in the position of trying to save our jobs or keep our sanity because of the criticism being levelled at us. Jo was in a more powerful position and she used it. That really elevated everything.' In 2022, Rowling took action by funding a women-only support centre, Beira's Place in Edinburgh, for victims of sexual violence. 'There was no such single-sex service before,' she said in an interview. 'I know that was well worth doing because of the number of women who are coming through our doors.' Over three years she has donated £1 million to fund running costs, including a staff of nine counselling support workers who have provided more than 6,000 hours of support to 700 women and girls.' Moore visited the centre with Rowling and was struck by how 'Jo sat back and listened to the experienced staff explaining why this was important. That said a lot to me.' Rowling has also regularly challenged controversial legislation in Scotland. In 2022 she condemned a bill that would make it easier for trans people to legally change gender, and in 2024 she criticised a new hate crime act by posting her views on X and challenging Scottish police to arrest her. 'As a writer, she passionately believes in free speech,' says Moore. 'That's something that her critics don't necessarily understand about the arguments she's making.' That same year, Rowling leapt to the defence of resigning Labour MP Rosie Duffield, who had previously been criticised by Keir Starmer for saying that only women have a cervix. The author wrote on X that Duffield 'was one of the few female Labour politicians with the guts to stand up for vulnerable women and girls.' Rosie Duffield was one of the few female Labour politicians with the guts to stand up for vulnerable women and girls, while self-satisfied numbskulls like you fought to give away their rights and spaces. TL;DR Keep her name out of your mouth. — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 28, 2024 Rowling has also weighed in on women's sport. In 2024 she posted a photograph of Olympic Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, saying that it showed a man 'enjoying the distress of a woman he's just punched in the head'. Rosie Duffield was one of the few female Labour politicians with the guts to stand up for vulnerable women and girls, while self-satisfied numbskulls like you fought to give away their rights and spaces. TL;DR Keep her name out of your mouth. — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 28, 2024 Moore says that while many women share such concerns, voicing them puts you in a very lonely position. Even Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, who owe their fame to Rowling's Harry Potter movie franchise, have publicly disagreed with her on trans issues, as has Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne. 'People are hurling abuse at you constantly,' adds Moore. 'This issue came to a head during lockdown, when you felt really isolated. Jo is absolutely the person you want beside you in the trenches: her personal courage, her cleverness and her funniness keep you going.' They were both highly amused, says Moore, when a lunch that Rowling organised for campaigners (including Forstater, Prof Kathleen Stock and Julie Bindel) at the River Café in west London in April 2022 became the focus of rabid attention. 'Women have pasta and wine and suddenly it's a national news story! Actually what she's done is bring people together from across the political spectrum and foster real camaraderie.' Rhodes was delighted to meet Rowling at the Edinburgh launch, in 2024, for the book of essays The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht (Rowling contributed a piece). 'At first I didn't recognise her – she hadn't made an effort to stand out,' says Rhodes. 'I tapped her on the shoulder and said, 'Hi, I'm Mandy', and she immediately said, 'It's so amazing to meet you', and was actually quite deferential to me, which was very kind. I don't think you can exaggerate how horrible and painful it felt being in Scotland at the forefront of all this. It meant a lot to all of us that she was there.' It also helps to have a globally best-selling author articulating your message. Reflecting on Rowling's 2020 personal essay, Rhodes says: 'What she wrote was so simple, so easily understood, it cut through all the nonsense.' Moore thinks that the relentless criticism does sometimes get to Rowling, 'but she jokes to us about it and she stays amazingly calm online. There's all sorts of stuff she could say to someone like Stephen and she doesn't. It's a relief seeing 'there's a woman who cannot be put in her place'. She's inspirational. I'm confident we can keep fighting back, as long as we have people like Jo fighting with us.'

The Guardian

an hour ago

• The Guardian

Assisted dying bill: how will it work and when will it come into effect?

The right to an assisted death will become law in England and Wales within four years as MPs backed a historic societal shift in parliament on Friday by a tight majority. But what does it mean for the future? It may be some years away yet – although no later than 2029. There is no timetable but, under the terms of the legislation, it needs to start within four years after the law is passed. The bill is likely to be given royal assent by the end of the year, if it passes smoothly through the House of Lords. However, there are many details about the process that are yet to be ironed out, including how the system will work either within the NHS or outside it, that could delay its implementation. Many people with terminal illnesses campaigning for a change in the law will be relieved by the legislation but are not certain to benefit from it themselves. It could take years to implement, so those with a shorter life expectancy are unlikely to be eligible for an assisted dying service. The training and qualifications of doctors is one of the points yet to be resolved, although it has been decided that medical staff will not be compelled to take part in assisted dying services. Other subjects that need to be discussed include the type of lethal substance to be administered, the forms of identification patients would have to provide, the records that would have to be kept by doctors and the codes of practice around the assisted dying process – as well as the location and type of services. There are many logistics to thrash out, with health minister Stephen Kinnock and justice minister Sarah Sackman in charge of implementation. One possibility is integrating a service into the NHS, which would oversee the process of moving from palliative care to assisted dying for those with less than six months to live. An alternative would be to have a separate unit outside the NHS available through third parties, similar to the situation in Switzerland. A hybrid model could look like the way in which abortions are carried out by separate providers such as the not-for-profit British Pregnancy Advisory Service and others, but ultimately overseen by the NHS. The bill makes provision for the service to be carried out for free, but if it is publicly funded then it would get money that is currently not wholly provided to end-of-life services such as hospices, which tend to raise money as charities. The idea was not in the Labour government's manifesto, so convention dictates that it could be killed off in the second chamber. It could also be so mired in difficulty and delay in the Lords that it ran out of time. However, given it has been voted through in the House of Commons, it is highly likely to pass at some point, as most bills do – probably before the end of the year. If it were to run out of time in this parliamentary session, then it would not be carried over to the next because it is a private member's bill. Another MP would have to put it forward and start all over again, unless the government decided to take up the cause and propose its own legislation. Undoubtedly, some peers will attempt to change the legislation, and many MPs acknowledge there is still room for improvement. There are some outright opponents of the legislation as well, such as Tanni Grey-Thompson, a disabled peer and Paralympic medallist. But the most likely outcome is that peers will refine the legislation before it is sent back to the House of Commons and then ultimately passed. Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the bill as a backbencher, said recently that she thinks the House of Lords will end up voting in favour. The bill applies to England and Wales, with the Welsh parliament denied a veto over the legislation. Scotland is currently going through the process of examining its own legislation. There are no plans for assisted dying to be introduced in Northern Ireland at the moment.