Rantzen warns peers not to hamper progress of assisted dying law
The Terminally Ill Adults (End Of Life) Bill cleared the Commons with a majority of 23 votes on Friday, but opponents have vowed to continue their resistance in the unelected chamber.
The legislation could face a difficult passage through the Lords, with critics poised to table amendments to add further restrictions and safeguards to the Bill.
Dame Esther told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'I don't need to teach the House of Lords how to do their job. They know it very well, and they know that laws are produced by the elected chamber.
'Their job is to scrutinise, to ask questions, but not to oppose.
'So yes, people who are adamantly opposed to this bill, and they have a perfect right to oppose it, will try and stop it going through the Lords, but the Lords themselves, their duty is to make sure that law is actually created by the elected chamber, which is the House of Commons who have voted this through.'
Dame Esther, who turns 85 on Sunday and has terminal cancer, acknowledged the legislation would probably not become law in time for her to use it and she would have to 'buzz of to Zurich' to use the Dignitas clinic.
Paralympian and crossbench peer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson told BBC Breakfast: 'We're getting ready for it to come to the Lord's and from my personal point of view, about amending it to make it stronger.
'We've been told it's the strongest Bill in the world, but to be honest, it's not very high bar for other legislation.
'So I do think there are a lot more safeguards that could be put in.'
Conservative peer and disability rights campaigner Lord Shinkwin said the narrow Commons majority underlined the need for peers to take a close look at the legislation.
He told Today 'I think the House of Lords has a duty to expose and to subject this Bill to forensic scrutiny' but 'I don't think it's a question of blocking it so much as performing our duty as a revising chamber'.
He added: 'The margin yesterday was so close that many MPs would appreciate the opportunity to look at this again in respect of safeguards as they relate to those who feel vulnerable, whether that's disabled people or older people.'
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who steered the Bill through the Commons, told the PA news agency she hoped peers would not seek to derail the legislation, which could run out of parliamentary time if it is held up in the Lords.
She said: 'I would be upset to think that anybody was playing games with such an important and such an emotional issue.'
A group of 27 Labour MPs who voted against the legislation said: 'We were elected to represent both of those groups and are still deeply concerned about the risks in this Bill of coercion of the old and discrimination against the disabled, people with anorexia and black, Asian and minority ethnic people, who we know do not receive equitable health care.
'As the Bill moves to the House of Lords it must receive the scrutiny that it needs. Not about the principles of assisted dying but its application in this deeply flawed Bill.'
Meanwhile, one of the leading opponents of the Bill, Conservative Danny Kruger, said 'these are apocalyptic times'.
In a series of tweets on Friday night, the East Wiltshire MP – who is at odds with his mother, Great British Bake Off judge Dame Prue Leith in her support for legalisation – accused assisted dying campaigners of being 'militant anti-Christians' who had failed to 'engage with the detail of the Bill'.
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The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ex-army chief Lord Dannatt lobbied ministers for millions to support commercial deal
A member of the House of Lords lobbied the government to get financial support worth millions of pounds for a commercial deal he was steering, documents reveal. It is the second time that Richard Dannatt, a former head of the British army, has potentially broken parliamentary rules that forbid lobbying. He is under investigation by the House of Lords authorities over a separate set of allegations, following undercover filming by the Guardian. The new documents reveal Lord Dannatt personally pressed ministers and a senior official to give political and financial backing to a venture he was chairing that was seeking to buy a Cheshire factory from a US owner in 2022. After the owner announced they intended to shut it down, Dannatt increased the pressure, urging the government to help. The crossbench peer made three key approaches. First, he contacted a minister he knew, asking for an introduction to the minister who was best placed to make the decision. Second, he sent an email pressing a civil servant to set up a meeting. 'My intervention is to elevate the discussion to ministerial level,' he wrote. Less than two weeks later, Dannatt and an executive behind the bid met Lee Rowley, the relevant business minister, to push for government backing. At issue is whether Dannatt broke the House of Lords rules that bar peers from lobbying ministers and officials in return for payment or financial incentive. Dannatt said he was not paid for engaging with the government. He said he helped a friend, a leading businessperson in the consortium, attempt to buy the factory as he believed it would save jobs and help the country. 'Put simply, I was helping a friend achieve an outcome very much in the national interest,' he said. Dannatt later received four payments during the period he was chairing the venture. He described these as 'honorarium' payments, but would not say how much he received. He was also the public face and 'chairman' of the 'embryonic' venture. Dannatt said his name and position added credibility to the discussions with the US company. 'I am not sure how else a retired four-star general who sits in the House of Lords could be described to the Americans,' he said, but he had agreed to take the title despite there being 'no board to chair, no meetings to attend or other business to conduct'. His involvement with the consortium, which was ultimately unsuccessful in its bid, ended in February 2023. Dannatt has been under investigation by the House of Lords authorities since March after the Guardian revealed he had offered to secure meetings with ministers for undercover reporters pretending to be commercial clients wanting to lobby the government. He had been secretly filmed telling the undercover reporters he could make introductions within the government and that he would 'make a point of getting to know' the best-placed minister. He is being investigated by the House of Lords commissioner for standards, the watchdog who scrutinises claims of wrongdoing in the upper chamber. Dannatt, 74, has previously denied the allegations, saying: 'I am well aware of … the Lords code of conduct … I have always acted on my personal honour.' He is one of five peers to face conduct inquiries after a months-long investigation by the Guardian. The Lords debate project examined the commercial interests of members of the House of Lords amid concerns their activities were not being properly regulated. It revealed that 91 peers had been paid by commercial companies to give political or policy advice. The new documents regarding Dannatt's communications with the government in June 2022 were disclosed under freedom of information legislation. At the time Dannatt was fronting a group of investors who wanted to buy a fertiliser factory in Cheshire. CF Industries, the US owners, planned to permanently close the factory after energy prices made it unprofitable. The consortium of investors argued that their proposal would save 500 jobs and keep important products used in the agriculture and hospitality industries within the UK. On 10 June 2022, Dannatt emailed a junior business minister he knew, asking if he could tell him who was the minister with responsibility for this area. 'If you could point me in the right direction, ideally with an introduction, and I can take it from there.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion He promoted his UK-based consortium as a better 'economic and political alternative' to the closure of the factory. 'The alternative scenario is that a hedge fund buys the factory, sells off its assets and exits with a profit, allowing 500 workers to become redundant, the UK dependent on imported CO2 and no increase in fertiliser production thus the price remaining high.' An introduction to the right minister was made. Six days later, the peer emailed a senior official in the business department, saying: 'I am aware that [Dannatt's friend] has been talking with officials but my intervention is to elevate the discussion to ministerial level. There are some quite key issues at stake here relating to jobs in the north-west and the price of some key commodities.' On 27 June, Dannatt and Mark Law, his friend who was also leading the consortium, met Rowley, then a minister in the business department. The Financial Times has previously reported that the consortium sought a government loan of up to £10m to help restart the factory. The government refused, arguing that it was purely a commercial matter. The consortium later collapsed. Dannatt said he had not had any formal arrangements or contract with the consortium, nor had he discussed with Law what his future role might have been if they had managed to buy the factory. 'My motivation and purpose was to get a deal over the line, in the national interest,' he said. He said any assumption that he 'would have developed a substantive and remunerated role as chairman and taken an active role in the work of the company' was wrong. He added that if the bid had been successful, 'it would have been a very different matter'. As well as the continuing investigation by the House of Lords authorities, another watchdog has examined Dannatt's conduct. Last month, it cleared Dannatt of being paid by the consortium to lobby the government. Harry Rich, the registrar of consultant lobbyists, is responsible for investigating whether individuals have broken the law by failing to declare that they have received money from a third party to lobby ministers or Whitehall's most senior officials. However the House of Lords watchdog is considering the matter under a different set of rules which take a wider view of lobbying than the registrar of consultant lobbyists. The question now is whether, as the consortium's chair, he advocated for the venture on the understanding that he could at some point benefit personally. This could be a breach of the Lords rules. Dannatt has passed his correspondence with the Guardian about his involvement with the consortium to the House of Lords commissioner who is investigating his conduct when speaking to undercover reporters.
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Dame Prue Leith's son blasted after saying she doesn't 'see sense' in debate
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The son of Dame Prue Leith has caught backlash after speaking out on the divisive assisted dying law, saying his mother has failed to 'see sense'. Conservative MP Danny Kruger has campaigned against assisted dying, while Dame Prue has voiced her support, having watched her brother, David, in agony towards the end of his life. In the latest development, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill cleared the Commons with a majority of 23 votes on Friday. However, the legislation could face a difficult passage through the House of Lords, with critics continuing to raise safeguarding concerns and poised to table amendments adding further restrictions. Interviewed on Friday, Kruger, 50, was quizzed on having opposing views to GBBO star Dame Prue, 85. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. The South African-British restaurateur has said for years that she wants the law to pass, which, if it does, will make it legal for over-18s who are terminally ill to receive medical assistance to end their lives in England and Wales. There will be a series of criteria that a person must meet to be eligible. Appearing on BBC's Newsnight, Kruger was asked whether being on opposite sides of the argument has impacted his relationship with his mum. 'This debate actually has not broken any friendships for me at all, including of my own Party and certainly with my mum,' he began. 'We seem to be able to disagree well on this.' 'I think these are very profound issues, both in conscience but also practicality,' he continued. 'I regret my mum has not seen sense and come round to my point of view, but I understand why she hasn't.' It was Kruger's final statement that caught many viewers' attention, with @dicofran on X calling it 'condescending'. 'Breathtaking arrogance towards Prue Leith', slammed @JoBlandUnity. 'Massive man baby has a tantrum because a woman has her own point of view', replied @ClaireDunkley4. 'How arrogant. Accusing his own mother of not seeing sense, because she doesn't share his views', argued @NWomxn. Previously, the Tory politician said to Sky News that it is 'impossible' for the assisted dying bill to be 'tight enough'. He said no one in the UK would need the option if the UK had 'top-quality palliative care'. In a series of tweets last night, he further accused assisted dying campaigners of being 'militant anti-Christians' who had failed to 'engage with the detail of the Bill'. However, Dame Prue believes his attitudes would shift had he witnessed his 'uncle die or his father die'. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Asked if she and her son lock horns over the heated topic, Dame Prue admitted that they 'mostly don't get into it'. 'It always just gets into the long discussion, which is never bad-tempered, I must say, you know, because we are very fond of each other.' Kruger, who has been the MP for East Wiltshire since 2019, lost his father, Rayne Kruger, in 2002. As for his uncle, David was in his sixties and had bone cancer, with his sister Dame Prue having been by his side when he was 'screaming' in pain. Speaking to Sky broadcaster Sophie Ridge, Dame Prue recalled how morphine only worked 'for a couple of hours' with him. 'They only did it every four hours. And so he was really first crying, whimpering, moaning, then crying, then screaming, and then absolutely desperate. 'And the rest of the ward have to suffer it. The nurses have to suffer. His family have to suffer it.' She said he was 'begging for somebody to help him'. More Trending 'He would say things like, 'If I was a dog, if I was a horse, you would do the right thing by me, you'd put me down'.' Dame Prue believes there is 'no question' that the current legal set-up is not working. Other celebrities throwing their support behind the legislation include Dame Esther Rantzen, who turns 85 tomorrow. The TV star has terminal cancer but has acknowledged the law would probably not become law in time for her to use it, and she would have to 'buzz off to Zurich' to use the Dignitas clinic. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. View More » MORE: Dragons' Den star reveals their strict rule children's friends must follow MORE: Disgraced Strictly star slams 'double standards' at BBC after Naga Munchetty 'sex jibe' MORE: Legendary BBC series hailed as 'guilty pleasure' streaming on completely free UK service
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson raises concerns for disabled community after government passes assisted dying bill
Former Paralympian, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has raised her concerns for the disabled community in the wake of the government passing the assisted dying bill through the House of Commons. Grey-Thompson sits in the House of Lords and has stated she hopes to amend the bill and make it stronger so that disabled people are less likely to be coerced into agreeing to assisted dying. The baroness said, "Right now a lot of disabled people are worried and this is the job of the Lords, line by line legislation." The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was approved by 341 votes to 291 at its third reading in the House of Commons, a majority of 23.
