Kim Leadbeater’s Costly Compassion: Championing Assisted Dying While Ignoring Welfare Cuts’ Human Toll?

 

Kim Leadbeater: Assisted dying is about 'human cost' not 'pounds and pence'; Canadian Samuel Miller accuses her of remaining silent on the 'human cost' of Labour's democidal welfare cuts.

Assisted dying is about the “human cost” and not pounds and pence, the MP behind the proposed legislation has said after an assessment of the potential costs, PA reports.

An impact assessment into the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill was published on Friday, exactly a fortnight before the next Commons debate on the proposed new law. It set out estimates for how many people might apply and go on to have an assisted death, as well as potential costs of the service and reduced end-of-life care costs.

“It’s a very uneasy sort of conversation to have,” Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

She added:

Because for me, assisted dying and giving people the choice at the end of their life when they’re facing a terminal illness is about the human cost. It’s not about pounds and pence.

The assessment estimated that assisted dying could cut end-of-life care costs by as much as an estimated £10m in the first year and almost £60m after 10 years. It noted that reducing those costs “is not stated as an objective of the policy” but some have expressed concerns that this could put pressure on people to end their lives.

Canadian campaigner Samuel Miller, who has been highlighting the welfare crisis for Britain's sick and disabled on X (formerly Twitter) for more than thirteen and a half years, responded:

MP Kim Leadbeater champions the assisted dying bill, claiming to care for the sick and disabled. Yet, her silence on the devastating welfare cuts—set to harm, and perhaps kill, thousands of vulnerable people—speaks volumes. Empathy isn’t selective. Advocacy must be holistic.