Diane Abbott raises fears it will be cheaper for GPs to promote euthanasia | euthanasia

Diane Abbott has warned that it could soon be cheaper for GPs to encourage seriously ill patients to “sign on the dotted line” for euthanasia than to find them a place in a hospice.

The senior Labor MP voted against changing the law because she fears vulnerable people will be drawn into euthanasia when “they actually need access to hospice care and appropriate end-of-life care”.

The House of Commons supported a bill by Labor MP Kim Leadbeater on Friday by 330 votes to 275.

Leadbeater has repeatedly assured that the bill will be measured and appropriate safeguards will be put in place to ensure no one is pressured into euthanasia.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting was urged during the parliamentary debate to “put firm commitments on palliative care on the table” regardless of whether the bill comes into force or not.

Some lawmakers who supported the bill on Friday have already signaled they might consider changing their minds as the process moves forward, given their concerns about protections.

Abbott again raised questions about the state of palliative care in England and Wales, telling the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “We are moving into a situation where it will be cheaper for a GP to see a very sick person commit to the dotted line for assisted suicide is better than finding a place in a hospice.”

Meanwhile, Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, suggested on Sunday that people may have to pay to fund an assisted dying scheme.

Asked whether it would be fully government funded, he told Times Radio: “Again, everything will be considered at the committee stage. The government needs to consider the bill much more seriously now that it has been passed by Parliament. Remember, this was a private member’s bill, not a government bill. But it is for the government to implement the will of Parliament as this bill goes through all the other stages I have mentioned.”

When asked twice more if there was even a possibility, the minister said: “Look, I think all of this still needs to be considered. As you know, people currently have to pay for this themselves when they go to Switzerland.

“So all of these questions about costs, about safeguards and all of the issues that have been raised need to be considered during the committee stage, the clause by clause consideration of the bill. And that is the right way, because it is a big change. And you could see that in the faces of the representatives who voted for or against on Friday.”

There were three Conservative MPs and 18 Labor MPs for whom no vote was recorded on Friday.

Josh Fenton-Glynn, the Labor MP for Calder Valley, said he abstained from voting because “in my opinion the safeguards are not strong enough at the moment”.