Newslinks for Friday 20th June 2025

Assisted dying back in the Commons

“The UK is “behind the curve” among progressive nations, the assisted dying bill’s sponsor, Kim Leadbeater, has said on the eve of one of the most consequential votes for social change in England and Wales. The Labour MP said the circumstances may never be right again to pass such a bill, which would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales for terminally ill people with less than six months to live, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel of experts…Badenoch urged Conservative MPs to vote against the bill, though it remains a free vote. “I’m somebody who has been previously supportive of assisted suicide,” she said. “This bill is a bad bill. It is not going to deliver. It has not been done properly. This is not how we should put through legislation like this. I don’t believe that the NHS and other services are ready to carry out assisted suicide, so I’ll be voting no, and I hope as many Conservative MPs as possible will be supporting me in that.”” – The Guardian

• Leadbeater ‘confident’ assisted dying bill will pass – BBC News
• Labour MPs turn on assisted dying Bill – Daily Telegraph
• Starmer yet to decide if he will vote – The Times
• Three quarters of Britons still think assisted dying should be legal in principle, with 72% supporting Kim Leadbeater’s proposals – YouGov
• ‘I’m living proof why assisted dying Bill is wrong’ – Daily Telegraph

Comment:

• My Nana felt like she was a burden. People like her may consider an assisted death as an act of kindness to us… how wrong they would be – Robert Jenrick, Daily Mail
• Dangerous Bill is a world away from what the campaign promised – Danny Kruger, Daily Telegraph
• This assisted dying Bill must not pass – Telegraph View
• At what cost assisted dying? – David Smith MP and Blair McDougall MP, The New Statesman
• Last chance for MPs to think again on assisted dying – The Times View

>: Today: This cannot be Parliament at its best

Mark Harper: This ‘assisted suicide’ bill should be blocked to protect the disabled

Labour resignation amid welfare cuts

“A Labour whip has quit over the Government’s welfare cuts. In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Vicky Foxcroft said she could not support “reforms which include cuts to disabled people’s finances”. Ms Foxcroft, the former Shadow Minister for Disabled People, is the second frontbencher to quit over Government policy since last year’s general election. Anneliese Dodds quit as development minister over cuts to the aid budget in February. In her letter, Ms Foxcroft accepted that the Government needed to “address the ever-increasing welfare bill” but condemned Sir Keir’s welfare cuts. “I absolutely understand the need to address the ever-increasing welfare bill in these difficult economic times, but I have always believed this could and should be done by supporting more disabled people into work,” she wrote. “I do not believe that cuts to personal independence payment (PIP) and the health element of Universal Credit should be part of the solution.”” – Daily Telegraph

• Minister Says Labour Whip Who Quit Over Welfare Cuts Has ‘Done The Honourable Thing’ – HuffPost
• Starmer’s threats won’t stop a rebellion on benefits cuts, Labour MPs warn – The i
• Welfare reform: List of Labour MPs prepared to rebel on benefit changes – LabourList
• Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft resigns over plans to cut £5bn from the benefits bill – as Starmer faces growing backlash from within his own party – Daily Mail

Comment:

• Well done, Keir Starmer: benefits reform is long overdue – Kwasi Kwarteng, The i
• Keir Starmer might think he sounds tough on welfare – but reforms show how weak he is – Leo McKinstry, Daily Express

> Yesterday: Andy Cook: Jeremy Hunt is right – it’s time to grasp the nettle on mental health benefits

Starmer accused of sitting on the fence over Iran

“Israel’s president last night accused Britain of “sitting on the fence” as his nation fights for its life against Iran. Embattled Isaac Herzog said it was the moral duty of Sir Keir Starmer’s government to support his strife-torn country’s war on terror. And he told The Sun that Iran’s missiles of mass destruction could one day be trained on the UK. In an exclusive interview at the presidential palace in Jerusalem, he said: “There are things Britain cannot turn a blind eye to. It’s obvious. And I think the British leadership should not only look at demonstrations or comments. We have to show them clear moral clarity. We are fighting the war that will protect Britain in the foreseeable future.”” – The Sun

• UK and EU to hold talks with Iran as Trump sets two-week window over Middle East conflict – BBC News
• Trump’s Iran Decision to Come Within Two Weeks – The Wall Street Journal
• Xi and Putin present united front over Israel-Iran crisis, in veiled message to Trump – CNN
• Trump’s indecision on Iran due to primal fear about ‘another Libya’ – Daily Mail
• Europe strains to give Trump an off-ramp on bombing Iran – Politico

Comment:

• The Attorney General should not have a veto on military action – Suella Braverman, Daily Telegraph
• Donald Trump’s increasingly combative language towards Iran suggests ONE major outcome – Peter Caddick-Adams, Daily Express
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is at war with Britain – Gideon Falter, Daily Telegraph
• Israel has done most of the job — now Trump can finish it – Niall Ferguson and Yoav Gallant, The Times

> Yesterday: Garvan Walshe: Israel needs realistic war aims. It can destroy Iran’s nuclear programme, not its regime

News in brief:

• When did our MPs form a death cult? – Kathleen Stock, Unherd
• Is Iran about to choke the West’s energy supply? – Maurizio Geri, The Spectator
• Priti terrible – Tom Jones, The Critic
• A vote for assisted dying is a vote against the vulnerable – Nikki da Costa, CapX