Category: My work

I know that many constituents have deep concerns about the issue of Assisted Dying, Dignity in dying and Choice at the End Of Life. This is a debate that continues apace and that is understandable.  Allow me to explain my position on this.

End of life care and the law around assisted dying are complex and sensitive issues and we all know that there are strong ethical and moral views that exist within the discussion.  As far as I’m aware no political party aligns with any particular position.

I know that Canada, Australia and some states in the USA have introduced legislation allowing assisted dying under strict legal conditions. However, I have been personally against assisted dying because, though I understand and sympathise with the arguments for allowing it, I remain concerned that it would be open to abuse and put the most vulnerable people at risk.

As well as this, the ongoing neglect in social care is hugely relevant. I am concerned that people who are left without properly funded palliative care may feel pressured into accepting assisted dying as a resolution to insufficient care. There is much talk of a social care plan but to date, nothing remotely substantive has come to fruition here.

Anyone diagnosed with a serious, or potentially terminal illness deserves the best possible care. Until such a level of care is made available, I can see no reason to improve accessibility to assisted dying because of the risk that some may see themselves as a burden to others would remain.

I can assure all of you that I will continue to take into account the concerns that reach me and I see that the debate is a lively one just now, and that can only be a good thing. 

It seems to me that there are meetings fairly regularly in the House on this subject and the feedback from the most recent meeting, not surprisingly, was informative, particularly in terms of the very different, and often traumatic experiences of some who choose to travel abroad to end their life.

Of course, I remain open to these discussions, and committed to a wider goal of ensuring everyone can have the healthcare they need, and die in dignity.

Separately, you can see my contribution to yesterday’s Human Rights Day Debate in parliament here: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-12-08/debates/815F902C-2B1B-404E-926E-E6FA6A56455F/InternationalHumanRightsDay#contribution-0360DCB1-A88F-45DC-9E2A-C30B11062B2E

We are facing an existential threat from global warming exacerbated by continuing use of fossil fuels.

I have championed the use of wind energy all along, and the energy crisis has forced to government to consider all the alternatives, and support for onshore wind has been growing even within the Conservative party.

We must move to green technologies. The earth stands on the brink of collapse, and we must move to wind energy in all its forms.

Onshore wind has my full support, and I will be voting for any legislation that brings this about. At the same time, we must make sure that that the placement of wind farms is properly and fairly decided, and I will support regulation that achieves that.

Clean air targets should be brought forward.

The government is clearly delaying on this and their policies are taking us backward rather than forward, eg among other things, approving a Cumbria coalmine.

I have campaigned for many years on air quality, and I have challenged the government on air quality issues directly in parliament on numerous occasions.

In 2019 I pledged to introduce a new Clean Air Act, including a network of clean air zones and an ambitious clean transport strategy to tackle illegal air pollution as a priority, something I stand by, to this day.  I also successfully moved a motion in the House declaring an environment and climate emergency in May of the same year.

I will continue to challenge the government on air quality and the need for targets, directly in parliament; to not do so would be a total dereliction of duty given the importance of this issue to our very existence, in terms of health and climate.

Many of you have got in touch with me by email about abortion being kept accessible;  your messages have been very informative and make a great deal of sense to me.

I have for many years spoken out publicly and in in parliament on a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion and I am committed to ensuring that it is protected in law.

I fully support the continuing availability of abortion pills.

This is a very important issue and women who need to make the difficult decision to have an abortion will always have my support on it.

I have for many years spoken out publicly and in in parliament on a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion and I am committed to ensuring that it is protected in law.

I personally see buffer zones around abortion clinics as enabling women to feel safe as a human right.

I cannot and will not support legislation that allows intimidation of women as they attend abortion clinics.

Conversely, I will not oppose legislation that protects women from this kind of intimidation.

This is an important issue for women, and my position on this has been consistent over the years.

Many of you have been in touch about opposing the Rosebank oil field and it is a campaign that I fully support.

I am completely opposed to the granting of new licences for oil extraction, and I will continue to call on the government to exercise the powers it has to stop granting them.

Opening new oil fields threatens to undermine our shared obligations to dramatically reduce emissions.

I want to see the government implement a managed phasing out of North Sea oil and gas extraction in line with the urgent need to reduce climate emissions and tackle the growing climate emergency.

I will continue to call on the government both in parliament and outside to adopt concrete actions and plans that are much needed to address the climate emergency.