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Kendall gives away more than she might have intended with comments on ‘kill the frail’ bill

Starmeroids’ ‘worthy if you work’ approach on clear view in ‘assisted dying’ bill

DWP Secretary Liz Kendall’s comments on the private members’ ‘Assisted Dying Bill’ brought by right-wing Labour MP Kim Leadbetter are very revealing. It’s a toss-up whether she revealed more than she intended about the attitude of the Starmeroids to the long-term sick and disabled, or whether she doesn’t care.

The bill may be ‘just’ a private members’ bill, but Starmer has told ministers they must ‘remain neutral’ on it – such bills rarely get further than the first stage if a government is against them – but a number of ministers, including Kendall and the equally cold-hearted Bridget Phillipson, who once said that really changing anything the Tories had done would not be a priority for a Starmer government – have publicly indicated that they will vote in favour of the ‘kill them off’ bill.

Even the mere fact that Starmer – the habitual and reflexive control freak – has allowed a free vote on the bill speaks volumes. But Kendall’s comments to the BBC’s Chris Mason have given away even more:

Arch-Blairite (and therefore arch-Starmeroid) Kendall said that the aim of the bill is to avoid families having to look after frail family members. Whatever protections are supposed to be in the legislation, no amount of supposed (and in reality inadequate) safeguards is going to protect sick people from feeling pressured to just die and get out of the way.

Kendall and the Starmer regime, which has already declared war on disabled people, have made perfectly clear that they expect everyone to work and that if you don’t, you’re a burden on the system and to be punished financially at the very least, whether that’s through physical illness or poor mental health. She is even fighting to keep data on the number of people killed by Tory austerity hidden.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, long before she ever got the keys to 11 Downing Street, made clear that her and her boss’s plan was to drive sick and disabled people into work – and did not conduct even an assessment of the impact this would have on them, their health and their survival, despite the Tories’ cruel austerity systems pushing around half of disability benefit claimants to attempt suicide.

Reeves once said that her party would be ‘tougher on benefit claimants than the Tories’. It’s clear from her and her colleagues’ actions and comments in government so far that human beings are only worthy if they work – and sickness, disability and mental health are not allowed to get in the way of that.

The comments by Kendall, the archetype of Starmerism, the eagerness of right-wing MPs to vote for it and the readiness of Starmer not to prescribe which way MPs cast their ballot for once, suggest that this attitude applies equally to sick relatives who might need people off work to look after them, or take up a bed in one of the few hospitals Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting plan to leave open.

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40 comments

  1. Seems to be a case of ” kill them off so they don’t cost us any money”. A cull of the ill to spare the ‘living’ having to look after relatives. ” They should be out working not looking after granny”. Economically inactive elderly and disabled are a burden on the state on their eyes regardless if they paid into the system or not. Its looking like the movie Logans Run from the 70s.

    1. I should have finished my comment by saying the euthanized people were taken to another government facility and turned into protein rich biscuits. Hence the cry at the end of the film “Soyland Greens are people”

      1. The great Edward G. Robinson’s last scene on film was a euthanasia scene in Soylent Green.

        He was dead for real, just a few weeks later…

  2. Sorry folks but your not addressing a very serious issue, how do we treat people at the end of life, to allow them their dignity and to be pain free, more than that to give people the choice to say enough, I’ve had enough
    At the moment we wouldn’t treat a dog the way we treat end of life patients
    Something changed, we didn’t have this problem 40 years ago
    If you want to play pure politics then your even getting that wrong, they are keeping you alive to make every last penny out of you, your no good to them 6 feet under ffs

    1. they are keeping you alive to make every last penny out of you,

      Oh aye? Care to expand on this Doug – cos all I ever see is the attitude that we’re nowt but an expendable commodity.

      That’s what’s crept into society at large over the last 40 years; and these bastards are accelerating the “if you’re not producing, you’re worthless” attitude.

      (Not that a single fucking one of these politicians – and I include corbyn in that – has ever produced anything themselves.)

      But I’ve had that same argument in the boozer with dickheads who actually believe and spout the same line.

      I completely get the right to determine when your own life becomes unliveable due to illness.

      The clear and present danger is it will become an expectation.

      1. No argument about war, Doug. And wars kill people, don’t forget.

        But taxes (on the proles) are a close second. Keeping folks alive when they’re either last their prime or were unable to produce wealth (for the already obscenely rich) means revenue being spent on them.

        Revenue that would eventually be getting diverted into the croesus’ classes pockets.

        The main complaint about the cost of the NHS is that “people are living longer”.

  3. A very serious issue indeed Doug. I remember a very famous actor Brian Rix who was top man of a large charity, all his life he had a firm belief against euthanasia, then late in life he developed an incurable and very painful illness in the end he had changed his mind and said he had been wrong all along in his views. RIP a wonderful actor and human being.

  4. “Economically unproductive, useless eaters” have always been a major concern for the 1%. Did anyone else catch 1984 on BBC4 last night?

  5. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has said she is likely to vote against the bill to legalise assisted dying………
    ………Asked about Leadbeater’s bill, Phillipson told Sky News: “It’s for individual members of parliament to decide what they believe is best. This is a very sensitive issue. It’s difficult for everyone. As you say, back in 2015 I voted against that legislation, and I haven’t changed my mind.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/18/bridget-phillipson-vote-against-assisted-dying-bill-wes-streeting

    1. Toffee – “#Bullyforbridget”

      I don’t see her stance as a positive, do you?

      1. I don’t see the smarmerite stance in its entirety as positive.

        But then again, I wasn’t telling people they ought to vote for it, was I ?

  6. Someone I know used to facilitate groups of medical students who discussed such issues and had to work out what was in the patients “Best interests” and for those those loved ones involved with such family members living in terrible pain etc it is an extremely personal issue.
    He also lost the love of his life to cancer & she was in terrible pain and said she had has enough but he told me letting her get was the most compassionate thing he has ever done.
    Of course the bill being presented by a lightweight centrist Lab MP supported by a Tory Woman MP is top down.
    But we should avoid ‘Left Wing Group Think’ and remember the words of the great Rosa Luxemburg “The best thing we can all bring to the table is our independent socialist thinking.”
    Of course Disabled groups & others have legitimate concerns that it could be misused by the current & future Governments.
    The Bill as it stands proposes that 2 independent doctors should recommend an ending of a life then it would go in front of a judge; its proponents claim this Double Lock offers “The greatest safeguards in the world.”
    But if I would propose an amendment to make it a Triple Lock which would put Disabled Groups like DPAC & MIND on the top table of decision making to protect the interests of Disabled people.
    And most Disabled people I have met have been some of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met, oh & I have a hidden disability.
    Amendment:
    Stage 1 – 2 doctors to refer potential case to an expert panel.
    Stage 2 – Expert Panel made up of doctors, nurses, someone whose partner went through assisted dying and reps from Disabled Groups such as DPAC, MIND etc. examine the case & make a recommendation.
    Step 3 – Recommendation goes to a judge for a final decision.
    But don’t want a long dragged out process prolonging a human beings agony.
    Brothers & sisters, don’t throw out your humanity with the bath water.

    1. Given the very, very limited scope of the bill which is restricted to those with a terminal illness who have a prognosis that they will die within 6 months I am struggling to see what purpose the representatives of ‘Disabled Groups’ would serve.

      1. To Protect the interests of Disabled people who are very concerned about its potential abuse & they have a lot of humanity to offer. But perhaps you are struggling because you are NOT an independent Socialist critical thinker.
        So who cares what you think.

      2. …….but disabled people don’t fall within the scope of the bill.🤔

      3. Doesn’t say 6 months. Ive had 6 months and am still here ten years later.

      4. jillazzouz – “Doesn’t say 6 months”

        You are mistaken
        2 Terminal illness
        (1) For the purposes of this Act, a person is terminally ill if—
        (a) the person has an inevitably progressive illness, disease or medical
        condition which cannot be reversed by treatment, and the person’s death in consequence of that illness, disease or medical condition can reasonably be expected within 6 months.

        https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0012/240012.pdf

      1. Disabled people do fall under the scope of this bill. If your disability is such that your condition is worseningn subsection 3 b

      2. jillazzouz – You are mistaken, the bill makes this quite clear in its definition of Terminal Illness

        2 Terminal illness
        (1) For the purposes of this Act, a person is terminally ill if—
        (a) the person has an inevitably progressive illness, disease or medical
        condition which cannot be reversed by treatment, and
        59/1Bill 12
        1(b) the person’s death in consequence of that illness, disease or medical
        condition can reasonably be expected within 6 months.
        (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), treatment which only relieves the symptoms
        of an inevitably progressive illness, disease or medical condition temporarily
        is not to be regarded as treatment which can reverse that illness, disease or
        condition.
        (3) For the avoidance of doubt, a person is not to be considered to be terminally
        ill by reason only of the person having one or both of—
        (a) a mental disorder, within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1983;
        10(b) a disability, within the meaning of section 6 of the Equality Act 2010.

        https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0012/240012.pdf

      3. “Useless eaters”/”Disabled people”.
        Can you not see (detect) that BlairStarmer’s delabouring of Labour makes them untrustworthy? Streeting prioritising jabs-for-jobs deals with bigpharma, Reeves increasing univerisy fees, removing heating support from the frailest sub-set in society, and Starmer’s incessant warmongering to escalate the Ukraine ‘proxy war’, keeping schtum about Israel’s “final solution” genocide and tasking the RAF to assist it, etc., etc. can you not see Starmer’sLabour is a Bad-Faith actor and trusted by no-body? No-wonder Bad Enoch and/or Nigel Farage are the bookies favourites to replace this vile, wicked, deceitful Government.

        I wouldn’t buy a used car from them or trust any ‘assisted dying’ measures they concocted.

  7. Sorry re Rosa said should be “Independent Socialist critical thinking.”
    And losing the love of his life should be “letting her go was …” sorry noisy group near me.

  8. “Assisted dying vote tracker: How does each Labour MP plan to vote on bill?

    Ahead of the vote on November 29, we are compiling a rolling list of how Labour MPs intend to vote on the bill. We will add to this list as the debate date gets closer and as more MPs signal publicly whether they will back or reject the bill, with many so far undecided or keeping their cards close to their chests.
    Currently, 50 Labour MPs have announced they will be supporting the bill when it goes for second reading, with 23 planning to vote against.
    You can see our current list of how Labour MPs have said they plan to vote on the bill in the table below. “
    (follow the link)

    https://labourlist.org/2024/11/assisted-dying-bill-labour-mps-kim-leadbeater/

  9. Another view on a related matter
    John Campbell talks about giving people who are Stage 4 cancer victims be allowed full access to and assistance with alternative treatments
    It would also work very well as a living real time test programme
    Theres a healthy debate around cancer, received wisdom for the last 80 years is its Genetic, but there is more and more evidence it’s more than likely Metabolic
    Guess which approach is the most expensive and barbaric
    When you have nothing to lose

  10. Im disabled and terminal. This bill frightens the life out of me. There were times in my life I would have taken this up. A decade later im married and happy. We are just worthless to these ghouls.

    1. jillazzouz – It is good to hear that you are happy but given that if you should ever qualify under the very limited terms of the bill the choice would be yours, and yours alone what are you afraid of?

      1. I do qualify you ghoul. Im sick to death of Aktion T4 policies against us.

      2. jillazzouz – Given that you were mistaken about the basic provisions of the bill regarding the disabled and the 6mth timeframe are you really sure that your fears are well founded.
        Why is it ghoulish to point out that if you are still alive when the bill becomes law the choice as to whether you choose to take advantage of the bill’s provisions will be entirely yours.
        Even if you don’t want to why would you seek to deny others the option to end their suffering?
        Whilst I sincerely hope this is not the case have you not considered that it is not beyond the realms of possibility that you may be very thankful that you have options when the time comes.

      3. what are you afraid of?>/i>

        That that ^^^^ will be exactly question used to coerce people.

        You really are pondlife. Lower than that dwp ratbastard who asked the poor sod with mental issues why they hadn’t topped themself.

        I hope any choice is denied you.

      4. Toffee – “I hope any choice is denied you.”

        Your comment provides an enlightening insight into your lack of humanity

      5. Your comment provides an enlightening insight into your lack of humanity

        I don’t class you as human.

  11. This debate has already been had and settled around the world in numerous countries
    If there is concrete evidence of systemic abuse then let’s see it
    My theory is its a fiddle to force drugs that have little or no benefit onto an increasingly ageing population
    Think Statins, Flu and Covid jabs
    Can someone answer what happens with DNR’s are they helped on their way in a humane and timely manner
    Which was the old system

    1. Not just those drugs too. Already on morphine Ive had lots of worse painkillers thrown at me whilst they cover up for their mistakes. Even a consultant laughing at me for joining the group SLING THE MESH. This is not the NHS we love.

    2. Toffee u got in one. What am I afraid of. Well PAs who have no business doing robotic operations and breaking the law. This bill horrifies me on the back of that. Your humanity is shining out at me cos u get it.

    3. If there is concrete evidence of systemic abuse then let’s see it

      Well shipman tried it – and that was without any ‘safeguarding measures’ being in place.

      And more fool anyone who believes he’s the only one ever to have done so.

  12. Steve ive read the bill well. Heres ur problem with your pathetic 6 month argument. I have 2 lots of cancer. I was given 6 months, ten years, ago. Doctors get this wrong OFTEN. I had a robotic operation by a PA in October of last year to remove a tumour on my bowel. They fkd it up. Pricked themselves on a needle. Tested my blood illegally for the doctor to test for AIDS and HEP B/C. This is a dismissable offence. Then refused to act for a year whilst a piece of plastic mesh migrating around my insides, come undone from their operation cuts into me. There is a provision in the bill for lomg term sick whose prognosis will never get better but I still live with an expectancy of less than 6 months.
    I dont really think YOU think at all what it can be possibly like for us. So please save ur lecture for someone who will listen to your crap.

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