Sonia Sodha suggests (“A rushed law is no way to make such a vital, painful decision as how to die”) that assisted dying is being directed by No 10 as a party political issue and has not been given sufficient parliamentary attention.
In fact, as a Liberal Democrat committed to supporting assisted dying, I am free to vote however I want on the issue, with direction from neither my own party nor Labour. Working cross party for seven years, I have secured one debate in parliament, spoken in several others and taken part in fringe meetings at conference.
In terms of parliamentary scrutiny, the health select committee has spent 14 months on a cross-party inquiry that looked at every aspect of the issue. It received thousands of submissions, heard hours of testimony from all sides of the debate, including from parts of the world where the laws that are currently under debate here were implemented years ago.
Its final report provides exactly the sort of evidence on which the ongoing debate will draw, and decisions will be made if a bill does come before parliament.
It confirmed that palliative care is not always sufficient to relieve suffering, moreover, such care often improves after assisted dying legislation is introduced. Indeed, in Scotland, where a bill by Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur is shortly to be debated, another is being brought forward to improve palliative care.
And if the prime minister does welcome the debate in parliament, he is surely simply recognising the desire in public opinion to examine the issue.
I do not know what I would want to do faced with a terminal diagnosis and potentially painful death, but I do not feel that I have the right to deny the choice to others.
Given the chance, I know that my colleagues will make a thoughtful and responsible decision after thorough debate.
Christine Jardine MP
Houses of Parliament, London SW1
Lack of faith in Ofsted
In Anna Fazackerley’s article, unions argue that Ofsted should not be allowed to reform itself. Having worked for several years for a local education authority where I had the opportunity to regularly speak to groups of headteachers and ask them about Ofsted, I must agree. Speaking to these school leaders and teaching professionals revealed a disdain for Ofsted and a complete lack of faith in its competency.
It is not just Ofsted’s approach that is at fault but its ability to judge quality in schools in the first place. Headteacher Ruth Perry was not upset by the standards at her school but by Ofsted’s view of them. Of course there needs to be an inspection system, but would the job not be done better by a competent college of educators than the current group of civil servants and people who have left teaching for various reasons?
Dr Michael Howard
Norwich
Anorexia eminently treatable
Further news of evidence that conditions historically conceived as mental illnesses have metabolic causes is welcome (“Diet link to root cause of bipolar depression”). However, it renders even more frustrating and unacceptable the intransigence of the medical profession in conceiving anorexia nervosa, an illness with a shockingly high mortality rate, in the same way.
Anorexia continues to be treated as an emotional or psychological deficit, with supposedly reputable media outlets repeating without interrogation ill-founded psychoanalytical speculation that it is “all about control”, a result of poor parenting or an attempt to avoid adulthood. This is despite substantial and long-standing evidence that anorexia and other eating disorders are fundamentally neurobiological in nature.
Until these claims are challenged, people will continue to die in unconscionable numbers from this eminently treatable illness.
Stephanie Godbold
London, SE7
Royal story doesn’t wash
The article about Ecover telling us to wash our clothes less quotes the author of a book on the history of washing repeating the myth that Louis XIV bathed only twice in his life, often reported as three times (“We’re washing our clothes too often, says eco-laundry brand”). This seems highly unlikely: the French king had a large marble bathing suite installed in Versailles, with a system bringing in scented hot water, where he spent time with his mistress, the Marquise de Montespan.
Pascal Terjan
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
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Spend, spend, spend
In 1945, shortly after the end of the Second World War, Clement Attlee’s Labour government inherited a “black hole”: debt at 250% of GDP. Against which, Keir Starmer’s £22bn black hole, about 1% of GDP, appears paltry “Keir Starmer defends his record”).
Attlee’s government reacted by investing in a bold and visionary way: creating the NHS; undertaking a massive slum clearance programme; building more than 1m truly affordable homes; reviving universities; providing pensions and welfare to poorer people; and training ex-soldiers to become teachers. Government spending kick-started economic activity and the debt fell steadily, but unremittingly, as a share of GDP. Starmer must be brave like Attlee.
David Murray
Wallington, Surrey
Blame schools, not children
Re “‘I felt absolutely lost’: the crisis behind the rising number of UK children being homeschooled”: is this a case of victim blaming? When numerous children thrive at primary school, but collapse with anxiety in secondary school, perhaps we should look at the schools rather than the children. I enjoyed secondary school, but doubt I would have survived simultaneous entry by all ages into a vast and noisy space each morning, or slogans extolling excellence.
As a practical initial suggestion, how about giving the first two years, the pre-teens, a more gentle environment? A separate time or place for morning entry, maybe for break and dinner as well.
Catherine Macdonald
London E3
Adding fuel to the fire
Just as Allan McColgan was surprised to read Ann Barrington’s letter about the loss of the winter fuel payment, I was surprised to read his (Letters, last week and 15 September). McColgan is a homeowner who can afford holidays; Barrington seemingly pays rent, as she receives housing benefit (which has been reduced.) McColgan writes that only those receiving pension credits need the winter fuel payment, yet the many pensioners who are in Barrington’s position desperately need the money to keep warm this winter. I am glad McColgan will not need to search for free fuel to burn, but countless others might resort to doing so.
Child victims of the two-child benefit cap certainly need the money more than McColgan and possibly more than Barrington. But it shouldn’t be an unseemly fight for the crumbs from the governmental table – both benefits need to be urgently restored for all children and pensioners. This should be funded by increasing the higher rate of income tax, which could result in McColgan effectively repaying his fuel payment, while Barrington keeps hers and keeps warm.
Angela Smith
Norwich
