Newspaper Column – The Voice – 02/12/24

• I voted FOR the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. As did all of Cornwall’s MPs.  I managed to speak briefly in the early exchanges. The Bill strikes the right and responsible balance. I don’t perceive a risk of a so-called “slippery-slope”, as any proposed change will require new primary legislation. I also don’t see there’s a serious risk of coercion, as opponents’ content, nor do I see that the option to provide the best palliative care for patients at the very end of their life will be undermined by this. 
     
  Last week’s vote doesn’t bring the Bill into law. It permits the Bill to proceed to detailed scrutiny at Committee and Report stages. MPs could change their minds once those stages are complete. As a member of the Commons Health Select Committee, I’ll maintain a close watching brief.  

I am grateful to the hundreds of people who have contacted or spoken to me on this matter. I will of course continue to consider the matter with care as the Bill proceeds. 

• I’ve demanded a meeting with new Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander. It’s simply unacceptable that Cornwall receives none of the gain but much of the pain of the excessively expensive HS2. 

• I told Treasury Ministers last week to look again at the massive tax loopholes which have permitted twice as much taxpayers’ money to be used to support holiday homes in Cornwall as has been invested to help the thousands of families who need first homes. 

• At a recent meeting between the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, Prof. Sir Chris Witty, and some of my Health Select Committee, it became clear we must remain vigilant regarding possible future pandemics; such as H5N1 – avian influenza – which is starting to cross the species barrier. We’re not yet convinced we have resilience measures in place following lessons which should have been learned after the last pandemic! 

• Israel’s far-right Netanyahu government continues to use “right to self-defence” to justify its military invasion of Gaza (and of Lebanon). As I pointed out to Foreign Office ministers, “can the cold-blooded slaughter of children in hospital beds genuinely be justified as ‘self-defence!?” Over 43,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed so far; journalists, aid workers, including some from Cornwall. That’s why it’s important the UK seeks to uphold international law, including the arrest of Netanyahu to stand trial at the International Criminal Court. 

• I am pressing Education ministers to address the still, in my view, unresolved challenges of ensuring parity with the mainland for post-16-year-old students from the Isles of Scilly. The Council and some parents still disagree on this, but more needs to be on offer.  

• I know many locals and environmental campaigners will be disappointed with the outcome of COP 29 and last week’s failed UN Treaty summit on plastics. Stronger UK leadership is called for going forward.