Labour figures condemn Streeting remark that assisted dying could drain the NHS

Wes Streeting has been criticised by another Labour grandee for saying that assisted dying could drain NHS resources, as the battle over the private member's bill intensified in the run-up to the first Commons Vote this month.

- Peter Walker

Streeting, the health secretary, angered a number of MPs who back the proposal to legalise assisted dying by suggesting it could require moving resources from elsewhere in the NHS.

Harriet Harman, a former long-serving Labour MP and a former interim party leader, who is now a peer, said Streeting had "crossed the line" in making plain his opposition to the idea, when cabinet ministers have been told to stay out of the debate if possible.

"He has said, 'I'm saying this independently, although I'm the secretary of state for health, but Pm going to Vote against it,"" Harman told Sky News. "He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal."

Harman said Streeting had appeared contradictory in arguing that implementing assisted dying might require cuts to other NHS services, while also saying some people might feel obliged to end their lives to save costs.

"It can't be doing both things. It can;t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money," Harman said. "But I think above all, we should not be having this argument in respect of money. It should not come down to resources. It is a huge moral issue, and it is only a tiny number of people."