Is Labour’s assisted dying plan a way to balance the books?
by Philip Pilkington, UnHerd:
Over the weekend it was announced that a vote would be introduced to legalise assisted dying in Britain, with the Labour government saying it will not obstruct an MP from drafting a private members’ bill on the subject. While polling shows that assisted dying carries the support of most of the population, it remains a deeply divisive issue, with disagreements reaching across party lines. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is said to have a “strong opinion” in favour of allowing assisted dying, and has previously supported a change in the law.
It is likely a coincidence that the bill is being introduced just a week after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its report showing the desperate state of Britain’s economy and finances. But in the future it may not be viewed that way, as the two issues are almost certain to become linked. One of the core problems highlighted by the OBR report was how an ageing population could put serious pressure on the Government budget between now and 2070, and it does not take much imagination to see how assisted dying might be seen by some — such as former MP and Times columnist Matthew Parris — as a “solution” to such a problem.
When a society ages, it has fewer working-age people to pay taxes and a growing elderly population which is reliant on the state. As older people age past the point of being able to take care of themselves, some of the workforce must leave their roles in the productive economy to become carers.
All of this puts a massive strain on resources.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
