WATCH: Lisa Nandy praises GB News for 'respectful' coverage on Assisted Dying Bill

GB News

Lisa Nandy has encouraged fellow MPs to back the Assisted Dying Bill ahead of a crunch vote in Parliament today.Speaking to GB News, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary said those in end of life care must be given "dignity and choice".FULL STORY HERE.

Transcript

00:00It's just coming up to nine minutes past nine.

00:02As we've been saying, huge day for Parliament today.

00:05The Assisted Dying Bill, final reading this morning.

00:09Vote on it this afternoon.

00:11Let's talk to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,

00:13Lisa Nandy.

00:14It's lovely to see you this morning.

00:17This is a free vote, of course.

00:20Is your mind made up at this stage?

00:23Yes, so I'm a long-standing supporter

00:25of giving people more choice and dignity at the end of their lives.

00:30I've long wanted to see the law change.

00:33I supported the bill at second reading,

00:35which is when it's introduced formally to the House of Commons,

00:38and I still support it now.

00:40I think there's been a very respectful and detailed debate

00:43over the last few months amongst colleagues in Parliament

00:47and outside it in the public, including on your show on GB News.

00:51I think we've conducted this well.

00:53I think there are safeguards in the bill.

00:55I'd like to see colleagues support it today.

00:58But, of course, as a government, we are neutral on this issue.

01:01We will respect the will of Parliament, whatever they decide.

01:04I'm not sure if you've seen, Minister,

01:05that this morning we've had Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick

01:09an interview with him on where he talked about his grandmother

01:12and how she was given not long to live,

01:14but then they had 10 years with her.

01:17What's your stance in those instances

01:20where people are given not long,

01:21but then they end up living many more years?

01:24Perhaps they may feel like a burden,

01:26but should we not encourage them to try and live their life

01:30to the fullest that they possibly can?

01:33Yeah, I think we should.

01:34And we should particularly make sure that all of the support

01:37is available for them to do that.

01:39And that's one of the reasons why we've wasted no time

01:43as a new government in turning our attention to

01:46bringing down waiting lists in the NHS,

01:48working with councils for longer-term funding settlements

01:52so that we can start to deal with the crisis

01:55that we inherited in social care.

01:57All of those things really matter.

01:59But I think my observation is that having gone through

02:02several months of debate in Parliament about this,

02:05almost every MP, including myself,

02:07is very, very shaped in our views on this

02:10by our own personal experiences.

02:12And what we've managed to do collectively

02:14is to ensure that no one experience

02:17is allowed to outweigh the other.

02:19So I really do listen to experiences

02:22like Robert Jenrick's family and take them seriously.

02:25There have been many examples given

02:27through the course of the debate.

02:28There have also been many, many examples of people

02:30who've had to end their lives in pain and suffering

02:35that could have been avoided.

02:37And I think people on the other side of the debate

02:39have taken those seriously as well.

02:41We've got to find a system that strikes the right balance.

02:45I think the bill, as it currently is, does that.

02:47Yeah, I mean, the problem is,

02:49and I totally get what you're saying.

02:51I mean, from my personal perspective,

02:53I always have supported the idea of it,

02:55but I don't know if I'm, now that it comes to it,

02:58comfortable about it being brought forward in legislation.

03:01And I don't quite understand why something

03:03doesn't sit right with me on a personal level.

03:07These are all very personal issues, aren't they?

03:09But one concern which has been raised time and time again

03:13is what happens to this legislation if it is enacted?

03:16How does it get modified?

03:18How does it get changed?

03:19Do we want to end up like Canada,

03:20where things have changed considerably?

03:22Because there is concern that even with the terminal diagnosis,

03:26a six-month diagnosis,

03:27it's only a matter of time before human rights lawyers say,

03:31well, actually, look, I've got someone with a longer diagnosis,

03:34but they have no quality of life and this therefore should be applied to them.

03:38How do we stop the slide on this, should it get through?

03:43Well, the bill is drawn very tightly.

03:45So in that scenario, it would have to return to Parliament to legislate again.

03:51And there are a number of safeguards in the bill,

03:54including safeguards through the courts

03:56and the need for more than one doctor to sign this off at the patient's request.

04:03So there are safeguards there.

04:04But I appreciate that for some people,

04:06this won't convince them that this is safe and will protect people.

04:12Colleagues voting on this today will have to look at the legislation

04:15and take their own view, as will all of your viewers as well.

04:19What I would say is that if the bill passes the House of Commons today,

04:23that's not the end of the process.

04:25So it will go to the House of Lords.

04:27There'll be more debate there.

04:28The public, of course, will continue to debate this.

04:31And there may well be amendments before it comes back to the Commons.

04:34And as a government, we're committed to working to implement the will of Parliament.

04:38So if Parliament decides no, then the bill ends there.

04:41If Parliament decides that it does want to proceed with this piece of legislation,

04:45then obviously it's our job to make sure that in the real world,

04:48it can work and that it can be implemented.

04:51And we've given a commitment to do that.

04:53You mentioned colleagues and the public there.

04:55But of course, there is a big deficit between those two groups, isn't there?

04:59Politicians have heard about this in the Commons and will hear about it in the Lords.

05:02Whereas members of the public, four in ten Brits say that they still don't understand this bill.

05:08How would you explain it to members of the public?

05:10And how can we make it so that members of the general public understand what's going on

05:15with key, key issues that are being debated all the time in the Commons?

05:19Well, I think I probably speak for most colleagues when I say that I've had more correspondence

05:23about this bill than almost any other.

05:26So I think there is a conversation already ongoing between people and their own members

05:31of Parliament about the measures that are contained within this bill.

05:34And certainly I know, as the very proud MP for Wigan, that there are different views

05:39amongst my constituents and in my community about this.

05:42And I've been pleased to be able to, notwithstanding my own personal preference, I've been able

05:49to provide information to my own constituents about what is in the bill and what is not in

05:54the bill that will enable them to make their own minds up.

05:58I also think that this debate that we're having today and you giving time on a very busy show

06:04in a very busy Newsweek to making sure that we discuss this is really important.

06:09And there is a commitment across the House, whichever side you're on, to continue to being

06:14part of that public debate and helping the public to understand what it is that Parliament

06:18is doing.

06:18It's very nice to see Parliament behaving in such a respectful and considerate way,

06:23which doesn't often happen, does it?

06:26Before we let you go, I know you're announcing money for sport, to fund big sporting events,

06:34but also to improve grassroots sport.

06:37And I know there are huge benefits to all of this.

06:40We know it as a country.

06:41We know it as a nation.

06:42But I've got to ask you, £900 million, best part of a billion quid, at a time when we

06:49keep saying we haven't got any money, we're running out of money.

06:53Well, you're right to say it's a significant commitment from us as a government to our belief

06:57in the power of sport, but probably more importantly, to our belief in our communities and particularly

07:03the young people in our communities and the lives that we want them to go on to lead.

07:08The part of the money, £500 million, will go on to major sporting events like the Euros

07:142028 and the Tour de France, which will start both the men's and women's race in the same

07:19country for the first time ever in 2027 and come through towns, villages and cities across

07:25the whole of the UK.

07:27That's a tremendous opportunity for young people to get up close to some of the best athletes

07:33and competitors in the world and inspire them to believe that they too can go on to achieve

07:39what they want to achieve.

07:41The other £400 million will go on to precisely that.

07:44Far too many communities in this country have either no or crumbling sports facilities in their

07:52communities.

07:52And I think when we've built and invested in those facilities, they are a shining testament

07:58in our communities to how much we value and care about this generation of young people

08:04and our communities.

08:06And so this government is right behind it.

08:08We're committed to it.

08:09We know it will bring enormous economic benefit to the UK.

08:12The Euros alone is projected to bring in about £2.4 billion in terms of economic value.

08:19That's local shops and businesses in every part of the UK feeling the benefit.

08:24But most importantly, it's lives that are changed because a government stood up in difficult

08:29times and said, we're going to invest.

08:32Minister, good to talk to you this morning.

08:34Thank you very much indeed.

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