Readers' Letters: We must stop kicking the assisted dying can down the road

A decision on assisted dying cannot be delayed any longer, a reader says

Gordon Brown (Scotsman, 23 November) comes up with the classic politician’s response to a controversial question and predictably advocates “the setting up of a commission on end of life care, which would work to create a fully funded ten-year strategy for improved and comprehensive palliative care”; thereby conveniently kicking the can further down the road along with the SNP’s putative solution to social services.

Palliative care is currently largely supported by the charity sector and the inexorable reduction in government funding is already reducing the effectiveness of the service, leading to imminent closure of vital hospices. Social services are in crisis with much of their role provided by unpaid carers – more often than not, relatives.

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This dire situation can only deteriorate further while the acute sector of the NHS remains highly effective in prolonging the lives of the ageing and infirm, who then have nowhere to go, hence blocking beds. This is not going to change any time soon.

Palliative care services are facing extreme financial pressure (Picture: stock.adobe.com)Palliative care services are facing extreme financial pressure (Picture: stock.adobe.com)
Palliative care services are facing extreme financial pressure (Picture: stock.adobe.com)

Given these scenarios, which are well know and appreciated, is it any wonder that a significant section of the populace now considers the prospect of assisted dying increasingly attractive?

Dr S R Wild, Edinburgh

Snow joke

Stephen Jardine asks what the Finns have done for us (Scotsman, 23 November)? Maybe they could share some of their snow management techniques.

While Edinburgh’s transport system ground to a halt on Saturday with a bit of well forecast snow, I’m sure the Finns would be carrying on as normal, having gritted their roads and donned their winter gear and their snow boots.

Fiona Garwood, Edinburgh

Blind spot

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For most of my long adult life I have generally been a supporter, by conscience, of the Conservative party in Scotland and the UK. It might surprise readers therefore to note that my essential Saturday morning first read each week is the Brian Wilson column.

His excoriating and relentless criticisms week after week of our SNP government and the Greens over the past few years have been a must-read, although he’s obviously had decent pops at the other parties too.

It is right of course that he should concentrate his most recent column on the sad death of his ex-colleague John Prescott (Scotsman 23 November), but come on Brian, in a week when the desperate and genuine inheritance tax concerns of most ordinary farmers have been front page news everywhere, you, perhaps understandably, perhaps conveniently, have chosen not to utter a word about it. Indeed your one paragraph comment following the Budget (Scotsman, 2 November) was uncharacteristically crass, unsympathetic and inaccurate.

I admire Mr Wilson considerably. He writes with intelligence, passion, wit and common sense and it is an enormous pity that our new Labour government sadly lacks Sots of the calibre of Brian and his former statesmanlike colleagues, such as the late John Smith, Dr John Reid, Alastair Darling, Robin Cook and (dare I say it), Gordon Brown.

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Keep writing, Brian. In the unlikely event that our paths should ever cross I’d be delighted to buy you a dram!

Donald Morgan, Ayr, South Ayrshire

Working farmers

Labour’s repeated promise not to increase taxes on “working people” feels increasingly detached from reality when one considers farmers. Rising early to milk cows, staying up late for calving, and working long hours in all weather conditions, they exemplify dedication. Following Storm Bert, many farmers also cleared roads to keep communities moving.

If farmers do not count as “working people,” who does Labour consider worthy of their promise? As Adam Smith noted, “The first duty of the sovereign is that of protecting the society,” and perhaps Labour should recognise farmers’ vital role in doing just that.

Alastair Majury, Dunblane, Stirling

Fact or fiction?

While travelling through Dublin Airport recently I was amused to see Boris Johnson’s memoir classified under the sign “Our Favourite Fiction”.

Mary Douglas, Galashiels, Scottish Borders

Winter fuel farce

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Your editorial (23 November), while pointing to the increased risk of death as a result of Labour’s withdrawal of the universal winter fuel payment, failed to mention the Government’s obligation to help the estimated 800,000 who are eligible but not receiving the replacement means-tested benefit. Those pensioners are badly in need of the benefit, with recent increases to the energy price cap, yet little is being done to boost take-up.

After Labour’s withdrawal of the universal winter fuel payment in July Ivan McKee, Minister for Public Finance, said he “would very much like to keep this benefit if at all possible”. Soon after the SNP Government decided to prioritise pay increases and, instead of taking over payments as planned, asked the DWP to administer means-tested fuel payments on the same basis as the rest of the UK.

In the October Budget, however, the SNP Government was awarded a record additional £3.4bn in consequentials. It has therefore more headroom to make an emergency payment to pensioners on low incomes, such as those solely reliant on the state pension. At the very least it should be doing its utmost to ensure non-claimants receive the means-tested benefit. The UK Government cannot be trusted to do this as cynically savings were calculated to include non-claimants many of whom suffer from terminal illness such as dementia. More pensioners will needlessly die this winter unless action is taken very soon.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

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