YouSaid · the spoken record

Kim Leadbeater

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46
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2024-11-25
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2024-11-25
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  1. “Well, that's the other thing which is really interesting it's got really good cross party support from all the different major parties people are supporting it. It shows that it genuinely is a free vote and people have got very personal views on it. So that is a good thing. Again, that's where you often see Parliament at its best cross-party working. We don't talk about that enough either.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “I think it's going to be really close, and I don't know the numbers at the moment. I think it's going to be really, really close. People keep texting me saying, I'm going to support, and then you'll hear somebody on the news saying they're not going to support. So who knows which way it's going to go. But let's have the debate. That's what's really important. Let's talk about all those really serious issues. And let's try and show Parliament at its best, because far too often we see it at its worst. So this is an opportunity.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “Oh gosh, I have sympathy with all the arguments against the bill in terms of the other issues that we need to talk about. But what I'm also clear about is that they are separate issues. They're part of the broader debate. But if we are going to champion the rights of disabled people, let's champion the rights of disabled people. And I've said this, I've said this to colleagues like Tanny Gray Thompson, Liz Carr, who made that amazing, very funny under weird circumstances documentary, I've said, I will fight for your rights all day long. Similarly around the need for better palliative care, absolutely. Let's have that conversation as well. But let's not do that at the detriment of the rights of dying people who are terminally ill. It doesn't have to be either or.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “Yeah, stop the boats. Blah, blah, blah. You know, we could go on, couldn't we? But that just isn't the reality of most issues and most situations. But people have lost patience. I understand it because we move in a really fast-paced society. And I'm the worst person for doing that, dashing on from one thing to the next. And I love that in lots of ways, but it doesn't leave any room for nuance and debate. And that's why what you guys do is so good.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “Brilliant books, that's Planola books. But you know, the thing, 30 seconds on TikTok. Well, what can you solve on 30 seconds on TikTok? What can you solve in a three-word? Well, you can make a great great great.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “Then I think people are always going to think that we're all idiots. And it is hard. So there's so many layers to unpick with that. And that thing around simple solutions to complex problems, we live in a culture, don't we? Whereas if you can't say it in three words, no one's interested.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “Yeah, I mean, there's a lot to unpick there. But in terms of, I think it shows how people feel about politics, and I think it shows that people are disillusioned, they're disengaged, and how do we address that? We address that by politicians behaving well. We address it by better, more civilized discussion and debate within politics. I also think we address it with political education. We don't teach people about politics and about how the political system works. I love, as I would imagine you did, Rory, going into schools. I love going to primary schools are the best where they've got the school council and they vote for the school councillors. But then when we get to secondary school, the curriculum is under so much pressure and teachers are under so much pressure. We don't have political education. So until we explain to people how the system works, why would they give a toss about the system? Do you know what I mean? Because the system, they don't understand it. You know as an MP, you get emails about everything. People think you're a lawyer. They think you're a police officer. They think you run the counsel. They think you do all these other jobs that you just don't do and you have no control over whatsoever. They don't understand what an MP does. So until we start having a better system of education.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “And that drives me insane. Then you've got social media, which obviously can be brilliant in lots of ways, but can also be hugely, hugely toxic and damaging. So there's so much that we need to address and it's hard to know where to start.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “There's that, there's the need to have good people in politics. We need people to put themselves forward, but why would you, particularly if you're a woman or if you're from an ethnic minority background or you're gay? Why would you put yourself? You know you're going to get loads of shit. But I also think politicians have got a massive role in this as well, how we behave and how we treat each other and people is a big part of it. The media, I mean, we've just been looking at some of the media coverage of the bill around, you know, and I'll do a full interview for like 15 minutes and they'll pick one bit out and they'll skew it. And I think that's not what I said.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “Well, look, I think it's what you guys talk about all the time. No one's saying that we've got to agree on everything, but two things. One, let's try and find common ground where we can. And two, when we do disagree, let's try and do it well and with respect. And we need to keep working at that because I don't think as a society and certainly globally we're seeing that play out as best as it could at the moment. And that really does concern me. And there's so many layers to that. Gosh, we could do another 10 shows on it, couldn't we? But, you know, the dehumanization of MPs, I literally felt people just treat me differently as soon as I became an MP. And, yeah, far worse, far”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Some of that might be pain, it might be shock, it might be someone being very poorly and ill, it might be a tragic accident. And then you've got murder. And where does murder fit into that? Someone actually wanted to kill another person and wanted to kill a specific person in this instance. So all that is like somewhere around in my brain. And maybe at some point I'll deal with it. And you know what? Maybe I never will. And maybe I'll just keep going and trying to do the best I can.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “And everything that's happened to me since. Just doing it. I don't even know if I'm feeling it, but I'm just doing it. And I've never had any counseling about it. And maybe I never will and maybe that's fine. And I keep thinking, well, I can get to a year, then I can get to two years. Then I thought, oh, I'm doing all right. I can get to five years. And it's eight and a half years since Joe was killed. And now I'm at a point where it's right, I can get to 10 years. And then we'll see where we are after that. But it's just really bizarre. And again, going back, you know, talking about death all the time at the moment, which is really hard emotionally on lots of levels and hearing about horrible deaths. But I suppose what it's made me think about is with every death there is a loss. And it's like an onion, isn't it, at the centre of the onion is the loss. So we lose someone we love. And then there are the layers around that loss.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “It's really worth thinking about Joe's murder because I've not dealt with it. I really know that that is the case. I've never processed it. I've never grieved. I've literally just put my head down and thought, right, just keep going, just keep going. And I think back to that day and it feels so long ago in some respects. But then also really recent in other respects. And it was during the Euros, the football was on. So we were at home. My partner had just had an operation on a foot. So we're sat in a chair with a foot up like Jim Royal. And we were about to watch the footy. But I'd taken my car in for a service and I thought I was trying to be healthy, not easy anymore again in this job, Rory, very unhealthy lifestyle. So I ran down to get my car from the garage and then I got a phone call telling me what happened. And it's just impossible to describe that feeling. And it's impossible to describe how your life can change like that.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “Yeah. I mean, even at primary school, I remember one of my primary school teachers saying to me, oh, she'll be Prime Minister one day at that one. Because I was always quite clear. I have a strong sense of injustice if I see things that need to be changed. I see things that are wrong, which again goes back to the pill, then I want to solve that. And I think I've always had that sort of moral drive encompass to try and make a difference in things. But what I think I saw and I learned when Joe became an MP was the difference that you can make at a community level as well and the difference you can make to people's lives on a really sort of micro basis as well as the big picture stuff. And you're right, Rory George got a career in international development and global issues. But actually, you know, as an MP, you can also really change the community where you live. And I think that's really important. So I didn't set out on this path, but I hope because of my life experience, I've worked in the private sector, public sector, voluntary sector. I've done a lot of different things with my life. That brings a different kind of something to Parliament in the way that maybe people have been down more.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “It's unlikely, but not impossible. I'd always been interested in politics, I'd always been interested in people, and for me, politics is about people. That's the thing that I do enjoy about the job that you can help people.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “He is an active Maybe it's a personality thing. I mean, for me, I like to take a very thorough approach to things. I like to know detail. And the realities in this job, you can't do that. And I'm really uncomfortable with someone giving me a piece of paper before a meeting and saying, there you go. I want to know why I'm in that meeting. I want to know the background to it. I want to know the whys and wherefores. And the reality is you just don't have time to do that. So time is the other thing in this job that you never have any time. You never have any time for proper planning and preparation for things. And you never have any time for reflection. And as much as I'm 100 miles an hour person, as you can probably tell, I get very excited about things. I'm also quite a reflective person. And you don't have time to process things that have happened and think about the next steps. So that can be really challenging. I mean, that's why I've been really clear with the bill to carve out time to make sure that I do this properly because that isn't always possible in this job. And I find that really frustrating.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “The Middle East, and the next minute you're talking about people's wheely bins and potholes, you know, and everything in between. I find that really, really bizarre. Go on.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “Tell us why you don't find it particularly pleasurable in a job. There's a few different challenges and frustrations. I think the two big things for me, one is you've got two lives and I find that really hard to manage. So I've got my life in Yorkshire, which will always be my real life. Then I've got my life in Parliament working down here. And I think you've almost got two jobs there. You've got the job of being a really good constituency MP, which is what I focused on for my first three years. I got offered various jobs and I said no to everything in Parliament. Oh, do you want to be this PPS? Do you want to be this shadow minister? And I said, I've got a job. I'm an MP. And I couldn't understand that that wasn't a job in its own right. So I was a constituency. Then you've got the parliamentary side of the job, which is obviously the time that you spend in London, in Westminster, doing that as well. They're both massive jobs. So I think that's one of the first challenges. And you've got two different lives with different people in those lives. And I find that really, really quite hard as well. Then you've got the fact that you are expected to know everything about everything. No human being can know everything about everything. So your one minute you're having conversations about.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “I mean, it's a world like no other, and I find it frustrating. I don't particularly enjoy being an MP. People often say, oh, are you enjoying it? And I'm not sure that's a word I would use. It's a really privileged job. I appreciate that. It's a well-paid job. It's a privileged job. It's a really important job. But I wouldn't say I get much pleasure out of it in lots of ways. And maybe that's because I didn't particularly ever want to do it. I mean, there's people in Parliament who have spent their entire lives wanting to be an MP and that certainly wasn't my story.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “It's so good that people are talking about these issues. We're talking about palliative care, we're talking about disabled rights, we're talking about, and we're talking about death, and we don't do that very well in this country. We're quite nervous, we're quite reluctant to do that. And whatever else happens, I'm so proud of the way that people are having those conversations up and down the country. And literally, at the train station, people are stopping me in the street, saying thank you, often because of their own personal experience of how things are now. But also thank you for doing this and having this conversation. I think that's really important.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “How do you pay for people to help you? Well, people are doing it voluntarily. Yeah. But it has been huge. And then obviously I've given all my time to it so the many meetings that I've had with different organisations, I've chosen to do this as a priority. I've got a fantastic team of staff. As you will know, Rory, you can't do this job without that. And they have kept everything else going along within the office. But this has been a huge piece of work, no two ways about it. But I think it's really, really important. And that's why you're quite right. It is a very robust piece of legislation. But what we've also got is some explanatory notes which go alongside it, which again you'll be aware of, which break it down into more layman's terms. But I make no apology for it being a really thorough document, which is extremely detailed for all the reasons that we've already discussed.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's a huge piece of work. I mean, the advantage I had was that, as we've said before, there are many places around the world where this is legal and we've drawn a lot of that experience. That was a big part of the research. We've also got bills going through Scotland, the Scottish Parliament, the Isle of Man and Jersey. So there's a lot of evidence out there and different jurisdictions. Different bills doing different things, and we've had several bills that have gone through our own parliament over recent years as well. So pulling all that together was a huge Of work. In terms of the actual drafting, I got someone who was able to help me, who's got a huge amount of experience in drafting parliamentary legislation”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “Formal way that you might suggest, but it is happening anyway. And certainly there's a huge debate going on within the media around it. So I think those things are happening. But again, your question is, do we have the right system of democracy where 650 people decide everything? You could say that about any issue, couldn't you?”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “Maybe if that was a brand new issue, that might be the starting point that this isn't the starting point. This debate has been going on for decades. So people pretty much know a lot of the arguments around the debate. And there are people, look, let's be clear, who would never, ever want to change in the law for various reasons, some of religious reasons, another reasons would never want to change the law at all. There are other people who are very clear that they think the law needs to change. And there are lots of people who generally often actually agree in principle, but want to look at the detail. And we've now got that bill. So I think that the debate is going on already. It's been going on for years. People are speaking about it up and down the country now more than ever. That's really important. MPs are taking this really seriously and going out into their constituents. And I know because they're telling me this every day, speaking to people about their different views, holding round tables, holding sessions with people. So a lot of that is going on, maybe not in the...”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “And there's no evidence of that whatsoever. So, I mean, I mean, in terms of yes, of course, departments have to do an analysis of the implications, but the government will implement the will of the House, the will of parliament. So if this passes the stages, each department that's implicated will have to look at what involves and quite right too. But in terms of cabinet members, I mean, Liz Kendall is a very big supporter. You've got people like Lisa Nandi, very big supporter. You've got other members of the health team, Stephen Kinnock, Karen Smith has campaigned on this issue for 20 years. It's one of the reasons she got involved in politics. So there are different views. Quite right too. There are different views. But the thing on the 29th of November is every person gets one vote. And that's the good thing about a democracy, isn't it? So no one's vote is more important than anybody else's.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “Everyone will have a different opinion and they're entitled to that opinion. I think my concern more with the health secretary was that broadening that conversation out into more of the detail, which needs to come, but maybe not now. Let's look at the bill now. Let's look at the issues.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “Well, I totally reject the argument about an either or. This is not about either having great palliative care and improving palliative care where we need to, or having choice for dying people. Why can't we do both? Indeed, we've got a duty to do both. And I think the other thing is, isn't it brilliant that we're talking about palliative care in a way that I honestly don't think we would have done without this bill? I think that's fantastic. Let's also celebrate the many amazing people who are working in palliative care up and down the country day in and day out. I have a hospice near me and they're doing fantastic things. I visited them. I spoke to them about the bill. I met with the Association for Palliative Medicine. I understand their concerns. I was chatting to some people the other week, one from California, one from Western Australia who have got an assistive dying program there and they were saying they had the same fears within the palliative care sector but actually now it's been going for a few years and they work together very holistically so let's look at how we can have choice at the end of life in a very holistic way and palliative care is part of that conversation as well in terms of interventions by cabinet members there's 650 MPs”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  28. “Yeah, look, this is for terminally ill adults. There's a whole different conversation about other conditions, and that is not this conversation. We need to be really, really clear about this. This is giving dying people options at the end of their life in their final days and months. And it's about giving them the choice and the autonomy and the dignity that I believe they need. It very explicitly seizing the bill, not mental health conditions, not disabilities. So the conversations that we have around those areas, let's keep having those conversations, but most mental health conditions can be treated. And we should look at improving mental health treatment in this country. And I'm really pleased that we're having conversations like that because that's a valuable conversation, also about the rights of disabled people who are not included within the scope of the bill quite rightly. But let's fight for the rights of disabled people as well. Let's talk about better palliative care. So that broader debate is important, but for me, it's really important about crystallizing this, about the people who will come within the scope of the bill who just want the choice.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  29. “But that's where those layers and layers of checks and going to your point previously this wouldn't be. I mean, some people said it's too long a process that I've proposed, but it wouldn't be a quick process. It's not a decision there we go. There are checks and checks. There's seven days in between the first doctor and the second doctor. And at every stage, those checks are being made. After the High Court judge has said the person is eligible and can continue, there is a 14-day period of reflection. So there are opportunities upon opportunities for that person to change their mind and for them to say, actually, this isn't for me, even on the day they can say actually, you know, I don't want to do this. So the checks are there, the safeguards are there in a way that they're just not there at the moment. That's the other thing. Let's always come back to the problem we're trying to solve. So the idea of coercion and burden, we have no idea whether family's members say, yeah, I think it's time now, isn't it? You need to get yourself off on that plane and get yourself off to Switzerland. No one's checking that. No one's monitoring that. So it has to be better than the current situation, which has no legal framework around it whatsoever.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  30. “Yeah, and coercion can take different forms. You're absolutely right. But as Surely it should be their choice of what their end looks like. And we're describing situations there which I know I wouldn't want for me. Now if this bill passed and heaven forbid I ended up being a person who was within the scope of the bill, I have no idea what I'd do. I'm not saying this would be for me or it wouldn't be for me. But what I would want is the autonomy and the choice to have an end at a time of my choosing in a manner of my choosing with a dignity that I have had through the rest of my life and I would want to have in those final moments.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  31. “In terms of slippery slope, look, the title of the bill cannot be changed, terminally ill adults end of life bill. That is it. There is no mention of disabled people, there is no mention of mental health conditions, there are things that are very, very clearly excluded from the bill. And if this bill passes, if it becomes law, it cannot be changed. In other jurisdictions, there is a different system where the courts can get involved. We don't have that system. And indeed, that's why the courts have thrown this issue back to parliament and said, this is up to you to sort it out.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  32. “Yes, there are two separate points. So, on coercion, look, you speak to doctors, and there are doctors and other conservative MP who actually used to be a doctor has come out this morning in support of the bill. Neil Shastrahurst, I think his name is. So the support coming in from all different directions, which is fantastic. But we've got Peter Princer, who's one of the new Labour MPs who was in no santhrop specialist. He says, this is what doctors do. Doctors check with patients for coercion in other circumstances at the moment all the time. I think it's been a bit disrespectful to medical professionals to suggest that they don't. But again, as I say, go back to the previous point, there is no one checking for coercion now with people who are taking their own lives who are terminally ill. So surely having it written in law within a legal framework with layers and layers of checks is far, far better than the situation we've got now.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  33. “Judge, double, double, double checking that this person has not been coerced, that it is their clear, settled, and informed decision to do this.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  34. “Yes, it's 31 jurisdictions and 13 countries, which means 300 million people have got access to some form of assisted dying. I've put together along with a lot of expertise, a wide amount of consultation with lots of different organisations, whether that's palliative care specialists, whether that's medics, lawyers, judges, disability rights activists and the families that I've talked about to produce what is the most robust piece of legislation on this subject. There are layers and layers and layers of safeguards because I know that's what mattered to people. So two doctors are involved in the process, a high court judge is involved in the process. The individual can change their mind at any point in the process. And on the point of coercion, who is checking and when are we checking for coercion now? Do you know when we're doing that? When the person's dead. So that's when we say, oh, I wonder if someone was involved in that process. What this bill does, it makes coercion a criminal offence with a maximum of 14 years in prison. It has doctors checking for coercion. It has a high court.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  35. “Yep, what did you say first? Safeguards. Safeguards. Look. There are 31 jurisdictions around the world who have an assisted dying option.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  36. “Another gentleman I met the other day, his father, was ex military, managed to have kept a gun, shot himself to death in his back garden, and his daughter found him. A horrible, horrible, so another gentleman who actually came up to me in my constituency two weeks ago, a lovely old chap, he came up to me, you'd like this roar. He went, Kim, I'm a conservative voter. And I said, that's fine. I thought, where's this going? He said, thank you for doing this bill. He said, because my wife had terminal cancer and she had taken her own life. Not only did he have the loss and the grief of losing his wife, he then had eight hours being interrogated by the police because they thought he might have done it. Now, all of that, I just think that can't be right. And I think we've got a duty to do something about that as legislators.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  37. “Assisting their death, so they only do it if they can afford to do it, and they often do it prematurely because they have to be well enough to travel. So that traumatic journey that they have to go through the secrecy involved in that, that was something someone said to me the other day, we treated like criminals, we feel like criminals because we can't tell our family and friends, we can't have a proper funeral. So there's that. Then there are people who take their own lives because they are so desperate and so fearful of what their end will look like that they take their own lives. Paul Blomfield, who's an ex-colleague who was the MP for Sheffield Central, tells of his father, taken his own life.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  38. “Very strict criteria. So I looked at that sort of space and the stories that came to me were stories of people who have had harrowing, traumatic deaths And you can only imagine what that's like. You can't imagine what that's like, actually, can you? And he said, I couldn't do it because I didn't want her last memory of me to be standing over her with a pillow. I met a woman the other day whose mum had got liver cancer and esophagal cancer. And her choice was, which one do you want to kill you? Because one of them's going to kill you. We'll treat one and the other will kill you. And the lady said, do you know what? I'll never forget Kim as the tumors were bursting in. My mum's throat. I'll never forget the smell in that room. Now when you hear stories like that with palliative care, but horrible, harrowing, traumatic stories which have left individuals having horrible deaths and loved ones traumatized, we've got to question whether there should be another choice for those people. The other things, of course, are the people who have got the money to go to another country. Often we talk about Switzerland, which can be £10,000, £15,000. They do it on their own often because their relatives can be prosecuted because that's what the law says at the moment.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  39. “Yeah, what made me put the bill forward was looking at the situation as it is now. And the reality is we have got a legal framework, or rather a lack of a legal framework around end of life. So at the moment, there are only limited options for someone who is terminally ill. And just to be really clear, the title of the bill, and I know you've said a sister dying, and of course that is the subject, but the title of the bill is terminally ill adult's end of life. So this is not about a sister dying. Of a broad nature, it is very specific.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  40. “In the same way that I sat down with my parents and my partner and talked about whether to stand to be an MP, I sat down with them and spoke about this issue because I knew that it would be controversial. I knew that there are very passionate feelings around the subject of assisted dying. So I didn't go into it naively thinking that wouldn't happen. I think for the main part, people are being respectful. People are, as I've tried to do, trying to have a respectful and a robust debate, of course, but also a compassionate one, because we are talking about really sensitive, difficult issues here. But yeah, there has been some abuse and some nastiness as well. But, you know, I don't want people to feel sorry for me. I am doing my job, and this is a really important part of my job. I think there's a broader conversation you've spoken about it a lot about the state of our politics and the state of public life and the fact that it is a pretty toxic place to be and why would anybody put themselves forward to be an MP when the amount of crap that you get. Sorry, what is the rules on swearing on the point?”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  41. “Was mainly domestic stuff that I was approached about, but there were a few other options as well on an international level. But again, realistically, you have to pick something that has got a good chance of passing, a good chance of getting through, and also something which means something to you personally. And whilst I don't have a personal story around terminal illness, this was something I'd thought about previously and I knew what my position was. And I thought this was the opportunity to give Parliament the chance to debate something of real national significance.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  42. “I'd really thought about doing votes at 16 because it's something I believe in, but I think the government has committed to making time for that. So I think that will come anywhere, I hope, in this parliament. There were other issues, sort of smaller issues, but important issues around things like pavement parking, around things around online safety. One of my colleagues is doing a bill around mobile phones and 16-year-olds. So there are a variety of other issues that I thought about.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  43. “I'd have been the most popular person in the world. I'm sure the abuse would have been far less. Not promoting public smuggling, clearly, stopping puppy smuggling. Puppy smuggling.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  44. “It was defeated in 2015. So I knew that this was a moment in time. I also knew where the public mood was in terms of this issue, in terms of the polling that had been done saying that the public wanted, I think, the law to change based on polling, but also they wanted the debate to happen. And I think the only way to do that would be through a private member's bill, because it is a conscience vote. So government would not put this bill forward as a government bill.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  45. “The further down you are the list, the less likely that the legislation will get put before Parliament. So basically, when that happened, I was approached by lots and lots of organisations and groups and lots of journalists to say, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? And I knew the issue around choice at the end of life for terminally adults was one that had been discussed for decades. And it hadn't been put before Parliament for nearly 10 years.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  46. “We're starting nice and light stra Yeah, private members built. So there is a process which happens every year in Parliament whereby there is a draw and MPs can be put into this draw and if you are drawn in the top 20 I think it is, you have the opportunity to put a piece of legislation before Parliament. And I, lucky me, was drawn top of the ballot.”

    2024-11-25 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 109. Is it time to legalise assisted dying? (Kim Leadbeater) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source