Row over £56m assisted dying could save for NHS

A campaign group has claimed that the impact assessment produced by the government on assisted dying legislation proves that there will be a financial incentive to end people's lives early.

- DAVID MADDOX

The claim by the group Care Not Killing (CNK) came after the government identified at least £59.6m savings a year to be made by allowing assisted deaths. CNK believes the real amount is much larger because savings in benefits cannot be quantified.

However, the bill's sponsor, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, has warned: "The cost in human terms of failing to act would be immense." She added: "It is difficult, if not impossible, to put a price on correcting injustice and providing dignity to our fellow citizens in their final weeks and months, but it is of course right that we look at what effect changing the law would have more widely." With the bill set to be debated again in the Commons in just two weeks, her supporters argue that the government assessment has confirmed that assisted dying can be delivered safely, ethically, and compassionately in England and Wales.