'Betrayed by the system..'

THE sister of an inspirational teacher who died of cancer says the collapse of the assisted dying bill leaves her feeling betrayed.

- BY SOPHIE HUSKISSON Political Correspondent

Becky Scott, whose brother Nathaniel Dye, 40, lost his life in January, said he would have been extremely angry to know the proposals will not become law due to delays in the House of Lords.

In a historic vote last year, MPs voted to legalise assisted dying by 314 to 291 - a majority of 23. Nathaniel, who spoke to this newspaper several times about his campaign for the law change, hailed the result as momentous at the time.

But the bill has since stalled in the Lords, with a small group of opposing peers accused of filibustering, ie deliberately wasting time in debate, and of putting forward so many amendments that there will not be time to debate them all. As a result, the bill is expected to run out of time when the parliamentary session ends next month.

Ms Scott said: "I feel betrayed by the system really, that people are kind of able to serve their own agendas rather than being representative of the general population." In a moving interview, she spoke of her brother's death and how the option of an assisted death could have eased the fear in his final moments.

Speaking through tears, she said: "He was still very much enjoying life right up until the end but I know he was scared."

She said her family were lucky Nathaniel had a peaceful death in the end, but added: "I also know he, at that point, would absolutely not have wanted to be lying in that position, in the pain that he was in, as incapacitated as he was - and some people are in that position for months.