Biography

Ms Abbott has engaged substantially on assisted dying and end-of-life care, delivering multiple speeches expressing support for legalising assisted dying in principle while raising detailed concerns about the Bill's safeguards, including risks of coercion, the absence of a coroner's role, and protection of vulnerable people in marginalised communities. She has also spoken on related topics including learning disability and autism support in schools, Personal Independence Payment cuts, Long Covid impacts, and broader issues affecting disabled people and employment. Her engagement across these health and social care topics has been characterised by detailed scrutiny and questioning of Government proposals rather than support for them.

Generated from their own Hansard record, below

The Secretary of State will be aware how traumatic it is for a child to grow up with special educational needs and to support such a child. She will also be aware that disproportionate numbers of those children come from marginalised communities, and of those parents’ anxiety that these reforms will mean, in the long r…

Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving · 2026-02-23 · Hansard ↗

Record by topic

  1. Assisted dying62nd of 37112.0
  2. Mental health386th of 8809.0
  3. Palliative & end of life care158th of 5689.0
  4. Heart disease & stroke174th of 3983.0
  5. Learning disability & autism654th of 8993.0
  6. Long Covid16th of 553.0

What they’ve said

  • …Asian people throughout their lives and across all important areas, such as jobs, pay, housing, healthcare and mental health, as well as in all aspects of the criminal justice system.

    Black History Month · 2025-10-23 · Read on Hansard ↗

  • …I stress, right from the beginning, that it is perfectly possible to support assisted dying, as I do, but not be prepared to vote for this Bill. There is so much that is problematic about it. First, as I believe is widely understood, there has not been enough time to debate the Bill.

    Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · 2025-06-20 · Read on Hansard ↗

  • …If police cannot spot coercion in domestic violence, how can they be expected to spot coercion in assisted dying? The Royal College of Pathologists and the former chief coroner have pointed out that without a role for a coroner, the Bill raises the possibility of foul play.

    Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · 2025-06-20 · Read on Hansard ↗

  • …y the number of people claiming has gone up are a rise in the number of disabled people, a rise in deprivation, long covid and the pressures on the NHS. The Minister said we were asking the Government to put their head in the sand; no—we are just asking the Government to talk to the disabled and their supporters and no…

    Personal Independence Payment: Disabled People · 2025-05-07 · Read on Hansard ↗

  • …ment want to force back to work may have physical disabilities, but they may also be severely depressed or have mental health problems. Most employers will not tolerate the intermittent patterns of employment and long periods out of the labour market that come with those types of health problems.

    Personal Independence Payment: Disabled People · 2025-05-07 · Read on Hansard ↗

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