Amending the Assisted Dying Bill and the Sentencing Council Under Attack

Should terminally ill adults have the right to decide how and when they die? The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is discussed by Jake Richards MP and hosts Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC. 

They talk about the legislative process, from the intricacies of the committee stage to the broader implications of the private members' bill system. 

The discussion also focuses on the historical evolution of social change, counter arguments, and the critical safeguards built into the bill. 

Jake, who is the Labour MP for Rother Valley and a co-sponsor of the legislation, shares his personal motivations for championing this change in the law, emphasising the fundamental question at its core: should individuals be granted the autonomy to make their own end-of-life decisions?

Next, Ken and Tim turn to the extraordinary row caused by the recent Sentencing Council paper on pre-sentence reports for black and minority ethnic defendants. 

Why did Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood join the Conservative attack that these proposals are an example of so-called two-tier justice? And will she really move to undermine the independence of the Council?

Finally, does the evidence that black defendants are treated more harshly by the criminal justice system really stack up?