‘Cruel’ amendments being used to thwart assisted dying bill, says lead MP
Members of the House of Lords have proposed “totally unnecessary” and “very cruel” amendments to the assisted dying bill in an attempt to scupper it, the MP leading the campaign has said,Kim Leadbeater said on Friday she believed that peers opposed to the bill were trying to block it by proposing hundreds of changes, including one that would require terminally ill people to be filmed as they undergo an assisted death,The Lords will vote on some of those on Friday during a fourth day of debate on the bill, with six more sessions scheduled for the new year,Supporters now fear there will not be enough time to debate more than 1,000 amendments before the parliamentary session ends, putting the bill at risk of collapsing,Leadbeater told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “What we’re seeing with this bill, sadly, is well over 1,000 amendments have been tabled, many of which are totally unnecessary and some of which are actually just very cruel when we think about the cohort of people that the bill is designed to help.
”She highlighted three amendments she said were particularly cruel.These included one that would deny an assisted death to anyone who had travelled outside the country in the previous year, another that would screen family members for financial impropriety, and a third that would require assisted deaths to be recorded.She described the final proposal as “incredibly intrusive and heartless”.Leadbeater added: “What’s happening, sadly, is looking increasingly like people who are fundamentally opposed to a change in the law – a view which I respect – trying to prevent the law passing.And that would be wrong from a democratic perspective, when the Commons has voted for it and there is huge public support.
”The bill passed the Commons in June but has since got caught up in the Lords.After three days of committee-stage debate, peers have covered only 80 of more than 1,150 tabled amendments, prompting concerns it will run out of time.Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, the cross-bench peer, warned her colleagues in the upper house on Friday there was “the perception that we are being unreasonable”.“I don’t like the bill, but I am here like other noble lords to try and make it work,” she said during the last day of Lords debate on the measures this year.“It needs scrutiny, it needs improvement, but we must get it to third reading,” she added.
“If we don’t, there is a very real danger that the reputation of this house, which not only I but all your lordships care about deeply, will be, or possibly will be, irreparably eroded,”Meanwhile, Charlie Falconer, the Labour peer guiding the legislation through the Lords, hinted at further concessions, suggesting there could be “enhanced protections” for people with impaired mental capacity,Three MPs who previously opposed the substance of the bill wrote a letter to the Guardian on Thursday, urging peers not to deliberately filibuster it,Justin Madders, Nia Griffith and Debbie Abrahams said: “If the Lords resort to blocking procedures and impede the implementation of decisions taken in the Commons … how long should we, as the democratically elected chamber, put up with it?”Opponents of the bill argue that lengthy scrutiny of amendments is normal for such a complex issue, and that it has fallen to peers to address a range of concerns about the legislation, including from professional bodies such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists,Tanni Grey-Thompson, one of the peers who has proposed amendments, said they were being made to improve the bill and, in particular, to prevent terminally ill people from being coerced into an assisted death.
“These are about exploring coercion,” she told the BBC.“At this stage, we don’t vote; we’re actually there to unpack the bill.So the same with the recording of someone’s death – that is about being able to spot coercion.It’s about being able to learn, it’s being about to improve what happens when somebody dies.”One of the items to be debated on Friday is an amendment from Alex Carlile, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.
, which would restore the role of a high court judge in deciding applications for an assisted death.The amendment, which has growing support among peers, would allow designated judges to decide on cases.Supporters say it would address concerns that Britain’s overstretched courts would struggle to handle any additional workload arising from assisted dying applications.
Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband no longer called ‘chocolate’ after recipe change
Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband bars can no longer be called chocolate after Nestlé reformulated their recipes due to the increasing cost of ingredients.The Swiss conglomerate now describes the treats as being “encased in a smooth milk chocolate flavour coating”, rather than being covered in milk chocolate.In the UK, a product needs to have at least 20% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids in order to be described as milk chocolate, a level each product fell below after a higher amount of cheaper vegetable fat was used.Nestlé said the changes were necessary due to higher input costs but were “carefully developed and sensory tested”, adding there were no plans to alter the recipes of other chocolate products.A spokesperson for Nestlé said it had seen “significant increases in the cost of cocoa over the past years, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products
How to use a spent tea bag to make a boozy, fruity treat – recipe | Waste not
Save a used teabag to flavour dried fruit, then just add whisky for a boozy festive treatA jar of tea-soaked prunes with a cheeky splash of whisky is the gift you never knew you needed. Sticky, sweet and complex, these boozy treats are wonderful spooned over rice pudding, porridge, yoghurt, ice-cream or even panna cotta.Don’t waste a fresh tea bag, though – enjoy a cuppa first, then use the spent one to infuse the prunes overnight. Earl grey adds fragrant, citrus notes, builders’ tea gives a malty depth, lapsang souchong brings smokiness, and chamomile or rooibos offer softer, floral tones. It’s also worth experimenting with other dried fruits beyond prunes: apricots, figs and/or dates all work beautifully, too
Christmas food gifts: Gurdeep Loyal’s recipes for Mexican-spiced brittle and savoury pinwheels
Edible Christmas gifts are a great excuse to get experimental with global flavours. For spice lovers, this moreish Mexican brittle, which is inspired by salsa macha (a delicious chilli-crunch), is sweet, salty, smoky, crunchy and has hints of anise. Then, for savoury lovers, some cheesy pinwheel cookies enlivened with XO sauce. XO is a deeply umami condiment from Hong Kong made from dried seafood, salty ham, chilli and spices. Paired with tangy manchego, it adds a funky kick to these crumbly biscuits
Festive treats: Adriann Ramirez’s recipes for pumpkin loaf and gingerbread cookies
As a self-proclaimed America’s sweetheart (Julia Roberts isn’t using that title any more, is she?) who moved to the UK nearly 10 years ago, there are a few British traditions and customs that I have adopted, especially around Christmas time. However, there are also a few American ones that I hold on to staunchly: one is the pronunciation of “aluminum”, and another is the importance and beauty of a soft cookie. In both of these easy but delicious bakes to share, I use spice and heat to balance the usual sweetness with which the season can often overload us.Prep 5 min Chill 1 hr Cook 50 min, plus cooling Makes 10-12520g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 8g cocoa powder 8g ground ginger 3g ground cloves 5g ground cinnamon 3g aleppo pepper 4g coarsely ground black pepper 7g table salt 3g bicarbonate of soda 225g soft unsalted butter 175g caster sugar 1 large egg (60g) 77g treacle 77g pomegranate molasses 40g golden syrupFor the icing120g icing sugar 30g waterWhisk the first nine ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Either in the bowl of a stand mixer or using a handheld mixer, beat the butter for a few minutes until light and creamy
Nutcracker stocking fillers: Brian Levy’s recipe for sugar plum and coffee cookies | The sweet spot
These festive cookies are inspired by The Nutcracker’s Land of Sweets sequence, in which coffee and sugar plums are two of the flavours used to conjure a fanciful world of decadent diversion. Anything from a hard candy to a candied fruit can qualify as a “sugar plum” and, in the case of these cookies, the sugar plum is represented by the amarena cherry. Coffee’s bitterness balances the sweetness of the fruit and the rich butteriness of the dough, while the oat flour adds a dash of shortbread-like delicateness.Prep 10 min Chill 30 min+ Cook 35 min, plus cooling Makes 36185g room-temperature butter75g sugar2 tsp instant coffee/espresso powder1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powderFinely grated zest of ½ lemon½ tsp vanilla extract⅛ tsp fine salt 180g plain flour 85g oat flour 36 amarena cherries in syrupTurbinado sugar, or pearl sugar or icing sugar, for dippingIn the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, coffee powder, cocoa, lemon zest, vanilla and salt, at first on low and then medium speed, until creamy and fluffy.Add both flours and beat just until combined with no dry flour remaining; don’t overbeat because this can toughen the texture
How to make the perfect Dubai chocolate bar - recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to make the perfect …
If you’re asking what on earth chocolate has to do with a city with an average annual temperature of 28C, then you must have been stuck in the desert for the past three years. Because, since its creation in the UAE in 2022, apparently to satisfy chocolatier Sarah Hamouda’s pregnancy cravings for pistachio and pastry, this bar has taken over the world. Though food (among those with the luxury of choice, at least) has never been immune to the absurdities of fashion, the internet has supercharged and globalised the process, so much so that pistachios, which back in January were dubbed “the new pumpkin spice” by this very newspaper, are now everywhere, from Starbucks lattes to Aldi mince pies.The thing is, however, that whatever your thoughts on green, sugary, coffee-adjacent beverages, Hamouda’s Dubai chocolate developed for Fix Dessert Chocolatier has triumphed, because it really does taste as good as it looks: crunchy pastry, sweet chocolate and rich, slightly savoury nut butter are an incredibly satisfying combination, so a big bar of it is guaranteed to impress under the Christmas tree. Experience demands that I suggest you wrap it in a pet-proof box, however – emergency vet bills are no one’s idea of a great present
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