A price worth paying for a dignified death | Letters

I thought the vote on assisted dying was to be according to MPs’ consciences and that the government wasn’t taking a side. How is it, then, that Wes Streeting is making his views prominent and using his position as health secretary to suggest the NHS will be adversely affected by a vote in favour (Legalisation of assisted dying may force NHS cuts, Wes Streeting warns, 13 November)? I don’t believe that is true, and in any case it is irrelevant. People should have a choice at the end of their lives, even if there is a cost to the NHS. To deny that is simply cruel. Maybe he should talk to a wider range of dying and elderly people to discover their reality.
Anne Heaton
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire

As one who never wants palliative care, no matter how wonderfully administered it may be, I really take issue with Wes Streeting’s suggestion that assisted dying would be too expensive and would require cuts to other services – which is what his pronouncement boils down to. Surely it would cost the NHS a lot more to keep me alive (against my wishes) than to give me that single dose to end my life when I choose?
Elspeth Christie
Kirkhaugh, Northumberland