‘Hours in agony, a nurse said she was sorry – but what is happening to our NHS’

Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.

The truth about assisted dying

Paul (MetroTalk, Mon) suggests that the assisted dying bill will lead to an ageing population being coerced into taking that option to spare an overstretched NHS.

He clearly doesn’t know what the assisted dying bill entails. And the fact that the bill doesn’t even allow those with certain illnesses to access the practice should say everything he needs to know to understand how wrong his idea is.

The other side of this argument (from those who are currently suffering from terminal illnesses and want to end their suffering) suggests the bill doesn’t go far enough.

So, for Paul to suggest it goes too far is certainly wide of the mark.

Kim Leadbeater MP has put together a bill that has some of the toughest regulations on assisted dying compared with states that have similar laws.

She has also recognised the level of support for this bill – something that has grown over the years with the help of Dame Esther Rantzen and the Assisted Dying Coalition.

There is no easy solution for this bill to be passed. However if you could hear the harrowing stories on either side of the argument, you could understand the pain faced by these survivors.

Ultimately, this bill only affects 
those on certain diagnoses so fails to include the majority, let alone allow someone to be ‘coerced’ into the practice because of ‘an ageing population’. And being a supporter of assisted dying does not equate to being against the lives of the old. Oliver M Penkridge, via email

Is Donald Trump losing it?

What is happening in the US deserves close attention.

In an interview with Fox News, Republican candidate Donald Trump called for the Armed Forces to be used against his political adversaries on polling day.

If this was not bad enough, there are clear signs that Trump is losing his mental faculties.

When this was happening to Joe Biden, the Democrats replaced him.

The Republicans cannot do this as Trump’s supporters control the party.

An old man who wants revenge but is not mentally up to the job is an ominous future for the most powerful country in the world and its allies – so Britain should start to take cover. Trevor Fisher, Stafford

Readers share the benefits of home schooling

Julian (MetroTalk, Fri) claims ‘parents who wish to home-school are only acting in their own narrow-minded interests, and never in the best interests of the child’.

We home-school four children, all of whom work at a higher level (ie our ten-year-old is doing upper KS3 maths and our 12-year-old is preparing for her GCSEs and studying music at university level). The children also have a highly active social life.

Home-schooling is not for everyone but there can be many advantages. John (School Teacher), Watford

Home education is effective and very often in the best interests of the child.

Both my children spent some years being home-schooled and it was the best thing we ever did.

I followed the national curriculum but differentiated it to meet their individual needs, we went on frequent ‘Mummy School Trips’ and my youngest was academically two years ahead of his peers when he finally went to school.

The one-to-one attention that a home-schooled child gets means that learning can be incorporated into daily life, rather than limited to six hours a day in a noisy, over-busy, impersonal classroom. The rule of thumb is that ten minutes of personalised home education equals one hour at school. Annie, South Leicestershire

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