Cancel study into the cost to NHS of assisted dying, Harman tells Streeting

Health secretary risks tainting the debate by turning it into an issue of pounds and pence, Labour grandee says

Labour divisions over the controversial bill on assisted dying have intensified as party grandee Harriet Harman demanded the immediate cancellation of work ordered by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, into the potential costs to the NHS of legalisation.

In an interview with the Observer, Harman said Streeting's intervention - making clear he regarded the bill as a slippery slope" and saying that he had commissioned work on the financial implications - had not only breached neutrality" rules for cabinet ministers but risked tainting" the entire debate by turning it into an issue of pounds and pence".