Assisted dying debate should come after end-of-life care reform, says Burnham

Introducing legislation would be ‘very challenging’ before improvement of care system, says prime minister

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Andy Burnham has said the assisted dying debate needs to wait until palliative care and social care are fixed, as he delivered a speech to set out his path to resolving one of the most intractable problems in British politics.

The prime minister said he was not opposed to having the debate on assisted dying, but told reporters it would be “very challenging” to introduce the controversial legislation until the care system was in a better place.