'The Assisted Dying Bill cannot wait for ever - but it cannot be rushed either'

'The Assisted Dying Bill cannot wait for ever - but it cannot be rushed either''The story of Wendy Duffy stops you cold and breaks your heart as she is travelling abroad to end her life because Britain has no answer for yer yet'CommentsOpinionopinionVoice of the Mirror19:35, 23 Apr 2026View ImageVoice of the Mirror has its say... When grief is too muchWendy Duffy picked her outfit. She chose her song. She said her goodbyes. A mother shattered by the loss of her son - a young man of 23, taken in the cruellest, most ordinary of moments - she has decided she simply cannot go on. ‌ Her story stops you cold. It breaks your heart. And it forces every one of us to ask the hardest question there is: when does compassion mean letting someone go? ‌ Here is a woman not terminally ill, but consumed by a grief so total it has swallowed her whole. She is travelling abroad to end her life because Britain has no answer for her yet. ‌ The Assisted Dying Bill is now almost certainly dead for this parliament - buried under 1,200 Lords amendments, time running out before May. Both sides bear responsibility for that failure. But Wendy's case cuts to the very heart of why this matters. This is not just about choice. It is about vulnerability, despair and whether any law can ever truly protect the most fragile among us. This cannot wait forever. But it cannot be rushed either. ‌ Boweled overBritish science is once again leading the fight to save lives. A groundbreaking NHS trial of a new immunotherapy drug offers real hope against bowel cancer - a disease killing nearly 17,000 Britons a year and rising among the under-50s. Stories like Nick Cleworth’s are remarkable. His tumour vanished without life-changing surgery. It is not just progress, it is transformation. This is the legacy of pioneers like Dame Deborah James, whose courage put this disease in the spotlight. Article continues belowBut early diagnosis still matters. Symptoms can be subtle and too often ignored. Britain’s scientists are delivering hope to the world. Now we must match it with awareness, investment and action to ensure more lives are saved. Loss of FocusThe final whistle for Football Focus is a sad one. For more than half a century, it has been part of the fabric of football on Saturday. Falling audiences may explain the decision, but something valuable is lost. Not everything needs reinventing. Some traditions are worth protecting, not discarding.