内容摘要："But if you have a house and the roof is leaking. You don't burn down the house. You fix the roof, right?

"But if you have a house and the roof is leaking. You don't burn down the house. You fix the roof, right?

After a joyful graduation from National Star in 2022, Elliot moved to Project Choice, a specialist college providing tailored educational support. He was excited about his future and hoped to secure an NHS apprenticeship.Elliot didn’t want to “sit at home on the benefits system” and wanted to get out, work and meet people, he said.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall recently confirmed the government’s commitments to its manifesto Back to Work Plan, which includes plans for more disabled people and those with health conditions to be supported to enter and stay in work.She said government would be devolving more power to local areas to offer more “joined-up” support.When Elliot was looking for an apprenticeship, he suffered a series of setbacks that epitomise a system cracking under the strain. Due to the Covid outbreak and a lack of suitable work placements, he was not able to get the work experience he needed.

His mother, Chris, said a lot of placements weren’t satisfactory as he either couldn’t get his wheelchair into them, or they didn’t have accessible toilets. North Tyneside Council says it is not aware of having offered a placement that was unsuitable for wheelchair access. A spokesperson for the authority says it has “worked hard to secure opportunities that are suitable for Elliot’s needs”.But Elliot wasn’t able to get his longed-for apprenticeship. He was very disappointed.

Elliot is not alone in his struggle to find employment. Disabled people are almost twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people.

Recent ONS employment statistics for disabled people find the disability employment gap - the difference in the employment rate of disabled people and people who are not disabled - is at a similar level as it was before Covid.Roz Savage, the Liberal Democrat MP for South Cotswolds, said assisted dying should be "patient-led, not doctor-led".

"To my mind, it would be very wrong for a doctor, or indeed anybody, to suggest to a person that they should seek assisted dying," she said."I support the bill because it gives people choice, and this most important choice of their lives should not be in response to undue influence."

Under the bill, the right to an assisted death will be granted to adults with less than six months to live, provided their request is approved by two doctors and a High Court judge.MPs supported the proposed law change on Friday in the first Commons vote on the issue in nearly a decade, following an emotional debate in the chamber.