Nicholas Beale

#unethicalOptimizationPrinciple paper now out in @royalsociety Open Science. Thanks to brilliant co-authors Heather Battey, Anthony Davison & Robert Mackay. @DameWendyDBE gave us quote for press: "This is a really important paper. It shows that… (1/n) royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…

There’s been a pattern lately of journalists asking HoL opponents of the #AssistedDyingBill if they are trying to amend or wreck it. Are they so opposed in principle that no version would be acceptable? It’s a reasonable question for many of us. Here is my answer. Short 🧵

@GordonBrown Only if it’s levelling up, not levelling down!

We must end the UK-wide post code lottery which means high level care in hospices and in the community in some areas but not others. 2/4

Following the vote of the Scottish Parliament against assisted dying, we now have a moral obligation to move quickly to make the urgently needed improvements in end of life care. 1/4

@sarah_wootton Our humanity is in not agreeing to bump off thousands of vulnerable people to please some celebs & a shady lobby group. Every Disability Rights Group & relevant Royal College opposed this dreadful bill.

'Where is our humanity?' independent.co.uk/news/health/as…

V interesting from @jburnmurdoch & @sarahoconnor_ The ‘great sucking sound’ of AI brain drain ft.com/content/11f193… via @ft

@gilliantett Fascinating and insightful as always. But I don’t understand why a 7x rise in insurance premiums can’t just be reflected in shipping costs, with oil & gas at current prices. ft.com/content/f20fee… via @ft

It’s great that she should be paid properly. But a 50% increase in the shares that have dropped 75% under her predecessor is a depressingly unambitious target. thetimes.com/business/compa…

@SoumayaKeynes Best way to use AI to code is to use another AI to do a Code Reveiw.

nb I used Codex to help me write my Stata code this week 1. It is MAGIC 2. It is SCARY, replicating the overconfidence of ChatGPT - it forced the code to work through errors, dropped or “corrected” observations in a v cavalier way that took ages to check and fix 3. Also MAGIC

found something rather baffling when researching my column this week… I wanted to see if there was any evidence that AI tools were helping economists to make their research more readable. So I analysed the text of NBER working paper abstracts…

@cjsnowdon Well if we hold a Public Enquiry we could spend another £100m finding out🙁

It’s easy to laugh this off with British gallows humour, but learning the lessons of how we spent £179 million to build nothing is crucial if we are to avoid existential decline.

Quite. The parallel with Capital Punishment is relevant. The idea that people who commit the most heinous crimes deserve death is popular, but no bill could contain sufficient safeguards. thetimes.com/comment/the-ti…

@JohnSlinger Nonsense

1/ A small minority of unelected peers are filibustering the Assisted Dying Bill to death with over a thousand amendments. The elected Commons passed it. The public backs it. I will keep fighting until the will of the people is honoured.

Vainglorious nonsense from the Malicious Circus. But one telling quote: "when GE campaign begins, whichever party of the right is polling higher will swallow the other.’ So if C is ahead of Ref in 2029, Ref think they're finished. Good! spectator.com/article/well-w…

@ChiOnwurah @TravelodgeUK Outrageous. What was her excuse?

MPs (including me) made the time to meet the CEO of @TravelodgeUK yesterday to discuss the safety of women. She chose not to turn up

@kitmalthouse Emotive manipulative nonsense. Bumping off the vulnerable for the comfort of a tiny minority is evil. And this Bill is utterly flawed: opposed by every Disability Rights Group & all the relevant Royal Colleges.

From his death bed, a cry for choice and control…

@KDNeverPositive @staggeredfawn @RexKwonDo_ It’s democracy. People with different beliefs come together to make laws which bind society as a whole. Laws can only be made on the basis of beliefs, & religious beliefs are much more clearly articulated & scrutinised than non-religious beliefs which are generally arbitrary.

@staggeredfawn @RexKwonDo_ @Starcourse why should religious beliefs have any leverage in having laws put in place why should people who are not religious have laws forced on them on the basis of things they don’t even believe in

A reminder that religion has no place in politics.

@RexKwonDo_ It’s very sad to read on your loss. Evidently your father wasn’t getting proper palliative care. That’s the solution - not bumping people off.

Those MSPs speaking against an assisted dying bill obviously haven't had to watch a loved one with a terminal ilness die in pain. My father almost begged the hospital staff to "let him go peacefully". If it had been legal to allow it he'd have had much less suffering.

@RealismHelps @KenBromfield1 The opinions of mis-informed punters aren’t very relevant. The poll asks about the principle of “Assisted dying” which most people think means palliative care.

@Starcourse @KenBromfield1 some 75% of people are in favour. Don't YOU care?

I'm watching Panorama re Assisted Dying. I'm 84, leading a very active life. How dare anyone demand that I must tolerate life should life, for me, become inttolerable.

@robmcd85 How many vulnerable & disabled people being bumped off are you prepared to accept so that this painful experience can be avoided?

Anyone who’s watched a loved one refuse food and water to hasten death knows how unbearably painful that is. You don’t have to choose an assisted death for yourself, but everyone (who meets the criteria) within the #AssistedDyingBill should have the choice to do so.

@MikeyTheBuddie If they have proper palliative care there is no reason they should die an agonising death. This is pure propaganda

Everyone who backs this no vote, and at some point in the future finds themselves - or someone they love - incapacitated, in pain, knowing they are going to die a slow, agonising death, should reflect on their decision when they decide they actually want the choice.

@gilliantett But it can’t be true.

Striking…