Former PM, whose daughter died when she was 11 days old, says debate is moving too fast and calls for commission on palliative care

• Gordon Brown: We need better end-of-life care, not assisted dying

The former prime minister Gordon Brown has declared his opposition to the legalisation of assisted dying, saying the death of his newborn daughter in January 2002 convinced him of the “value and imperative of good end-of-life care”.

In a rare and poignant glimpse into the tragedy, he says the time he and his wife, Sarah, spent at their baby Jennifer’s bedside “as her life ebbed away” were “among the most precious days of [our] lives”.