1 week Ago By Steph Spyro - Senior Political Correspondent
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he does not want to heap any pressure on MPs when they vote on the issue later this month. When asked whether he was going to vote in favour of assisted dying , Sir Keir said: “Look, it's going to be a free vote and I mean that. It will be for every MP to decide for themselves how they want to vote.
“I'm not going to be putting any pressure whatsoever on Labour MPs. They will make their own mind up, as I will be. "Obviously a lot will depend on the detail and we need to get the balance right but I've always argued there will need to be proper safeguards in place.
" It is understood Sir Keir will decide when he reads the full Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill which will be published today and is likely to run to more than 40 pages. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has already said he intends to vote against the Bill, voicing his fears about coercion and people feeling a “duty to die”, while the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has warned of legalisation leading to a “slippery slope” in terms of who is eligible. The Daily Express Give Us Our Last Rights crusade has for more than two years amplified the voices of terminally ill people and others affected by the blanket ban on assisted dying.
Terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of six months or less who have a settled wish to die which has been approved by two doctors and the High Court would be able to do so under a new law claimed to be the “strictest” in the world. Proposed legislation for England and Wales would offer the “safest choice” for mentally competent adults at the end of their lives and is capable of protecting against coercion, the MP behind the Bill said. Before its full publication, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater said her private member’s bill would make it illegal for someone to persuade a person through dishonesty, coercion or pressure to declare they wanted to end their life or to induce someone to self-administer drugs to die.
Anyone found guilty of doing so would face a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. Ms Leadbeater said she has “consulted widely” on the Bill, speaking with medical and legal experts, those in the palliative care and hospice sectors, disability rights activists, faith leaders and “many, many people with their own personal experience of why the current law is not fit for purpose”. She said she had a responsibility to put before MPs “the best possible legislation and I believe I have done that”.
She added: “It has been nearly a decade since the Commons last voted on the issue and it could easily be as long before they get another opportunity, so I was determined to get this right.” She said MPs have “almost three weeks to look closely at this Bill before the debate” and she is “ready and willing to answer any questions they may have, because I don’t underestimate the seriousness of the issue”. She added: “For my part, I have looked closely at the evidence from other jurisdictions and I believe this Bill not only offers protections to people nearing the end of their lives that they don’t have at present, but also provides for the strictest safeguards anywhere in the world.
“I believe it is our duty as parliamentarians to give these proposals careful scrutiny and I hope MPs will agree with me that we can offer the safest choice to those who want it at the end of their lives, while at the same time working to make our already excellent palliative care provision even better and protecting the rights of people with disabilities, mental illness and other challenges to have all the support and care they need throughout their lives.”.
