Starmer to study assisted dying Bill and vows no pressure on MPs over vote
Opposition campaigners have raised fears of coercion and a slippery slope to wider legislation taking in more people.
The Prime Minister has pledged to study the details of a new assisted dying Bill as he insisted no MPs will face pressure ahead of the first Commons debate on the issue in almost a decade.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has described her proposed legislation as the “most robust” in the world, as she stated she expects hundreds of dying people might initially opt to use a service which could see patients press a button to end their lives.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will be debated and likely voted on on November 29, the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015.
But Ms Leadbeater has rejected those arguments, saying her Bill has “three layers of scrutiny” in the form of a sign-off by two doctors and a High Court judge, and would make coercion an offence with a possible punishment of 14 years in jail.
Sir Keir Starmer has described the issue as “a very important question on which views differ, strongly-held views on either side”.
“I personally will study the details of the Bill which has now been published today because safeguards have always been extremely important to me and were an essential part of the guidelines that I drew up when I was chief prosecutor.”
Sir Keir previously supported assisted dying but the Government has pledged to remain neutral on the issue and all MPs will be able to vote according to their conscience, rather than along party lines.
Only terminally ill adults with less than six months to live who have a settled wish to end their lives would be eligible under the new law.
Ms Leadbeater said the 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.
Asked at a press briefing on Tuesday, she suggested hundreds rather than thousands might apply to use such a service, with patients possibly pressing a button to self-administer the drugs to end their lives.
The Bill has safeguards “all over it” and is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Parliament” to change what is currently a “pitiful situation” with the current law, according to former director of public prosecutions Sir Max Hill.
Sir Max said he believes there is “an unanswerable argument that the law at the moment provides no safeguards, no rails, no guidance and leaves the vulnerable in a pitiful situation”.
Critics say the Bill is being “rushed with indecent haste”, but Ms Leadbeater said almost three weeks is “plenty of time to look at the Bill” and is normal within parliamentary timeframes, noting that the general conversation around assisted dying has been ongoing for years.
She acknowledged this would be “heart-breaking” for people and families for whom change could come too late.
In an interview with the PA news agency, Ms Leadbeater said: “Throughout the process there are layers and layers of safeguards and protections which I believe will probably make it the most robust piece of legislation in the world.”
It is thought the shortest timeframe for the process from first making a declaration to ending a life would be around a month.
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”, and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has previously stated she will oppose it, due to her “unshakeable belief in the sanctity and value of human life”.
High-profile supporters of a change in the law include Dame Esther Rantzen, who is terminally ill and revealed in December that she had joined Dignitas due to the current law.
The broadcaster has hailed the “wonderful” Bill, but acknowledged it would likely come into effect too late for her, and recognised its narrow criteria will not help people enduring unbearable pain and distress through chronic illness.
Rejecting the “slippery slope” argument around any widening of the legislation, she said: “I feel very confident that once this law is passed, that is where it will be and that is where it will stay.”
Right To Life UK branded the proposed legislation “a disaster in waiting”, and described the proposed measures as a “monumental change to our laws”.
Campaign group Our Duty Of Care, representing doctors and nurses, has sent a letter to the Prime Minister arguing it is “impossible for any government to draft assisted suicide laws which include protection from coercion and future expansion”.
