MP who introduced assisted dying bill ‘confident’ it will be voted through
The politician who introduced the assisted dying bill has said she is “confident” MPs will push it through to the next stage on Friday.
Speaking at a news conference ahead of a Commons vote, Kim Leadbeater said: “I do feel confident we can get through tomorrow successfully.”
If new amendments are voted through on Friday, the bill to give some terminally ill adults the right to end their lives will get closer to becoming law as it will go through to the next stage in the House of Lords.
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Ms Leadbeater, who introduced the bill in October last year, said if MPs do not vote it through on Friday, “it could be another decade before this issue is brought back to parliament”.
But she said there was a “good majority” who voted for the bill at the last major vote, the second reading in November, when MPs voted it through by 330 to 275.
“There might be some small movement in the middle, some people might change their mind or will change their mind the other way,” she said.
“But fundamentally, I do not anticipate that that majority would be heavily eroded.”
A new YouGov poll found 72% of Britons supported the bill as it stands, including 59% of those who say they support assisted dying in principle but oppose it in practice, and 67% were opposed to the principle of euthanasia but are willing to back it in practice.
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How will the Assisted Dying Bill work?
Criticism by doctors
The Labour MP was joined by bereaved and terminally ill people at Thursday’s news conference as she made her case for a change in the law.
The proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.
Recently, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of Pathologists and the Royal College of Physicians have raised concerns about the bill.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists said the bill, in its current form, did “not meet the needs of patients”.
It has also expressed concern over the shortage of qualified psychiatrists to take part in assisted dying panels.
Read more:
Assisted dying bill does not meet needs of patients, says Royal College of Psychiatrists
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People in favour of assisted dying demonstrate in Parliament Square. Pic: PA
But Ms Leadbeater said doctors and psychiatrists have their individual views on assisted dying and royal colleges have, over the years, been neutral because of that.
“My door is open, so if they have got concerns, they can come and speak to me about those concerns,” she said.
“But what I would say is they were very keen that there was psychiatric involvement in the process, and that’s why I included it. And I do think that’s important.”
On Friday, MPs will vote on a number of amendments proposed by Ms Leadbeater after months of discussions with the assisted dying committee, made up of MPs both for and against the bill.
At the start of the session they will vote on a person not being eligible for assisted dying if their wish to end their life was substantially motivated by factors such as not wanting to be a burden, a mental disorder, a disability, financial considerations, a lack of access to care, or suicidal ideation.
People opposed to assisted dying demonstrate in Parliament Square. Pic: PA
The Speaker has indicated he will also choose these amendments for MPs to vote on:
• Supported by Ms Leadbeater – Requiring the government to publish an assessment of palliative and end-of-life care within a year of the bill passing
• Supported by Ms Leadbeater – A person cannot be considered terminally ill solely because they voluntarily stopped eating or drinking
• Not supported by Ms Leadbeater – Disapply the presumption a person has capacity unless the opposite is established
• Not supported by Ms Leadbeater – Prevent section 1 of the NHS Act 2006, which sets out the NHS’ purpose, from being amended by regulations.
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Politics
Starmer was aware of the risks of appointing the ‘Prince of Darkness’ as his man in Washington – to an extent
It was a prescient and – as it turned out – incredibly optimistic sign off from Peter Mandelson after eight years as Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University.
“I hope I survive in my next job for at least half that period”, the Financial Times reported him as saying – with a smile.
As something of a serial sackee from government posts, we know Sir Keir Starmer was, to an extent, aware of the risks of appointing the ‘Prince of Darkness’ as his man in Washington.
But in his first interview since he gave the ambassador his marching orders, the prime minister said if he had “known then what I know now” then he would not have given him the job.
For many Labour MPs, this will do little to answer questions about the slips in political judgement that led Downing Street down this disastrous alleyway.
Like the rest of the world, Sir Keir Starmer did know of Lord Mandelson’s friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he sent him to Washington.
The business secretary spelt out the reasoning for that over the weekend saying that the government judged it “worth the risk”.
Keir Starmer welcomes Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte to Downing Street.
Pic: PA
This is somewhat problematic.
As you now have a government which – after being elected on the promise to restore high standards – appears to be admitting that previous indiscretions can be overlooked if the cause is important enough.
Package that up with other scandals that have resulted in departures – Louise Haigh, Tulip Siddiq, Angela Rayner – and you start to get a stink that becomes hard to shift.
But more than that, the events of the last week again demonstrate an apparent lack of ability in government to see round corners and deal with crises before they start knocking lumps out of the Prime Minister.
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‘Had I known then, what I know now, I’d have never appointed him’ Starmer said.
Remember, for many the cardinal sin here was not necessarily the original appointment of Mandelson (while eyebrows were raised at the time, there was nowhere near the scale of outrage we’ve had in the last week with many career diplomats even agreeing the with logic of the choice) but the fact that Sir Keir walked into PMQs and gave the ambassador his full throated backing when it was becoming clear to many around Westminster that he simply wouldn’t be able to stay in post.
The explanation from Downing Street is essentially that a process was playing out, and you shouldn’t sack an ambassador based on a media enquiry alone.
But good process doesn’t always align with good politics.
Something this barrister-turned-politician may now be finding out the hard way.
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