UK’s new Labour Government offers an opportunity to revisit assisted dying.
In the last vote on assisted dying (in 2015), MPs voted overwhelmingly against it. Among Conservatives 210 were against and only 27 were in favour while among Labour 91 were against and 72 voted in favour. Now, with the Labour majority comprising 412 Labour MPs, the political makeup has changed completely. Moreover, there are now 71 Liberal Democrat MPs, a party that broadly supports assisted dying for the terminally ill and there are four new Green MPs, a party which has a with policy of supporting assisted dying.
Societally there have also been significant changes. Medical opinion has shifted with the British Medical Association (largest doctors’ union in the UK), the Royal Colleges of Nursing, Surgeons, Physicians, Psychiatrists and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society all having a neutral position on assisted dying.
The year-long inquiry into assisted dying by parliament which published its final report in February 2024, said end-of-life care can be improved by introducing assisted dying, ‘In the evidence we received, we did not see any indications of palliative and end-of-life care deteriorating in quality or provision following the introduction [of assisted dying]; indeed the introduction of [assisted dying] has been linked with an improvement in palliative care in several jurisdictions.’
As Director of Public Prosecutions, Britain’s new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has handled a number of complex cases in which he has shown an understanding of public support for assisted dying. In the case of paralyzed rugby player Daniel James who travelled to Switzerland to end his life accompanied by his parents, Starmer decided not to prosecute the parents as it would be against the public interest. Following the case of Debbie Purdy, who, suffering from multiple sclerosis, sought clarity on whether her husband would be prosecuted if he helped her to die, the DPP decided that individuals are unlikely to be prosecuted for helping someone.
According to Trevor Moore, Chair of My Death, My Decision, “This new parliament represents the biggest opportunity for an assisted dying law change that England and Wales has ever seen. Public and medical opinion have changed massively since the last vote in 2015. The time has therefore come for politicians to reflect that and change the law. We will work with this new parliament to make the case for change. We need the public’s support to make this happen. Adults who are intolerably suffering from a condition without a cure deserve the right to make a choice about their lives and their deaths. It’s in politicians’ hands to achieve that.”
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United Kingdom