Current assisted dying law ‘cruel’, says minister as Bill due before Parliament

Dame Esther Rantzen is among those who have welcomed news of the Bill but other campaigners have voiced opposition.

Campaigners for change have welcomed news of a Bill on assisted dying (Alamy/PA)

A Cabinet minister has branded the current law on assisted dying “cruel”, as campaigners for change welcomed news a Bill to give choice at the end of life will come before Parliament for the first time in almost a decade.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s Bill is expected to be formally introduced on October 16, with a debate and initial vote on the matter possible within weeks.

It will be the first time the issue has been debated in the House of Commons since 2015, when an assisted dying Bill was defeated.

Broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen, who is terminally ill and has been outspoken in her calls for change, said she was not expecting to have a chance to witness such a debate and that news of the Bill filled her with hope.

The Childline founder, who revealed in December that she has joined the Swiss Dignitas clinic, said she had spoken with Ms Leadbeater after the MP announced she would introduce a private member’s bill (PMB) on assisted dying after topping the ballot, which gives her priority on a Friday sitting.

Dame Esther told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The fact that I may actually still be here to witness a debate in Parliament on this crucial life and death issue is not what I expected at all.

“It fills me with hope but it also fills me with fear.”

Ms Leadbeater said she hoped for “honest, compassionate and respectful debate” on her Bill, which would establish in law the right for terminally ill eligible adults to have choice at the end of life to shorten their deaths and ensure stronger protections for them and their loved ones in the aftermath.

It (the Bill) will not undermine calls for improvements to palliative care. Nor will it conflict with the rights of people with disabilities to be treated equally

Kim Leadbeater, Labour MP

MPs debating and eventually voting on a Bill have a “heavy responsibility”, she acknowledged, but added that doing nothing would “leave too many people as they come to the end of their life continuing to suffer in often unbearable pain and fear of what is to come, denied the choice they deserve”.

Ms Leadbeater has pledged to consult widely about the details of her Bill, and sought to assure the public that it will not – as some campaigners have argued – pressure people to have an assisted death against their will.

Ms Leadbeater added: “It will not undermine calls for improvements to palliative care.

“Nor will it conflict with the rights of people with disabilities to be treated equally and have the respect and support they are absolutely right to campaign for in order to live fulfilling lives.

“I support these causes just as passionately.”

The matter is expected to be put to a free vote, with MPs deciding according to their conscience, and Cabinet collective responsibility will be waived to allow ministers to vote as they wish on the matter.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said he intends to back the Bill, as he has done in the past.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “For my part, I know there are people who are in the late stages of terminal illnesses, and I think the current situation is rather cruel actually.

“I think people having control over their own life and their own death is something that is the right thing to do.

“Obviously there have to be proper safeguards and I understand the concerns of some people on these issues, but my personal view will be to vote in favour of this Bill.”

Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing which is opposed to a change in the law, said the Bill’s introduction was “clearly disappointing news”.

He said: “I would strongly urge the Government to focus on fixing our broken palliative care system that sees up to one in four Brits who would benefit from this type of care being unable to access it, rather than discussing again this dangerous and ideological policy.”

Assisting someone to end their life is against the law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and while it is not a specific criminal offence in Scotland, assisting the death of someone can leave a person open to being charged with murder or other offences.

A Bill is currently being considered at Holyrood that, if passed, would give terminally ill adults in Scotland the right to request help to end their life.

Ms Leadbeater’s Bill would cover England and Wales only.

Former Labour justice secretary Lord Falconer of Thoroton has introduced the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill in the House of Lords, which is expected to be debated in mid-November.

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case wrote to ministers to state that the Government will “remain neutral on the passage of the Bill and on the matter of assisted dying”.

He said ministers “need not resile from previously stated views when directly asked” but “should exercise discretion and should not take part in the public debate”.