Assisted dying law: MP proposes amendment to the law, assisted dying law has strict safeguards

Most MPs are undecidedReleased at 06:35 Greenwich Mean Time

06:35 GMT

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

MPs know this is one of the biggest decisions they will make in their political careers.

And since this is a free vote, without instructions from party whips as to which way to go, it is a decision call they reach on their own.

There are a number of MPs who are firmly in favor of assisted dying and a group who are implacably opposed.

But campaigners on both sides of the debate agree that the largest group of MPs are undecided not just in public but also in private.

This group weighs the trade-off between the preference for terminally ill patients and the risks of people being forced to end their lives or being forced to end themselves.

One of the biggest concerns I hear over and over again from undecided MPs is audits. The nature of the process for proposing this legislation means that Kim Leadbeater, who has no role in government, has limited debate time before MPs are due to vote for the first time on November 29; A little more scrutiny in the later stages.

Some MPs believe this “private member’s bill” process is the wrong way to legislate on such a complex and concerning issue. This is the claim made by Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, among others.

But there is another cabinet minister whose name has been mentioned repeatedly among undecided MPs; And that is Wes Streeting, the health minister.

Even though he was prohibited from campaigning publicly, he made sure it was known that he was. opposed the offer because he believes the palliative care system is not good enough to offer terminally ill patients a real choice.

Apart from his special position in government, one of the things that gave extra force to Streeting’s arguments was that he voted in favor of legalizing assisted dying when MPs last debated the issue in 2015.

At that time, only 118 out of 650 MPs voted to change the law. The number is almost certain to be much higher this month, but it is not yet clear whether it will reach the majority.