Assisted Dying Divide Persists Among MPs As Debate Gathers Pace

MPs are carefully monitoring the national debate and concerns surrounding assisted dying, as some believe the "direction of travel" is moving towards parliamentarians voting in favour of a change in the law.

MPs will debate assisted dying in Westminster Hall on Monday after an e-petition requesting a debate reached more than 100,000 signatures. Although no legislation is currently being considered in UK Parliament, the debate is another sign that the campaign in favour of assisted dying has been gathering pace in recent months. In March, Labour leader Keir Starmer said that he personally supported it and pledged to make time for MPs to have a free vote on the issue in Parliament if Labour gets into government, while the current government’s position is also that any change in the law should be led by Parliament.

A fresh wave of campaigning was sparked when broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen announced in December that she had joined Dignitas, an assisted dying clinic in Switzerland, after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis. Rantzen has since advocated for legalising assisted dying across the UK.

In February, the Health and Social Care Committee published a report setting out a “broad body of evidence as a significant and useful resource for future debates”. Legislation to introduce assisted dying for terminally ill people is currently being considered in Jersey, the Isle of Man and Scotland. 

A poll last month, conducted by Opinium on behalf of pro-assisted dying organisation Dignity in Dying, showed 75 per cent of people in the UK were in support of making it legal for a person to seek assisted dying in the UK, compared to 14 per cent opposed.

But despite this momentum, many MPs are yet to be convinced. Ahead of Monday’s