Still ‘lots of work to do’ on assisted dying invoice, Kim Leadbeater admits after MPs vote to legalise it – regardless of fears it’s going to create a ‘state suicide service’
Kim Leadbeater has admitted that there is still ‘a lot of work to do’ on the assisted dying bill, hours after MPs voted to legalise it.
The historic vote on Friday saw a 55-strong majority of 330 MPs vote in favour of the proposed legislation which aims to allow adults with less than six months to live to end their lives.
It was the first parliamentary hurdle the Terminally Ill Adults had to pass before being ratified into law in both England and Wales.
The bill proved deeply divisive amongst the House of Commons benches with schisms emerging in both the Labour and Conservative camps.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer voted in favour of the proposed legislation, although his deputy Angela Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting opposed it.
Similarly in the Tory ranks, newly elected leader Kemi Badenoch voted down the bill, with her predecessor Rishi Sunak supporting it.
The bill was passed at the second reading, but a number of vocal dissenters vowed to fight on against the result.
This has lead to questions being raised over whether there was a suitable majority for the actual text of the bill, a notion which Kim Leadbeater, who brought the bill before the House, was quick to dismiss.
The assisted dying bill was brought to the House of Commons floor by Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater
The major political parties were internally divided on the bill, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer seeing eight cabinet members oppose the bill he supported
Similar splits emerged in the Conservative ranks, with leader Kemi Badenoch opposing the legislation whilst her predecessor Rishi Sunak voted in favour of the bill passing
In total, 235 Labour MPs supported the Bill alongside 23 Tories, 61 Liberal Democrats, and three Reform UK MPs
Speaking on BBC Newsnight on Friday, the Spen Valley MP told the programme that whilst there was ‘absolutely still a lot of work to do’, that she was ‘very happy’ with its current state.
Leadbetter did go on to add that she respected the need for the full and proper parliamentary process to be undertaken, stating: ‘But if people feel there are slight changes that we need to make and amendments that they want to put forward, that’s what Parliament does.
‘That’s part of the process in the same way with any other piece of legislation, so let’s get going on that’.
Reacting to the bill’s passing on the floor of the Commons, Tory MP Danny Kruger, who led opposition during Friday’s debate and went as far as calling it a ‘state suicide service’, said that despite being ‘disappointed’ by the outcome, that the vote was ‘simply to continue the discussion’.
When speaking with PA news agency, the East Wiltshire MP stated: ‘I was reassured that so many colleagues recognised that the Bill is very dangerous, there’s lots of problems with it and they have said they want to improve it in committee.
‘I want to help them do that and I hope we can make substantial improvements before it comes back for third reading, and I hope that if it’s not good enough if the safeguards are not strengthened, then colleagues will vote against it before it comes into law’.
Other organisations such as charities have also been reacting to the bill’s passing, with palliative care charity Marie Curie lobbying parliamentarians for an amendment which would impose a duty on ministers to develop a strategy to improve end-of-life care.
The charity’s chief executive Matthew Reed said that the organisation is ‘neutral’ on the subject of assisted dying, ‘but what we are absolutely not neutral on is the need to urgently fix end-of-life care’.
An emotional Kim Leadbeater celebrates with campaigners backing her assisted dying bill outside the House of Commons
An emotional Kim Leadbeater celebrates with campaigners backing her assisted dying bill outside the House of Commons
An emotional Kim Leadbeater celebrates with campaigners backing her assisted dying bill outside the House of Commons
Protestors against the passing of the assisted dying bill gathered outside Parliament buildings on Friday
The bill has been labelled a ‘state suicide service’ by some MPs who oppose the scheme
In a statement following the passing of the legislation, Mr Reed lamented the bill’s lack of reference to improving existing palliative care systems and its lack of focus on funding the crisis.
‘It says nothing about the postcode lottery for access to end-of-life care, nothing about the funding crisis, and nothing about people spending their final moments in A&E because our health system can’t offer them the care and support they need, in or out of hours’, Mr Reed said.
The next stage of the bill sees it head to committee where MPs can put forward amendments, with an additional motion approved on Friday in the aftermath of the vote to allow the committee to have the power to send for people, papers and records.
Further debates and votes will then take place in both the House of Commons and House of Lords, in a lengthy process which would mean any ratification into law of the bill will not be agreed until the beginning of 2025 at the earliest.
A number of MPs who were teetering between camps have also let it be known that they may switch their vote from in favour to against should they not see suitable safeguards included in the drafted legislation.
Ms Leadbeater has stated her belief that it will likely take two years from the bill’s final signing off until an assisted dying service will be properly implemented for terminally ill people.
