Andy Burnham says he’ll abstain in assisted dying vote weeks after voicing doubts
Andy Burnham said he would abstain when the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is put before MPs next month, having previously said palliative and social care need to be fixed first
Andy Burnham said he will abstain when assisted dying legislation is put before MPs
Andy Burnham has said he will not vote when a controversial assisted dying bill comes back in front of MPs.
The PM said it is “most appropriate” for him to abstain as he does not want to influence the debate. Last year MPs backed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, only for the legislation to fail to pass the House of Lords.
In the past Mr Burnham has said he supported the idea in principle, but in July said it would be “very challenging” to change the law before palliative care and social care were improved.
In a letter to Labour MPs he said he would not be casting a vote on the legislation. He wrote: “I, of course, have my own personal views on the issue. However, I am also clear that this is a matter for Parliament to decide and my role, as the Prime Minister, will be to lead a Government that implements the will of Parliament in this area – whether that is to change the law or not.
“I also do not want to unduly influence the debate as Prime Minister and for every colleague to know it is a genuinely free vote. For these reasons, I have taken the decision that it is most appropriate for me not to vote at second reading.”
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will be put to a vote on September 11. It proposes allowing adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live to apply for an assisted death. They will require the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.
MPs will be given a free vote – meaning they are not expected to decide along party lines. When backbencher Kim Leadbeater put the measure to the Commons in a private members’ bill earlier this year, former PM Keir Starmer voted for it.
In June last year it passed the Commons with a majority of 314 votes to 291.
But other Cabinet members, including then-Health Secretary Wes Streeting, opposed it. Labour MP Lauren Edwards, who has reintroduced the bill, welcomed the PM’s decision for the government to remain neutral on the legislation.
In a press conference at a care home in July, Mr Burnham said: “I take the view that that debate – and I don’t say that there shouldn’t be a debate at some point about those issues – personally, I think there’s something that needs to happen first.
“That is the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care. I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care.
“That’s the way I kind of see this, and that’s the position that I will stick to.” In 2015 Mr Burnham abstained from a vote on a Bill to legalise assisted dying. But in 2024 he told BBC Manchester he would “probably vote in favour of it”.
She said: “I very much welcome the Prime Minister’s confirmation that number 10’s position on the Terminally Ill Adults Bill is unchanged – that this is a matter for MPs in a free vote and that it will be Government policy to implement whatever Parliament decides.
“The House of Commons has already come to a decision on the Bill, having voted for it twice in the last session of parliament. When it comes back to the House on September 11 MPs will have the opportunity to send it back to the Lords for them to complete their examination of it and propose any amendments they may wish to make.
“My view, which I know is shared by very many of my colleagues, including some who voted against the Bill previously, is that it is for the Commons to decide what does and does not become law in this country.
“So while I fully respect the right of unelected peers to bring their experience and expertise to bear in scrutinising the Bill, it is not right that a minority in the Lords should be able to frustrate the will of the elected chamber, least of all on an issue that a substantial majority of voters support.
” Andy Burnham is absolutely right to say that people’s personal experience around terminal illness lie at the heart of the debate and I welcome his view that everyone’s views should be treated with dignity and respect.
“That is certainly the approach I will be taking and I look forward to what will be a very important debate in two weeks’ time.”
