Labour’s newly elected government will “fast-track” a vote on assisted suicide—which will almost certainly see the practice legalised—despite serious concerns around the PM’s own cabinet table that this will lead to elderly people being urged to end their lives.
Sir Keir Starmer will “accelerate the process” so a vote can take place before Christmas, according to The Mail on Sunday. That’s far sooner than reports were suggesting just a fortnight ago, coinciding with Starmer’s health secretary, Wes Streeting, warning that the horrific state of end-of-life care in Britain means the health service is not ready for legalisation.
Another senior Labour figure, justice secretary Shabana Mahmood, has described plans to change the law as “really dangerous.” She said shortly after the election:
I know some of the MPs who vocally support this issue think, “For God’s sake, we’re not a nation of granny killers, what’s wrong with you”… I feel that once you cross that line, you’ve crossed it forever. If it just becomes the norm that at a certain age or with certain diseases, you are now a bit of a burden.
Her comments echoed those of Alistair Thompson, from the Care Not Killing campaign group, who earlier this year told The European Coservative that evidence from around the world shows legalising assisted suicide not only puts pressure on people to end their lives prematurely if they feel they are a “burden,” but also appears to normalise suicide in the general population.
So it should come as no surprise that Starmer’s willingness to accelerate legislation on this issue has faced fairly significant backlash—and not just from within his own government.
Clergyman Marcus Walker said that whatever you think of assisted suicide, “the last thing it should be is ‘rushed through.’ This would be a very significant step which needs incredibly robust safeguards or the horrors of Canada and the Low Countries will definitely repeat here.”
Sonia Sodha—who writes for The Guardian’s Sunday sister paper The Observer—added that the rushing of legislation “raises questions about Starmer’s judgement. It’s crazy to believe something so complex should be fast-tracked legislatively using a private member’s bill.”
Even supporters of ‘assisted dying’—as those in favour of the practice prefer to call it—have criticised Starmer’s hurried approach.
And Reform MP Lee Anderson, while not coming down either way on this most significant of issues, accepted that “we need a full and frank debate”—and, importantly, one that is not rushed.
Not that any of this will persuade Starmer to pause for thought. “The wheels,” said one Labour source, are already “turning,” and it has been “made clear” to MPs “that the PM backs a change in the law.”
