Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has backed assisted suicide “in principle” after the Conservative Party Manifesto pledged to “respect the will of Parliament” on the issue.
Speaking on assisted suicide at the recent G7 summit in Italy, Prime Minister Sunak said: “The [Conservative] manifesto has language on this which is very clear: we will support what Parliament does, these matters are always an issue of conscience, of course, if Parliament wants to decide they want to facilitate it”.
However, the Prime Minister added: “I’m not opposed to it, in principle, and it’s a question of making sure the safeguards are in place and are effective. That’s always been the conversation and the debate in the past and that’s where people have had questions in the past.”
The Conservative Manifesto, published last week, stated “that assisted dying is a matter of conscience and [the Party] will respect the will of Parliament”, as reported by SPUC.
The Liberal Democrats have pledged “a free vote” on assisted suicide, while Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Starmer also supports assisted suicide legislation. The Green Party Manifesto has also pledged to support such a law.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “The only ‘effective’ safeguard that protects vulnerable people against assisted suicide is not to legalise it in the first place. Prime Minister Sunak’s support ‘in principle’ shows a lack of understanding of the very real dangers inherent in such legislation.
“So far in this election cycle there has been a worrying lack of pushback against assisted suicide, despite increasing calls to reject it – not least from campaigner Liz Carr, whose recent documentary Better Off Dead? exposed the horrifying reality of state-sanction suicide in Canada.
“It’s more important than ever before that the public and politicians realise that any state system of legalised suicide will inevitably lead to many people dying needlessly and even under pressure from family and circumstances, including lack of care, poverty and the thought that they might be better off dead.”
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