Up to 144 MPs who voted for Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill at the second reading have signaled that they might vote against it at the third reading later this year. The change comes after Ms Leadbeater scrapped the requirement to have a High Court judge approve assisted suicide cases. Many MPs believe that the now-scrapped provision was a “ruse”.
This week, Ms Leadbeater said she intended to scrap the need for a High Court judge to sign off on assisted suicide cases. She had previously advanced it as a vital “safeguarding” measure to protect against coercion.
Ms Leadbeater now proposes that decisions should be made by a Voluntary Assisted Dying Commission of “experts”, including psychiatrists and social workers. SPUC called the amendment a “shameless U-turn”.
According to The Independent, at least 144 MPs who were initially in favour of the Leadbeater Bill, having voted for it, might now vote against it after the High Court judge provision was ditched.
On 29 November, MPs voted 330 to 275 for the draft law, meaning that only 28 MPs would have to vote against it at the third reading to stop it from being passed.
Speaking to The Independent, Reform MP Lee Anderson said: “I support assisted dying, but this bill becomes less credible by the day. It looks like it’s being forced through at any cost, therefore I fail to see how I can support this bill at third reading.”
Similarly, Labour MP Diane Abbott posted the following on X/Twitter:
The Independent also reported that “privately a number of MPs now believe that the provision for sign off by a High Court judge was in fact always a ruse to get this Bill through second reading and the intention was then to dump it at a later stage”.
MPs left with no choice but to reject “unsafe” law
Daniel Frampton, SPUC’s Editorial Officer, said: “MPs are seeing through the Leadbeater Bill, which has exposed itself as being a fundamentally unsafe and ill-judged law that could easily lead to coercion and a societal pressure to ‘choose’ suicide.
“Last week, disability expert Dr Miro Griffiths warned that disabled people like himself would be in jeopardy should this ‘nonsensical’ law be passed, and he had ‘deep concerns around issues of coercion’ and ‘how it will affect the relationship between medical practitioners and disabled people’.
“Assisted suicide radicals have consistently ignored the well-founded fears of such vulnerable groups throughout this process. The decision to ditch the High Court judge provision underscores this blatant disregard.
“We cannot afford to be complacent. Now is the time to lobby MPs to ensure that they make the right decision to protect their constituents from the Leadbeater Bill. Ultimately, the only sensible and responsible choice here is to vote against the Leadbeater Bill.”
