While Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill makes its way through the UK parliament, in Scotland a separate assisted dying bill will be voted on next week. Scottish Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur has put forward legislation that would allow those deemed terminally ill north of the border to take their own lives, with MSPs allowed a free vote on the issue on 13 May. The decision to back the bill is a matter of conscience for parliamentarians. But now, less than a week before decision day, both First Minister John Swinney and his predecessor Humza Yousaf have announced that they will vote against it.
First Minister John Swinney and his predecessor Humza Yousaf have announced that they will not back the assisted dying bill
The First Minister – whose wife has multiple sclerosis – told reporters that he ‘agonised’ over his decision, but ultimately felt he had to vote against the euthanasia bill, as he has done in the past when similar legislation was brought to Holyrood.
‘I have thought about the issue in principle: do I think it is appropriate for us to have provision in law for assisted dying? I have come to the conclusion that, in principle, I don’t think we should have that.
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