Keir Starmer is pressing ahead with his promise to give MPs a free vote on assisted dying laws. This evening, the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has said she will use her private member’s bill this month to give terminally ill adults a choice at the end of life to shorten their pain and suffering. The bill will be considered later this month, on 16 October, by MPs. The development comes after Downing Street refused to get drawn into reports last month that a vote could be fast-tracked through the Commons and take place before Christmas.
It follows that there was always likely to be a vote on this issue in the next five years. However, the speed at which Starmer is progressing has taken some MPs – including some senior Labour politicians – by surprise. Where Starmer stands on the issue is well documented. He has spoken in the past about the end-of-life struggles his disabled mother endured. In 2015, Starmer, then a Labour backbencher, backed a bill to legalise terminally ill people ending their own life. It failed to win sufficient support, with 118 votes for to 330 against.
This time around, the political landscape looks rather different. The House of Commons is stacked with Labour MPs and new blood. Given this is a conscience issue, it will be a free vote. Starmer has agreed to set aside collective responsibility, allowing ministers and MPs to vote as they wish rather than along party lines. However, some in the Labour party still expect many MPs will know the way the leadership plans to vote and this could influence their own choice.
Ahead of the election, senior Labour politicians discussed the idea of starting a national conversation on the issue. However, this was eventually decided against. Now, that national moral debate will begin – with strong feelings on both sides over the sanctity of human life and whether legalisation could lead to a slippery slope whereby the ill and elderly feel pressurised to end their lives prematurely. Examples abound, such as in Canada where expansion of the policy has had to be paused due to the complexity.
Starmer also has critics close to home. His Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood previously told me she would vote against any proposal: ‘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… that’s a really dangerous position to be in.’ However, don’t expect Mahmood to repeat those comments any time soon. While it’s a free vote, Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, has written to ministers to say they cannot take part in the public debate, as the government’s position is neutral. The debate will have to take place elsewhere.
Listen to Katy’s interview with Shabana Mahmood:
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