Assisted dying bill splits UK cabinet ahead of vote

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Sir Keir Starmus's cabinet is divided over assisted dying legislation. The bill will face its first vote in parliament on Friday after a series of high-profile figures, including former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, weighed in on the divisive topic.

Starmer, who has previously said he is privately in favor of changing the law on assisted dying but has not publicly expressed his opinion on this particular bill, has pledged to give lawmakers a free vote on the issue. This means they are not swayed by their party into voting a certain way.

So far, seven cabinet members have said they support the bill: Liz Kendall, Lisa Nandy, Hilary Benn, Ed Miliband, Peter Kyle, Louise Haigh and Jo Stevens.

Work and Pensions Secretary Kendall told the BBC on Sunday that she believed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill had the right safeguards in place, adding: The best of them all.

Four cabinet ministers have spoken out against it – Shabana Mahmood, Bridget Phillipson, Jonathan Reynolds and Wes Streeting.

A poll of more than 17,000 people conducted by More in Common over the weekend found that 65% of the public supported assisted dying, 13% opposed it and 22% were undecided.

The poll found that out of 632 constituencies in England, Wales and Scotland, only seven had more people opposing the bill than supporting it.

A larger number of Labor MPs have announced their support for the bill rather than opposing it, according to a list compiled by new site LabourList. There are 61 people who are publicly in favor, 32 who are publicly opposed, and 63 who are undecided.

Last Friday, former Prime Minister Brown opposed the bill and instead advocated entrusting end-of-life care. He said discussions were moving too quickly given the serious ethical and practical issues at stake.

Diane Abbott and Sir Edward Leigh, two of parliament's longest-serving members, shared similar views last week, saying the bill was rushed too quickly and, if passed, would harm vulnerable people who often receive the worst end-of-life care. It was argued that minorities may be disproportionately affected.

But supporters of the bill say it was drafted very carefully and offers some of the strictest safeguards of any law in the world.

Labor MP Kim Leadbeater, who submitted the private member's bill, received drafting support from Elizabeth Gardiner, who was the government's most senior legislative drafter until her resignation in April this year.

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Leadbeaters' bill would only give people the chance to take their own life if they are terminally ill and have less than six months to live, and would exclude people with disabilities and mental illness.

The bill's most legally stringent provision states that applications must be approved by a High Court judge.

It also states that two independent doctors must agree that a person meets all the criteria necessary to end his or her life and that any lethal medications are self-administered.

Assisted dying is illegal in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and anyone who helps someone die can be jailed for up to 14 years.

Frank Vandenbruck, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, where assisted dying has been legalized, said euthanasia had accounted for about 3% of all deaths in the past few years.

He told the BBC on Sunday that this had not happened in Belgium or the Netherlands, refuting claims that stringent legislation like the one proposed in Britain would act as a slippery slope towards further liberalization of assisted dying.

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