Kim Leadbeater has been accused of misleading MPs over the level of public support for her assisted suicide legislation.
In an email to MPs sent on Sunday evening, seen by MailOnline, the sponsor of the assisted suicide Bill, Kim Leadbeater, claimed that ‘new data’ from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) show that support for assisted suicide “remains high and stable”. She wrote “Another development worth highlighting is the publication of new data from the National Centre for Social Research showing that public support for assisted dying remains high and stable following second reading in November at around 79 per cent”.
Leadbeater also made reference to the recent position change of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), which moved from opposing assisted suicide to adopting a neutral position of neither supporting nor opposing assisted suicide being legal. The decision was made by the RCGP Council despite a drop in support for assisted suicide among its members.
However, opponents of her Bill are insisting that “the record is set straight” after it was revealed that the NatCen survey was conducted between 16 September and 27 October 2024, over a month before MPs voted at Second Reading on 29 November.
“It is important that the record is set straight for MPs as a matter of urgency”
Danny Kruger MP, one of the Bill’s principal opponents, called upon Leadbeater to correct her statement “as a matter of urgency”, saying “It is regrettable that National Centre for Social Research data is being cited in correspondence with MPs to suggest ongoing public support for assisted suicide since second reading of the Bill”.
He added “It is important that the record is set straight for MPs as a matter of urgency”.
Kruger called into question Leadbeater’s claim that “support for assisted dying remains high and stable”. The survey showed a drop among the public who believe this practice should “definitely be allowed” from 56% in 1995 to 47% last year, the lowest it has been for three decades. Kruger said “In reality, the fieldwork ended before the Bill was even published and the survey itself found that, for the first time, fewer than 50 per cent of the public think assisted dying definitely should be allowed”.
The MP also highlighted problems with the first question posed in the survey, which asked “A person with an incurable and painful illness, from which they are likely to die in the next few weeks or months – for example, someone dying of cancer. Do you think that, if they ask for it, a doctor should ever be allowed by law to end their life, or not?”
Kruger argued that this question “related to assisted dying for people at the end of their lives with a ‘painful illness’, which is very different from the Bill before Parliament where an amendment requiring eligibility to be restricted to people in physical pain was not supported by the Bill sponsor or committee”.
An amendment (235) designed to add pain as a necessary condition for assisted suicide was not supported by Leadbeater or the Committee.
Leadbeater criticised for having “moved the goalposts”
Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell also strongly criticised Leadbeater for using “old polling”, calling her actions “unacceptable” and urging her to correct the record. Rosindell said “It’s imperative that Kim Leadbeater immediately corrects the record regarding her highly misleading email to MPs over the weekend”.
“The polling Leadbeater refers to in her email is old polling carried out before her Bill was even published, never mind voted on”.
“Referring to this polling data as ‘new’ and implying the fieldwork took place since the second reading vote is unacceptable”.
“I’m afraid this is not the first time the Bill sponsor has moved the goalposts or had to correct the record during the passage of her Bill through Parliament”.
Rosindell’s comment about this not being the first time Leadbeater had “to correct the record” was a possible reference to her assisted suicide Bill Second Reading speech, after which she had to apologise to MPs for misleading them by incorrectly claiming widespread judicial backing for her Bill.
Rosindell is also not the first to criticise Leadbeater and her Committee for having “moved the goalposts”. Earlier this month, speaking at the BMA Consultants Conference, Palliative Medicine consultant Dr Dominic Whitehouse was highly critical of the Committee, led by Kim Leadbeater, scrutinising the Bill because it “keeps moving the goalposts, refusing to hear verbal testimony from those with a legitimate interest, giving insufficient time to read the written evidence, ignoring the opinions of experts and making huge changes to the Bill as they go along”.
Leadbeater fails to mention declining support for assisted suicide among RCGP members
In the letter to MPs, Leadbeater mentioned the Royal College of General Practitioners Council decision to move the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) from opposing assisted suicide to a neutral position of neither supporting nor opposing assisted suicide being legal.
This was mentioned in the letter prior to the polling, appearing to have been included to show that there has been a movement of the Royal College’s position away from opposing assisted suicide.
Again Leadbeater risked misleading MPs after failing to mention that the RCGP Council decision followed a member-wide survey of the Royal College of General Practitioners, which revealed a large decrease in the percentage of members who said that the RCGP should support assisted suicide being legal, subject to an appropriate regulatory framework and safeguarding processes, from 40% in 2019 to 33.7% in 2025.
The survey also showed an increase in the number of members who said the RCGP should oppose assisted suicide being legal, from 47% in 2019 to 47.6% in 2025, with significantly more RCGP members surveyed who favoured the College remaining opposed to assisted suicide being legal rather than supporting assisted suicide being legal with strong caveats, subject to an appropriate regulatory framework and safeguarding processes. 47.6% favoured remaining opposed, 33.7% favoured support with caveats.
When those who are undecided are removed, and only those who took a position are included, a majority (50.2%) of RCGP members surveyed favoured the RCGP opposing assisted suicide being legal. The proportion of members favouring ongoing opposition (47.6%) exceeded those who favoured support and neutrality combined (47.3%).
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Critics of the assisted suicide Bill are correct to call out Kim Leadbeater for providing MPs with misleading and inaccurate information regarding the level of public support for her Bill”.
“Because the social attitudes survey was asking about support for a more restrictive assisted suicide law than the one before Parliament, it is likely that support outlined in the survey is higher than it would be for the less restrictive Leadbeater Bill”.
“MPs who received Kim Leadbeater’s email should be aware of its inaccurate content, as well as the dangers contained in the Bill, and vote it down at Third Reading”.
