British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has long signalled his support for introducing assisted suicide to the United Kingdom. While Starmer has previously committed to dedicating parliamentary time to a free vote on a Private Members’ Bill, and personally favours changing the law, extreme pro-assisted suicide lobbyists are now putting pressure on him to bring forward a Government Bill that would introduce assisted suicide to England and Wales.
During his first trip abroad as Prime Minister, Sir Keir reaffirmed his position in favour of assisted suicide, promising a free vote “by way of a private member’s bill”.
What is a Bill?
A Bill is a draft piece of legislation that becomes law if Parliament passes it through all the necessary stages of deliberation, debate and approval.
The majority of Bills that become law are either Government Bills or Private Members’ Bills. Both of these undergo intense parliamentary scrutiny and must pass through the same stages.
The major difference between the two kinds of Bills is who acts as the sponsor of the Bill, which in turn greatly affects the Bill’s chance of becoming law.
Government departments or ministers sponsor Government Bills and they typically relate to one of the governing party’s manifesto commitments.
Private Members’ Bills, on the other hand, are sponsored by backbench MPs from any party who do not have a role in Government.
Throughout a parliamentary session, the Government sets the legislative priorities, which is why Government Bills are more likely to become law.
Why has the Prime Minister promised a free vote on a matter of conscience?
Free votes, as opposed to whipped votes, are votes where MPs are “not put under pressure to vote a certain way by their party leaders”. They tend to be for ethical issues that are seen as matters of conscience, whereby an MP can vote according to his or her conscience without having to follow any party-political allegiance.
Abortion and assisted suicide have long been considered matters of conscience, which is why the Government tends to refrain from introducing legislation on these matters and prefers to allow backbench MPs to bring forward Private Members’ Bills instead.
Recent Private Members’ Bills on assisted suicide
The most recent substantial attempt to legalise assisted suicide was in 2015 when former backbench Labour MP Rob Marris introduced the Assisted Dying (No. 2) Bill as a Private Members’ Bill. This attempt was soundly defeated at the Bill’s second reading by 330 votes to 118. Sir Keir was one of the 118 MPs who voted in favour of assisted suicide at that time.
Since 2015, several other Private Members’ Bills have been introduced with none of them progressing past Second Reading.
Given that Private Members’ Bills on assisted suicide have been so unsuccessful, some assisted suicide activists have argued that a Private Members’ Bill is “the wrong mechanism” to effect this kind of legislative change. Such critics suggest that a Government Bill is the best way to ensure the issue is adequately debated.
A Government Bill on assisted suicide?
While Government Bills are more likely to become law, it is not the case that Private Members’ Bills are “the wrong mechanism” for testing the will of the House on issues such as assisted suicide.
First, for the Government to bring forward a Bill on assisted suicide would break the long-standing convention of an un-whipped, free vote on this contentious matter of conscience.
Secondly, in the case of the current Labour Government, no such commitment was made in its manifesto. This means that, were the Labour Government to introduce a Government Bill, it would be doing so without a democratic mandate.
And thirdly, a Private Members’ Bill, since it arguably requires even more widespread support than a Government Bill to become Law, and would be a free vote, would represent a more strongly settled will of the Parliament. Indeed this was the case in 2015 when Rob Marris’ Private Members’ Bill was defeated by a margin of almost three to one. Private Members’ Bills go through the same legislative process as other Bills and receive months of debate and scrutiny.
What happens next?
Sir Keir has indicated that time will be set aside for a free vote on assisted suicide, but it remains to be seen by what vehicle that vote is brought before Parliament. In the same interview, the Prime Minister said that he won’t back down from his commitment, but for the first year or two, he needs to establish priorities, stating “I haven’t made a commitment on timing and don’t want to…”.
However, a Private Members’ Bill could still be brought forward at any time. In the coming weeks, MPs will be given their first chance during this Parliament at having a Private Members’ Bill become law.
At the beginning of each new session of Parliament, backbench MPs can enter a draw to see who will be given priority in debates for Private Members’ Bills. 20 MPs and 25 peers will be randomly selected to introduce a Bill on any topic, potentially including assisted suicide. The Ballot for the House of Commons is scheduled for 25 July, while the Ballot for the House of Lords will be held on 19 July.
Even if an MP or peer is not selected by Ballot, other opportunities to introduce a Bill, by way of Presentation or via the Ten Minute Rule, are available. Bills introduced in these ways rarely become law.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “While we hope that no legislation on assisted suicide is brought forward by a backbench MP, the PM’s promise to dedicate time for a free vote on the issue is alarming”.
“Likewise, we urge the Government to reject demands to introduce a Government Bill on assisted suicide, as this would violate the long-established convention of respect for issues of conscience, and would also lack democratic mandate since assisted suicide was not a Labour manifesto commitment”.
“Parliament has debated and voted on assisted suicide legislation several times in the past decade, consistently voting against such a change. The matter is settled. The Government should instead have respect for life at all stages and ensure that high-quality palliative care looks after the most vulnerable in society – the elderly and sick”.
