Results of a new poll published in The Times today suggest the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill may no longer have the backing of enough MPs to pass Third Reading.
With Third Reading of Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which intends to make assisted suicide legal in England and Wales, expected to take place in June, the pollster Whitestone Insight asked 103 MPs how they intend to vote. 42% of the MPs said they would vote against the Bill, compared with just 36% who said they would vote in favour.
A further 13% were undecided, 5% planned to abstain, and 8% preferred not to say.
Asked if they agreed that “replacing a High Court judge’s oversight of the assisted dying bill with a panel gives me more confidence in it”, 41% disagreed and only 30% agreed.
This polling suggests there has been a dramatic change in support for the Bill, which passed Second Reading by 330 to 275 votes last November.
The poll was commissioned by Care Not Killing. Chief executive of Care Not Killing, Gordon Macdonald, said “The more MPs hear about assisted suicide and what it entails, the less likely they are to support changing the law”.
“Clearly MPs recognise that removing the requirement for every application to be overseen by the High Court – part of a formal judicial process with the duty to consider all views and the power to summon witnesses – makes the bill much less safe, while the rejection of amendments aimed at protecting the most vulnerable people in our society is making many people think again”.
“This bill was sold to parliament and to members of the public as being the safest in the world, yet the truth is this bill, if it became law, would put the lives of vulnerable people at risk, exactly as we see in every jurisdiction that has legalised assisted suicide or euthanasia”.
MPs appear to be turning against the Bill
The poll indicating the assisted suicide Bill is losing support among MPs comes after reports that the “cheerful optimism” on display earlier in the campaign had turned into a “charged nervousness”.
Political correspondent for Sky News, Ali Fortescue, suggested that MPs who voted for the Bill at Second Reading may be prepared to vote against at Third Reading, and join Reform’s Lee Anderson and former colleague Rupert Lowe, who publicly announced in February they would be changing their vote.
Responding to Leadbeater’s comment that she hopes MPs who voted against the Bill at Second Reading would change their mind, Fortescue said “The sense I get is the mood may be in the other direction”, citing the removal of the Bill’s flagship safeguard, High Court oversight, as the “main issue” for MPs who are considering whether to change their vote. The Independent reported that, during the Second Reading debate, 60 MPs identified the High Court judge safeguard as an important reason for their support, with a further 20 pointing to the necessity of “judicial oversight”.
Comments from several MPs confirm Fortescue’s remarks about the removal of the High Court safeguard being a key area of concern as Leadbeater attempted to position the replacement as “Judge Plus” and was resoundingly criticised for using what many saw as a deeply misleading term.
Naz Shah, Labour MP for Bradford West, condemned the removal of the Bill’s flagship safeguard for having “weakened the Bill”, and described its replacement as “a story for the birds”, saying “It’s fundamentally changed everything, generally is like the court, there’s no judicial oversight. The idea that it’s judge-led now is just, it’s a story for the birds, really, because it’s not judge-led”.
“You’ve got a judge who’s going to be a commissioner, and there’s no oversight on that commissioner now, because you’ve taken the commissioner, you’ve taken out the oversight from the actual chief medical officers. It has actually weakened the bill”.
Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael, a former minister who voted for the Bill, commented that he was no longer sure about voting in favour at Third Reading, and he would need to “give it some thought”. Another former minister, Sir David Davis, also said he would study the revised proposals before coming to a decision.
Labour MP Paul Foster, another who voted for the Bill, registered his own concerns about the removal of the safeguard, referring to it as a “game changer”, which meant he was now reconsidering his support for the Bill.
“The Bill as it stands is a mess”
Labour MP James Frith branded the Bill a “mess” saying “It is alarming that supporters of assisted dying are now presenting the flawed committee stage as an example of successful scrutiny”.
He added “The Bill as it stands is a mess, with significant issues of concern where there had been promises of scrutiny and improvement”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It’s encouraging that MPs appear to be realising that this Bill is a disaster. It represents an acute threat to the vulnerable and has only become worse since MPs voted for it at Second Reading. Hopefully, more will change their minds and oppose it at Third Reading”.
