The Labour government’s rushed and “unconstitutional” approach to dangerous assisted suicide legislation has led to some officials regretting that it has been introduced in the first place.
Senior figures in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s team reportedly believe, according to Sky News, that the “miscalculation” over the handling of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill means “there will be few tears shed in influential parts of Downing Street” if legislation “fails its first Commons test and ends its journey there.”
One of the most serious errors was telling ministers not to take part in the public debate. Former Tory justice secretary Robert Buckland described this effective gag order as “unconstitutional,” adding that it could have resulted in MPs voting on legislation without knowing all the facts, and “on false pretences.”
Given this, it is a good job that a handful of government officials have ignored this order—most notably health secretary Wes Streeting, whose department would be most affected by legalisation. He has warned that the dire state of palliative care in the UK means new legislation could see people being “coerced” into ending their lives.
MPs have also heavily criticised the fact that neither a consultation nor an impact assessment will be conducted before the vote next Friday, which will take place after a debate of just five hours, given Starmer’s refusal to allocate more time.
And while parliamentarians have been told officially that they are free to vote how they like on November 29th, The Times has revealed that a “full-on whipping operation” is underway to make assisted suicide legal, “with spreadsheets for each intake of Labour MPs and highly active WhatsApp groups.” As part of this campaign, “hundreds of MPs were sent personalised notes with detailed constituency-level polling highlighting support for the change,” which the campaign to change the law believes to be “one of its strongest cards.” So much for this being a vote of conscience.
In case this was not enough, Sir Alan Campbell—who, as Labour chief whip, is responsible for ensuring Labour MPs follow the party line—said he is voting in favour of legalisation, prompting former Tory MP Mark Jenkinson to note that “all Labour MPs will be under no illusion which way they’re expected to vote if want to get on.”
The parliamentary campaign against assisted suicide has, on the other hand, “been far less organised, with little apparent grip on numbers and many MPs choosing to make interventions at times of their own choosing rather than in a co-ordinated manner,” according to the Times.
And, as Labour justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has made clear, once the law has been changed, it will be incredibly difficult to turn back.
