Temperatures rise in UK's assisted dying debate amid claims of ‘chaotic' process
UK's
landmark Bill to legalise
assisted dying
– known by its detractors as assisted suicide – gathered in different verdant corners of sunny Westminster on Friday as MPs debated inside the House of Commons.
Those supporting a change in the law to allow terminally ill patients in England and Wales to seek medical help ending their own lives gathered beneath an array of bright pink banners on the lawns of Parliament Square. 'My dying wish is dignity,' they said.
Around the corner, at the statue of King George V off Abingdon Street, opponents of the proposal struck a darker tone, holding mocked up headstones engraved with a warning about the apparent watering down of oversight of future assisted deaths: 'RIP – 'strictest safeguards in the world.''
Pink to support the right to die, and headstones for the sanctity of life. Therein was captured the incongruity of Britain's national conversation about the right, or otherwise, to an assisted death. Increasingly fraught and tetchy, the mood of the national debate was reflected inside the Commons chamber, as MPs grew frustrated as they ran out of time to speak.
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It was originally thought MPs might get their final say on Friday on Labour MP Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which passed its crucial second reading in the Commons last November by 330 votes to 275.
But there have been so many amendments proposed since, the speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, has kicked the crucial vote out until at least June 13th, and possibly later. Even then, many MPs on Friday complained the Bill was being rushed through parliament without proper scrutiny.
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One Labour MP, Naz Shah, described the process as 'chaos . . . a disservice to parliament and our constituents. We shouldn't be playing games with people's lives like this.' She complained of only being told by Leadbeater that her amendment might be accepted when she arrived in the Commons that morning, leaving her no time to study the wording.
Prime minister
Keir Starmer's
government is ostensibly neutral on the Bill, although everybody knows that he favours it. He has granted a free vote, meaning MPs are not party whipped and can vote with their conscience.
As the government did not bring the Bill forward, it has been proposed as a private members' Bill by Labour backbencher, Leadbeater. This means, however, that it can only be scrutinised during the time set aside each week for private Bills, Friday mornings and afternoons until 2.30pm.
Opponents say such a landmark proposal should have been proposed by the government, allowing it to be scrutinised at greater length during government time in the parliamentary week. Supporters, meanwhile, believe they still have the numbers to push it through the House.
They must wait until next month to find out.
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