Bracknell's MP says he will support Assisted Dying Bill

There is no more sensitive or intimate topic than death. The End of Life Bill currently before Parliament has rightly generated a lot of scrutiny, as it proposes to fundamentally change the way some of us approach our deaths, and the deaths of those we love. Deciding whether to back it or not is a profound ethical choice, one no parliamentarian is taking lightly, and that’s why when MPs vote on the Bill on Friday, it will be a free vote. Each Member of Parliament has been spending this weekend weighing up the conversations they have had with constituents and experts, remembering their own personal experiences of navigating their loved ones’ deaths, and grappling with their own conscience.

Last week, I hosted a public meeting to hear from constituents about their own views on the proposed law. About 60 of you came along – and many hundreds more have emailed me in the days before and since that meeting. I want to thank everyone who has shared their perspective, particularly when this has been driven by deeply personal experiences of a loved one’s passing. Whether you have lost a beloved husband, sister, brother, grandparent or (as in my own case) a mother, many of you have told me you know what it means to see suffering at the end of life, and feel profoundly that, when your own time comes, you would like the right to choose to die differently.

At the meeting, I also heard from a number of people who worried that the proposed Bill does not have the right safeguards in place to protect the vulnerable. And there were concerns for the medical professionals who might choose to facilitate an early death, or choose not to. I also heard from a number of people whose profound faith motivates their perspective on this (actually, on both sides of the debate).

I made it clear at the meeting that I would not be using that discussion as the only means to reach a firm position. I have also spoken to medical experts, read widely on the topic, and of course looked to my own conscience. But I did find the meeting helpful, and hope that those who attended likewise found it a useful exercise.

Ultimately, I have decided I will support the End of Life Bill on Friday.

The vote this week is for the second reading of the Bill. That means that, if a majority of MPs decide to back it, it then goes forward to the ‘committee’ stage, where line-by-line scrutiny of the Bill takes place, before returning for a second vote – confusingly called third reading – in the Commons. The process then moves over to the House of Lords, where the same pattern happens – a first vote called second reading, a committee stage where line-by-line scrutiny takes place, and a final, third vote. Any amendments made in the Lords would then need to be accepted or rejected by the Commons. The End of Life Bill will not become law unless and until it has cleared every one of these stages, and the final Bill may look quite different from the version proposed at the moment.

But as far as the current Bill goes, I believe it offers the right safeguards, while also ensuring the fundamental right to choose. I have always been clear that I would not vote for a Bill that did not protect those who are disabled but not terminally ill, as well as those without the mental capacity to consent. This Bill does both, ensuring that only those with six months to live and the ability to express a “clear, settled and informed wish to end their own life” can access End of Life.

Under this Bill, anyone wishing to pursue End of Life would have to make two separate declarations, supported by two independent doctors and signed off by a High Court judge. The actual medication used to bring about death would need to be self-administered (albeit potentially with assistance). The Bill also introduces tough new offences against undue influence.

The Bill also makes it clear that no medical professional can be compelled by their employer to be involved in the process, and that it would remain a matter of choice. This is one area of the Bill that I would like to see strengthened, to further protect the rights of healthcare workers to look to their own conscience on this issue.

Some have raised with me concerns that a future Government could make changes to this law to water down the protections it introduces. That is of course possible. But any such changes would also be subject to the same parliamentary scrutiny – and it is my firm belief that any future Parliament would consider changes with the same sense of solemn responsibility that this Parliament feels towards this Bill.

Ultimately, in coming to this decision, I have weighed up the need for robust safeguards against my principled belief that everyone should have the right to choose. I am satisfied that the End of Life Bill before us has the safeguards – and therefore, I believe, it is right to give those at the end of their life the choice about how they wish to die.