Avote on assisted dying was supposed to be one of the easiest reforms for Keir Starmer’s government. To many, including the Prime Minister himself, a law allowing terminally ill patients to choose to die would be a self-evidently progressive and historically significant change. It would mean Britain could transcend the objections of a religious minority and join Canada, the Netherlands and other countries in a modern, more enlightened era.
In the assisted dying debate, the PM appears a mere onlooker, while Streeting is taking the lead
Starmer didn’t want to have to order his MPs to vote for assisted dying. The strategy instead was to use a private members’ bill, brought by the Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater. This ploy didn’t work because, according to a senior party figure, ‘everyone thinks the bill is being brought with No. 10’s backing’. However, with the vote due next week, opposition has emerged, and there is no guarantee that the bill will pass.
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