Starmer wants to legalise assisted suicide if he becomes Prime Minister

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to hold a parliamentary debate on assisted suicide if he becomes Prime Minister.

In a phone call to Dame Esther Rantzen, filmed by ITV News, the UK Labour leader said he is “personally in favour of changing the law” and committed to making parliamentary time for a conscience vote within the next five years.

In 2015, MPs voted by 330 to 118 to protect vulnerable people by maintaining current end-of-life safeguards.

‘Real dangers’

While Sir Keir acknowledged the “very powerful” arguments against assisted suicide, he claimed “most people coalesce around the idea that there is a case where it is obviously compassionate, it is the settled intent of the individual, and there are safeguards with teeth to protect the vulnerable”.

But Dr Gordon Macdonald, CEO of Care Not Killing, stated: “Sir Keir needs to recognise the real dangers associated with legalising state sanctioned killing, such as the pressure it puts on people to end their lives prematurely, and the growing body of evidence showing assisted suicide appears to normalise suicide in the general populations.”

He said that voters will rightly ask if the killing of terminally ill and disabled people is really “Labour’s top legislative priority if they win the next General Election”, so soon after the House of Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee highlighted the need for “massive improvements” in palliative care.

The Committee, which examined evidence from jurisdictions that have legalised the practice, outlined the dangers of legalising assisted suicide but failed to oppose a change in the law.

‘Protect the vulnerable’

Earlier this year, Labour MP Sir Stephen Timms challenged the notion that legalising assisted suicide should be championed by the political left.

Writing on the website LabourList, the MP for East Ham said it was inaccurate to portray the left wing as ideologically in favour of assisted suicide, as “less than a decade ago, in a free vote, fewer than one-third of Labour MPs voted in favour”.

He highlighted that “attempts to legislate for assisted suicide have failed to command majority support in the parliamentary party under both New Labour and in the Corbyn-led era”.

Sir Stephen said, “data shows that people with disabilities, the poor and those who fear being a burden to their relatives are all at risk when assisted suicide is permitted”, and the UK should instead “protect the most vulnerable, while supporting greater investment in palliative and social care”.