Transport for London (TfL) is under fire for allowing pro-assisted suicide adverts to be promoted at London Underground stations.
Dignity in Dying, formerly known as the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, displayed posters across the network, including one with the slogan: “My dying wish is my family won’t see me suffer. And I won’t have to.” At some stations, Samaritan helpline adverts were posted on top.
The cost of such advertising typically costs thousands of pounds.
‘Glorifying suicide’
Palliative care medic Dr Cajetan Skowronski commented: “Very irresponsible of TFL to be glorifying suicide here.”
Not Dead Yet UK, a network of disabled people, posted on X: “This ad is absolutely tasteless given the seriousness of the issue”.
Since 2019, junk food adverts have been banned across London’s transport network. But a TfL spokesperson stated that Dignity in Dying’s campaign was “compliant” with its own policy and the Committee of Advertising Practice code.
According to The Canary and Guido, news websites at opposite ends of the political spectrum, Dignity in Dying has been linked to a £300,000 donation from an offshore tax haven connected to the 2016 ‘Panama Papers’ tax evasion scandal.
Opposition
This Friday, MPs will vote on Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which seeks to allow those deemed to be terminally ill and with less than six months to live to receive help to kill themselves.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who is also Chair of TfL, told the Evening Standard that he would vote against the proposals if he was an MP.
Khan explained: “I’ve got real concerns in relation to the lack of palliative care available to those who are terminally unwell. I’ve concerns about the state of the NHS. I’ve concerns about the state of social care provision. I am concerned as much about coercive control. I am concerned about some of the guilt those who are terminally ill may well have.
“So for those reasons, if I had a vote, I’d vote against.”
‘Widespread concern’
According to a poll by Savanta, six out of ten adults are worried that terminally-ill people would feel obliged to seek medical help to die under the proposals.
Savanta Associate Director Emma Levin observed that “there continues to be widespread concern that people could be pressured into taking their own life prematurely”.
A separate poll by Focaldata also found 70 per cent of the public want to prioritise social end-of-life care before thinking about assisted dying.
Sources:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/11/26/labour-mayor-sadiq-khan-assisted-dying-bill/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14123823/TfL-Sadiq-Khan-assisted-dying-legislation-advert.html
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/assisted-dying-posters-tube-samaritans-posters-advertising-campaign-tfl-b1196251.html
https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/blog-post/let-us-choose-legalise-assisted-dying/
How Much Does It Cost To Advertise On The London Underground?
https://notdeadyetuk.co.uk/
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/tfl-london-junk-food-advert-ban-uk-labour-government-b1156602.html
https://www.thecanary.co/long-read/2024/10/27/assisted-dying-uk-funding/
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https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/how-we-work/corporate-governance/board-members
https://www.focaldata.com/blog/care-not-killing-poll-results
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