Kim Leadbeater’s Assisted Dying Commission makes a safe Bill even safer
13 February 2025, 08:39 | Updated: 14 February 2025, 17:21
Kim Leadbeater’s proposed new safeguard for her assisted dying Bill reflects the approach she has brought to the whole debate; listening to parliamentary colleagues and expert evidence in producing the best possible legislation.
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It’s an example of how laws should be made.
In moving from a High Court judge to a judge-led panel appointed by an Assisted Dying Commission, her proposal will provide additional scrutiny of every application for an assisted death, particularly on concerns about coercion.
In her plans, a judge or KC will still lead the third tier of scrutiny but be joined by a mental health professional and a social worker on a multi-disciplinary panel, bringing additional expertise in reviewing individual applications.
Some of those who are opposed in principle to assisted dying have tried to suggest that this is a loosening of the Bill’s safeguards, regardless of the fact that it adds to the scrutiny. Others have suggested that any substantive amendment shows the Bill is being rushed.
I believe that MPs will see through this. The amendment makes the Bill – already the most robust in the world – even safer. It draws from the substantial expert evidence heard by MPs and answers questions that were raised during November’s Second Reading debate.
As an MP for fourteen years I served on many Bill Committees and can think of none that listened to more evidence than this one and, without the management associated with a government bill, has been able to make real amendments based on what they heard. Now, free of party whips, they are debating proposals over more weeks than most legislation.
Through forensic scrutiny the Bill Committee is doing justice to the huge public support for assisted dying. Three-quarters of people support terminally ill people having this choice at the end of their lives because they know they deserve better than status quo.
As the Health Select Committee reported last year, even the best palliative care cannot avoid suffering for some, while hundreds of terminally ill people take their own lives and, those who can afford it, do so in Switzerland.
In November, Parliament voted to end the cruelty of the status quo and create new protections for dying people – while offering choice and compassion at the end of life. As the Bill Committee continues its important work, I am more convinced than ever that we can achieve it.
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Paul Blomfield is the former MP for Sheffield Central and Chair of Dignity in Dying.
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