One of the things which persuaded more than a few MPs to vote for the bill at Second Reading in November last year was the inclusion of a showpiece safeguard – that each request would be scrutinised by a high court judge.
Kim Leadbeater MP repeatedly assured people that this safeguard would be in place. She said in the media and during the debate that the High Court judge safeguard meant that this bill would be “the most robust legislation of its kind in the world.”
Then, the press started reporting stories like this:
The Guardian: High court signoff in England and Wales assisted dying bill to be scrapped
The BBC even published this headline:
Then, Sophie Ridge from the Politics Hub on Sky news posted a very revealing video on X .
On the #PoliticsHub, @SophyRidgeSky shares the interview she filmed last night with Kim Leadbeater MP ‘now seems completely out of date’.
But, Sophy says, this swiftly outdated interview gets to the heart of assisted dying concerns.
Watch here ⬇️https://t.co/l8C9Diez3r pic.twitter.com/ET5e6DqV3r
— Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge (@SkyPoliticsHub) February 11, 2025
Whilst we cannot say that we are surprised, this is an abject lesson for MPs in how ‘safeguards’ can rapidly change.
As soon as you make the state the arbiter of who can, and who cannot, have a state-assisted death, you turn the ‘safeguards’ into the political football.
Safeguards quickly become seen as barriers to access, leading to demands to extend the law. That’s exactly what’s happened here. We explain in more detail why this happens over time with all kinds of safeguards here:
https://carenotkilling.org.uk/
So now that safeguard has collapsed, can we encourage you to write to your MP and ask them to reconsider their position and either abstain or vote no when it comes back for its third reading?
Our helpful email tool should make it quick and easy – just click the link below and enter your postcode.
