The Assisted Dying Bill fails in Parliament
I fully welcome the democratic rejection of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Read my thoughts and my speech below.
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I am intensely relieved after proposed laws on assisted dying were thrown out of Parliament today.
270 MPs voted to progress the Bill, while 286 – including me – voted against.
It’s been an emotional, exhausting day and I am convinced we have reached the right decision for the people of this country.
I am overwhelmingly relieved for those that would have been made even more vulnerable by such a law, here in North Northumberland and across the country.
I would like to recognise Ashley Dalton MP for her moving speech. Living with terminal cancer and rejecting this proposed law shows an incredible level of integrity. I would also like to thank Dr. Zubir Ahmed, a former health minister, for his words and perspective as a surgeon who has spent his working life trying to preserve life.
Although I had hoped to speak in Parliament today, so many of my colleagues did us proud in representing the many thousands of constituents who have written to us over the past two years.
This Bill was not in our manifesto and should not have got this far when we have plenty of work to do in sorting out the NHS, our buckling social care and persistent poverty.
I understand and respect those who wanted it to become law, and I know today’s outcome is not what they had hoped for.
I urge us all now to come together around greater investment in skilled palliative care, as delivered by incredible organisations like HospiceCare North Northumberland.
We need ways to improve quality of life, rather than hasten death.
Finally, I would like to thank all who have written to me to share their views on both sides, and those that have supported my stance. I have read every single letter and learned a lot from your fears, hopes and experiences. It has been my honour to be your MP in this time.
You can read the speech I would have given below the quote.
We need ways to improve quality of life, rather than hasten death.
-David Smith MP
Speech
Mr Speaker, in late 2023 my cousin Jacqueline – or Jacqui – was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
She was told she had three or four weeks to live.
Cue a mad scramble among family members here in the Uk and in North America to be by her bedside so we could tell her we loved her.
But Mr Speaker Jacqui lived for two more years, until late 2025.But Jacqui lived until late 2025.
I should add that she had the highest quality palliative care for the last few months of her life.
My cousin’s story is remarkable and unique to her, like everyone’s personal story always is.
I know that the extra time that Jacqui had was important for her and for our immediate family, even though we still mourn her loss.
But her story is a stark reminder about the inaccuracy of a 6 month terminal prognosis, which is central to this Bill.
Mr Speaker so much else about this Bill remains inadequate – as we’ve heard today in great detail: yet here we are again.
Even Lord Falconer laid 70 amendments to try and improve it when it was in the other place.
Two years ago this Government was elected on a landslide of change
We were left with massive problems to fix: social care, the NHS, energy prices, persistent poverty.
Yet in the last two years we have spent hundreds of hours grappling with an issue that wasn’t in our manifesto, and which (according to a recent poll) does not rank amongst the top 5 priorities in a single constituency in Great Britain.
So I ask, is this Bill – not assisted dying or terminal illness – is this Bill specifically what we want to be doing as a governing party?
No royal college backs this bill.
The disability groups hate it.
And it could not get more than a bare majority in the House last time.
So I ask again: is this what we want to spend our time on?
There is a better way.
That is – genuinely accessible and universal palliative care.
Earlier this year I visited HospiceCare North Northumberland, the only provider of hospice care in North Northumberland.
It is a dearly loved institution and as it cares for its patients it shows us the society we want to be and the society that Labour has always championed:
compassionate, rooted in local communities and united in solidarity.
As one woman said to HospiceCare NN: ‘They didn’t think I could do it – to care for my husband at home but with your help I did. Right to the end.’
This – palliative care for those who need it, supported by a loving and patient community – is the better solution to the pain and suffering which I know is the motivation for those who support this bill.
Our nation needs better palliative care, backed by the principles of social democracy: that, yes, we shall be our brother’s keeper.
Isn’t that why we’ve revived the NHS and improved early years support?
When we meet with the vulnerable and the isolated on the margins our response should be to give them the genuine option of choosing life.
If we are determined to choose more division then we can vote this Bill through.
But we will be driving a bitter and costly wedge into our party and our country just as we are trying – together – to change it for the better.
Instead, let us choose what the country wants: life, and a life well lived, championed by Labour and sustained by social solidarity.
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