Former Northern Ireland health minister Robin Swann says assisted dying bill 'must be defeated' in crunch Commons vote
A former health minister has said the assisted dying bill “must be defeated” when it comes to a crunch vote in the House of Commons tomorrow.
Ulster Unionist MP Robin Swann was speaking ahead of the bill’s third reading, which is essentially the last major hurdle it will have to clear in the house before going to the House of Lords – which cannot ultimately stop the bill becoming law, only propose amendments to it.
Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who drew up the bill, said she is confident MPs will back the draft law, warning that it could be a decade before the issue is put to Parliament again should it fail to pass.
Officially called the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, it was first brought before Parliament last October.
It was brought forward as a Private Member’s Bill by Mrs Leadbeater, rather than it being the official policy of any party, and MPs have been allowed to vote according to their own consciences on it.
When put to the vote in November, it passed by 330 votes to 275.
Some 147 of those ‘no’ votes at the time came from fellow Labour MPs.
The vast majority of Northern Irish MPs voted against it (DUP, UUP, TUV, and Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood).
However, one of the SDLP’s MPs (Claire Hanna) abstained, while the other (Colum Eastwood) voted in favour.
Ahead of the vote tomorrow, Robin Swann MP said he will be standing against the bill once again.
“To change such a fundamental part of how our society views and may treat the most vulnerable, to be facilitated through a Private Member’s Bill is wrong,” he said, criticising the “dangerous narrative coming from those ardent supporters that the House of Lords will fix everything that's wrong”.
He added: “This is a misconception. This bill must be defeated on Third Reading in the Commons and every vote will be critical.
“Although the bill only applies to England and Wales, it is something that I don't believe should be extended to Northern Ireland.
"That's why I tabled amendment 77a to stop aspects of the Bill from applying to Northern Ireland, and why I believe it was important to be there and take part in the debate and vote.
“This bill seriously lacks any safeguards, with disability campaigners highlighting to me that ‘those assurances are not safeguards but qualifying conditions’ and ‘nor are there real protection or detection mechanisms for coercion, either forced or subtle’.
“A significant number of safeguarding amendments have been either rejected by supporters of the bill.
"This now means that a doctor can raise ending a patient's life, no matter how vulnerable the patient is, including those with learning disabilities, and that doctors only need to be 51% sure that the patients aren’t coerced and that they meet the criteria to die.
“These medical concerns are further demonstrated by the serious concerns raised about the bill raised by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of Pathologists.”
Mrs Leadbeater meanwhile said: “We have the most robust piece of legislation in the world in front of us tomorrow, and I know that many colleagues have engaged very closely with the legislation and will make their decision based on those facts and that evidence, and that cannot be disputed.
“But we need to do something, and we need to do it quickly… I do feel confident we can get through tomorrow successfully.”