The Times Editorial
Sir Keir Starmer likes to see himself as a serious prime minister for serious times. On occasion the actions of his government measure up to his self-regard. To say he had approached the torturous and unseemly debate on assisted dying legislation with due seriousness, however, would be darkly amusing were the matter at hand not so consequential.
It is often said that Sir Keir is deeply invested in the passage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, the legislation brought forward by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater. If that is the case, it is difficult to take his government seriously on that most vital question: the right of the state to sanction medically-assisted suicide.
This week, as a legislative process that has revealed both the best and worst of parliament dragged on, it emerged that assisted dying may not be introduced in England and Wales until 2029, two years later than promised by Ms Leadbeater. The Department of Health and Social Care fears that it is unworkable. Of course, 2029 will be an election year, and supporters of the bill fear it will politicise the legislation and put paid to its chances of ever taking effect. Those opposed to state-sanctioned suicide may be forgiven a bittersweet sense of vindication. The delay is nothing if not a tacit admission that the bill is not fit for purpose, its provisions a mess, and its journey through parliament an unconscionable waste of time.
For this, much of the blame must lie with Ms Leadbeater, the hapless pilot of the bill during its choppy passage, and those who egged her on. Attempting to establish a state suicide service via a private member’s bill was always wildly inappropriate. The committee scrutinising its provisions has left itself open to accusations of bias as expert witnesses opposed to the measure have been ignored or demeaned. And, of course, this dog’s breakfast of a process was initiated with the connivance of Downing Street.
If Labour wished to rewrite Britain’s social contract in such a profound way (it was Sir Keir who relaxed prosecution guidelines for those involved in assisted suicide when he was head of the Crown Prosecution Service), then it should have had the guts to put the issue to the electorate last year. Instead, an unqualified backbencher found herself being used as a stalking horse, introducing assisted suicide through the legislative back door to satisfy a personal promise made by the prime minister to a former television presenter.