John Milne MP: Parliament’s debate on assisted dying

If passed, this will allow terminally-ill adults to exercise the right to end their own lives rather than face a potentially painful end. It is by far the most serious issue we have been asked to consider in my short term in office, and arguably the most serious for a generation.

I have received an enormous postbag from constituents who make the most passionate arguments, both for and against. Views cut across party lines and I’m glad to say MPs were given a free vote to decide according to their own conscience.

Without doubt, this was the best conducted and most respectful debate I have ever experienced. In particular I would like to praise Kim Leadbeater, the backbench MP who has brought this Bill to the House. Her open and inclusive approach is the perfect way to handle such a sensitive subject. As she said in her speech, ’if any of us wanted an easy life, I am afraid we are in the wrong place. It is our job to address complex issues and make difficult decisions.’

I voted to support the Bill at this point and my reasons, if I had been called to speak, would have been the same as Layla Moran’s: ‘The media are asking all of us, “Are you for or against the Bill?”, but I urge hon. Members to think about the question differently. The question I will be answering today is, “Do I want to keep talking about the issues in the Bill?”’

Friday was not a final ‘yes or no’ moment in the legislative process. Voting yes allows the Bill to receive further debate and revision in committee and in the House of Lords, before it returns to the Commons for a final decision. To vote it down now would simply shut down the conversation. And it seems to me that one thing is clear: everyone agrees it’s time to debate this issue out in the open.

There were so many tremendous speeches on both sides. But I will leave you with these words from Marie Tidball, an MP who has a congenital condition leaving her with very significant disabilities: ‘Today, I find myself voting in a way that I thought I never would. I will vote in favour of moving the Bill to the next stage of the legislative process.

That has been a difficult journey for me. I have arrived here by looking at the evidence, reflecting on my own lived experience and listening to the many, many constituents who have written to me in support of the Bill, sharing their compelling and tragic stories of death—death which did not come with dignity or respect.’

This Bill will now receive detailed revision and examination. I hope that 6 months from now we will be able to judge it in its best possible form. I trust that debate also will be conducted in the same respectful, considerate manner that we saw on Friday.