THE Labour MP Sir Stephen Timms has urged members of his party to provide “careful thought” to the difficulty of assisted dying, arguing against that concept that it may be a party-political matter.
In an article published on the Labour List website on Wednesday, Sir Stephen writes that it’s “myth” that support for the legalisation of assisted dying is a left-wing position “in contrast to uncompassionate, reactionary Conservatives who wish to sentence those suffering to undignified deaths”.
Sir Stephen has been Labour MP for East Ham in London since 1994, having first come to the world as a part of a Christian mission to the East End while a university student (Interview, 30 July 2021).
He is on record as opposing laws to introduce assisted dying, saying in a Westminster Hall debate in July 2022: “If we were to legalise assisted dying, we’d impose an awful moral dilemma on every conscientious frail person nearing the top of their life. . . If ending their life early were legally permissible, many who don’t need to finish their life would feel under great, probably irresistible, pressure to achieve this. There isn’t any technique to stop that occuring.”
On the Labour List site, he writes that “the novel individualism of some Conservatives” can prompt support for the legalisation of assisted suicide, “even at the danger of dire societal outcomes for the vulnerable. But in my opinion that mustn’t be the position of those of us on the left.”
And he advises Labour MPs and candidates to not support a free vote on the difficulty when campaigning within the run as much as the subsequent General Election.
“Instead, a prudent response can be to pledge to explore and listen fastidiously to each side of the argument after which to vote in whatever way will protect probably the most vulnerable, while supporting greater investment in palliative and social care,” he writes.
As his evidence, he cites experiences from overseas, writing: “We have more reason to be wary today because the introduction and subsequent rapid expansion of euthanasia in Canada in 2016, and its expansion in recent times within the Netherlands and Belgium to incorporate minors and folks with mental illness.
”As the party of the vulnerable, the voiceless and the victim, the stories which have emerged from these countries ought to provide us significant pause for thought — data shows that folks with disabilities, the poor, and people who fear being a burden to their relatives are all in danger when assisted suicide is permitted, while investing in high-quality palliative care, which is harder to access for the impoverished, can easily be marginalised when assisted suicide is allowed.”
And he points out that various attempts to liberalise the law have been tabled by each Conservative and Labour MPs and peers. All were heavily defeated.
Last month, the leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, said that there have been “grounds for changing the law” on assisted dying, and pledged to provide Labour MPs a free vote on the difficulty.
BBC News reported Sir Keir’s remarks, made during a visit to Estonia, through which he described it as “appropriate” for the difficulty to be handled in a Private Member’s Bill reasonably than in a Bill endorsed by the Government.
In an interview with the Church Times earlier this month, the director of Christians on the Left, Hannah Rich, endorsed Sir Keir’s decision to not whip MPs on the difficulty (News, 12 January).
In 2015, Sir Keir voted for a Private Member’s Bill to legalise assisted suicide, however it was defeated by a majority of three to 1 within the House of Commons. Afterwards, the then Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Revd James Newcome, said that he was “heartened” by the final result (News, 18 September 2015).
In July 2022, the General Synod of the Church of England carried a motion urging the UK Government to keep up the present prohibition against assisted dying, while calling for improvements in palliative care (News, 11 July 2022).
