I thought I’d share some thoughts after what was a momentous day in the House of Commons yesterday.
The debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was the kind of debate an MP might only take part in once in a term of office – if at all. To experience it less than five months after being elected was no small thing.
I can’t think of a single Member of Parliament who wasn’t deeply moved by the implications of what we were being asked to do. We have discussed it endlessly over tea, in meetings, in the corridors…
The Chamber is full every Wednesday for Primer Minister’s Questions, but this felt altogether different.
As we entered the Chamber just before 9.30am it was filling up fast, but unusually quietly, and there was a weight in the air that is hard to describe. The enormity of what was about to happen was clear.
We always start with prayers before the House sits, and if I’m honest this has always felt a bit anachronistic to me. A churchgoer in my youth, I don’t proclaim to have faith now, although the familiarity of the Church of England can still be comforting, especially in difficult times.
I’ve heard the arguments that only God has the right to take a life, and that this legislation is morally wrong. It’s not one I agree with, so it did feel slightly strange to sit through prayers in the space before the debate began yesterday.
Kim Leadbeater, who brought this Bill, has been extraordinary throughout this process. She has led the debate with respect and dignity – and that’s been evident on both sides.
She did a phenomenal amount of work to ensure that every MP received a pack full of information and we were able to attend endless briefings, meetings and panel events to find out more about the issues raised by the Bill – from people on both sides of the debate.
I’ve heard from lawyers, doctors, campaigners and terminally ill people.
It was unusual not to vote along party lines, and the freedom this gave individual MPs to explore their own beliefs and conscience was deeply felt.
In the debate we heard harrowing stories from Kim and many other MPs – testimony from constituents who had watched a loved one die in harrowing circumstances, unable to get relief from truly awful symptoms, even from experienced palliative care doctors.
After the vote was cast there was silence in the Chamber - I have never experienced that before. The enormity of the decision for everyone was clear.
Our inboxes have been full of emails – hundreds of them, both for and against. I’ve had emails from doctors and nurses on both sides of the debate. But my own inbox was weighted heavily in favour of voting for the Bill.
Despite this, I realise my decision to vote for assisted dying for the terminally ill will not please everyone – it’s impossible to do that.
But I wanted you to know that I have not taken this decision lightly – the enormity of what we have decided weighs on me and all my colleagues.
And we will endeavour to do everything we can as it winds its way through the legislative process to make sure that we make it the best, safest bill possible to protect the vulnerable and to offer a choice to those who are already facing death, to make it the best death possible.
I believe that this debate also means that we are now, finally, having a much-needed discussion about the funding of palliative care in this country. It’s simply not right that hospices across the UK are kept afloat through charitable donations. If the Assisted Dying Bill means that palliative care finally gets the attention it has deserved for a long time, then that is definitely a good thing.
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