Where British MPs should look before the vote on assisted dying
The closest analogue to Kim Leadbeater’s bill is not Canadian but Australian
Members of Parliament in Britain usually have a party line to toe. But occasionally, on matters of conscience, they are given a “free vote” and the chance to exercise their judgment independently. On November 29th MPs must make up their minds on one of the most consequential issues of all: whether people in England and Wales have the right to an assisted death. That is the date of the second reading of a private member’s bill put forward by Kim Leadbeater, a Labour backbencher, which would legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The Victorian example”
Britain November 23rd 2024
- Where British MPs should look before the vote on assisted dying
- How to fix palliative care in Britain
- Britain’s new government may cut the number of Channel crossings
- Britain’s government wants bigger pension funds
- The story of Britain’s “ginaissance”
- A sticking-plaster policy for Britain’s strained courts
- Assisted dying and the two concepts of liberty
Discover more
Are British voters as clueless as Labour’s intelligentsia thinks?
How the idea of false consciousness conquered the governing party
The best British companies to work for to get ahead
A new ranking of firms by pay, promotions and hiring practices
How the best British employers find and promote their staff
No degree? Some employers care much less than others
A tiny island fights the scourge of plastic on the beach
A Northern Irish experiment in recycling
A sticking-plaster policy for Britain’s strained courts
Magistrates get more power. Will they get punch-drunk on it?