A Black Friday in Parliament as even irony is hurried into the suicide booth

Kim Leadbeater
Kim Leadbeater reacts during a demonstration in support of assisted dying outside Parliament - Mina Kim/Reuters

Kim Leadbeater began with self-congratulation about how the standard of debate had “almost always” (read: by her side and not the other) been excellent.

She followed this with a sentimental listing of tragic cases; exactly the sort of emotive language which the assisted dying Bill’s supporters claim is the preserve of its opponents.

One of the most moving contributions came from Diane Abbott. The Mother of the House is visibly frailer these days, but she stood up and with shaking hands did her duty: not appealing to emotion but calmly demolishing the Bill’s central claim that nobody would be coerced into killing themselves.

“People do not generally write letters to relatives asking them to consider assisted suicide and then put them on file. Coercion can often be about not what you say, but what you don’t say.”

Diane Abbott speaks
‘Coercion can often be about not what you say, but what you don’t say,’ said Diane Abbott - PRU/AFP via Getty

Many of her remarks, in the tradition of the days when the House debated philosophy and not just feelings, pivoted on the fundamental question of human nature.

Abbott quoted Sir James Munby: “Only those who believe implicitly in judicial omniscience and infallibility can possibly have any confidence in the efficacy of what is proposed.”

In response, some of the Bill’s supporters went down the bizarre route of claiming that the change would actually prevent coercion.

Danny Kruger politely called this perplexing. Deranged and dishonest might be more accurate descriptions.

Cat Eccles of Stourbridge fumed that Kruger had dared use the word “suicide” in his remarks. Calling a spade a spade clearly comes under secular blasphemy laws nowadays.

This was a dreadful harbinger of what was to come: MPs with ears pricked for any hurty language or imperilled feelings but with ears deaf to the appeals of the vulnerable, the disabled and the poor.

Some of the highest-quality points came through interventions. Jonathan Davies, the new MP for Mid Derbyshire made a stonking one, invoking the national loss of mind during the pandemic; he feared that people might feel assisted death could become a national duty to save r’NHS. Do a clap on your doorstep one minute, take some barbiturates the next.

Alas, to his thoughtful intervention, answer came there none.

Likewise, Labour’s Melanie Ward reminded her colleague Peter Prinsley of the situation in Washington state, where the law is limited to the terminally ill, yet 59 per cent of those who died in this way reported “not wanting to feel like a burden”.

Prinsley wafted away Ward’s entirely relevant statistics with dripping arrogance. So abrupt was his dismissal that the Commons momentarily lapsed into laughter at the sheer audacity of it.

Depressingly, many of the MPs who intended to vote in favour clearly didn’t even understand the Bill they were supporting. Leadbeater insisted that “if the House passes the Bill, the criteria cannot change” (false). It proved the first of many misleading statements from the Bill’s sponsor.

This great crossing of the rubicon was being led by someone fundamentally ignorant about the basic workings of Parliament.

Kruger was challenged on the qualification of proxies by one MP; his disagreement drew snickering from dozens of Labour backbenchers.

Moments later another MP, quoting the Bill directly, proved that Kruger was right and the sneering horde were wrong.

That so many parliamentarians were either too lazy or too stupid to learn about the technical aspects of the Bill they were urging others to vote for is perhaps the most damning indictment of the whole tragic charade.

Indeed, towards the end of the debate Leadbeater herself was forced to retract an earlier remark, having claimed the judiciary were behind her when they weren’t.

This embarrassing point of order proved a fitting conclusion to a debate so heavy in falsehood.

Jessica Asato, a new Labour MP and campaigner against domestic violence, made a particularly powerful intervention citing the risks of coercive control. Speaking of her mother and others failed by the healthcare system, Labour’s Florence Eshalomi moved some in the House to tears.

But many more never even got the chance to voice their opinion owing to the hurried nature of the Bill.

Throughout these speeches, I detected a genuine annoyance in some quarters with those who had the effrontery to speak of darker realities or worst-case scenarios; as if being reminded of the possible consequences of their actions was a monstrous imposition.

Kruger’s mention of Canadian medics “who personally kill hundreds of patients a year in their special clinics” triggered groans.

Leadbeater grimaced as her colleague James Frith described the “industry” that could spring up as a result.

Kit Malthouse
Kit Malthouse referenced the mention of Canadian medics ‘who personally kill hundreds of patients a year’ - UK Parliament/PA

Several of those in favour made brave rhetorical choices: Kit Malthouse invoked the Canadian example as if it were a good thing while David Davis cited that well-known byword for patient care, Dr Harold Shipman (“Things have improved a lot since then,” said Davis).

Though some of the Bill’s advocates dismissed “slippery slope” arguments as scaremongering, both Sian Berry (Brighton Pavilion) and Lizzi Collinge (Morecambe and Lunesdale) explicitly made the case for extending assisted dying further.

A dark day for Parliament, a better one for ironically-named MPs as Hammersmith’s Andy Slaughter declared in favour of the Bill. So did Layla Moran, who is admittedly one letter short of a victory for nominative determinism.

Eventually, MPs filed through the voting booths. Leadbeater returned, looking happy and patting a supporter on the back. Gulp.

Then came the results: 330 to 275 in favour. A majority of Reform’s five MPs had voted for the Bill, along with Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt.

Moments later, Christian Wakeford, the government whip on duty objected to and blocked the Children’s Hospices (Funding) Bill. Even irony, it seems, is being hurried into the suicide booths.

The victors celebrated as if they’d done something of great import – which they doubtless think they have – but be of no doubt, future generations will look on this as a very Black Friday indeed.