If MPs legalise assisted dying this week “there is no going back”, an undecided Tory grandee MP has told GB News, sharing his “anguish” about the decision.
MPs will vote on Friday on whether to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults in the first such vote for nearly a decade.
Sir Bernard Jenkin, who shares a Commons committee on how laws are passed, liked the vote to the importance of the 1967 law which legalised abortion.
And he said that if MPs vote in favour of the legislation on Friday the measure will have to become law.
Sir Bernard Jenkin, who shares a Commons committee on how laws are passed, liked the vote to the importance of the 1967 law which legalised abortion
GB News
In advice for other MPs, he told Chopper’s Political Podcast: “If you’re in doubt, then you probably have to vote against. Because once this has been passed, there will be no going back.
“He said that it was highly unlikely that the legislation would be dropped at third reading, after MPs have scrutinised it, or by peers in the House of Lords.
He said: “I’ve only ever heard of one Bill failing at third reading, and that was the Sunday Trading Bill in 1980 something. A very, very odd circumstance… Third reading is not usually an event.”
Jenkin added: “A lot of members are very anguished about this, not just new members.
“I walked across from the chamber to Portcullis House last week with a well-established Labour member and she was deeply unhappy about the difficulty of the decision and we shared we had one of those sort of sharing moments where we understood each other.
“Both sides of the argument will respect doubt.”
Listen or watch Chopper’s Political Podcast this week featuring Labour MP Jake Richards and Sir Bernard Jenkin on whether assisted dying should be legalised on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch it on GB News’ YouTube channel.