Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Angus MacDonald Excerpts

Friday 16th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Tom Gordon]

The right hon. Member makes a pertinent point about other jurisdictions and the different Bills and conversations around them that they have. I tabled my amendment in order to ensure that we have that debate in this place. I extend my condolences to the family.

These are progressive, irreversible diseases; their trajectory is well understood; and their toll is devastating. People with MND, for instance, often face a relentless loss of muscle function, leaving them unable to move, speak or even swallow. Before they reach the six-month prognosis threshold, they may already be enduring intolerable suffering. Crucially, many will lose the capacity necessary to make an application before they ever qualify.

The Bill already contains the most robust protections of any assisted dying Bill in the world, with mandatory capacity assessments, a multi-step approval process and a clear requirement for terminal illness. We have gone further than any other jurisdiction in terms of safeguards.

[Mr Angus MacDonald (Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire) (LD)]

May I posit the idea that what my hon. Friend is suggesting, and what the previous intervention was suggesting, is a slippery slope? It is an enormous concern, and I suspect that in a few years’ time we will see a very different Bill.

[Tom Gordon]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. The amendment is designed to stop our having a conversation about eligibility after this Bill. I want to see a Bill that stops the argument about a slippery slope and gives equitable access to people with all health conditions.