Six in 10 people support return of assisting dying bill to Parliament ahead of MPs' vote

Six in 10 people support return of assisting dying bill to Parliament ahead of MPs' vote Six in 10 people support the return of the assisted dying Bill to Parliament, but a third of the public feel the law should only be changed if there is more funding for end-of-life care alongside it, according to new polling Six in 10 people support the return of the assisted dying Bill to Parliament, according to new polling. But a third of the public feel the law should only be changed if there is more funding for end-of-life care alongside it. Support for assisted dying being legalised has remained relatively stable since the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was first introduced to Parliament in late 2024, the Ipsos polling found. The Bill is back in the House of Commons on Friday, when MPs will debate and vote on it. The legislation was effectively talked out of time in the Lords in Parliament's last session, despite MPs passing it in the Commons. Of 1,133 people aged 16-75 surveyed at the end of August, 61% said they supported the reintroduction of the Bill, which is being brought by Labour MP Lauren Edwards. It is identical to the previous bill spearheaded by Kim Leadbeater and would allow terminally ill people in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to seek an assisted death, subject to approval by doctors and legal professionals. Some 14% said they opposed the return of the Bill while the same proportion said they did not support or oppose it. The rest said they did not know or preferred not to say. Older people – aged 55-75 – were most likely to support the Bill’s return (67%). This compared with 63% of 35-54 year-olds and just over half (52%) of people aged 16 to 34. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has already confirmed he will abstain from the vote, so as not to "unduly influence the debate". Separately, shortly after becoming PM in July, he said he believed the funding of palliative care needs to be fixed before consideration can be given to legalising assisted dying. The new polling found 34% of people said assisting dying should be made legal but only if it is accompanied by additional investment in state-funded end-of-life care. Meanwhile, three in 10 (30%) said they agreed with the statement that assisted dying should be made legal, even without extra investment in this kind of care. One in 10 people said they opposed legalising assisted dying and said there should be more funding for end-of-life care, while 7% said assisted dying should not be legalised even if it was accompanied by further investment in such care. Support for the principle of assisted dying, where it is legal for a doctor to prescribe life-ending medication to a consenting terminally ill adult was at 68% when the latest polling was done, up slightly from 66% in October 2024. Opposition remained at 16% across that two-year period. The Government has a neutral position on the Bill and MPs will vote according to their consciences, rather than along party lines. More than 100 peers yesterday(SUN) wrote to MPs calling on them to allow Parliament to finish the job of deciding whether assisted dying should become law in England and Wales. The letter's signatories include Gus O’Donnell, who was Cabinet Secretary under three prime ministers, Neil Kinnock, former leader of the Labour Party, and senior Conservatives including Ruth Davidson. It says: "It was a great disappointment to us, and to a large number of our colleagues in the Upper House, that we were unable to complete all the Bill’s stages in the last session, despite a clear majority of MPs having voted for it The Bill was not defeated in the Lords. After it received an unopposed Second Reading, delaying tactics by a small minority of opponents prevented it getting to Report Stage where votes could have been taken... By stalling the Bill in this way, a minority of peers prevented our House fulfilling its proper constitutional function." The Sunday Mirror yesterday(SUN) told of the fight of Gaynor Griffiths's family after the 63-year-old ended her life at a Swiss clinic after her motor neurone disease became torture. Her family described the mum as "incredibly brave" to have made this decision, adding: "As a family, we feel that MPs or anyone opposing the bill should actually spend time with families in our situation and the people that are suffering, before making a decision that affects them. [Image text:] YESTO CAMPAIGN FOR ANDREW CHOICE CAMPAIGN FOR KEI NEVING. AIGN FOR .LAN CAMPAIGN FOR PAOLA CAMPAIGNOR AMAIGNFOR AIGN F ESTHER ALISON LISA BISVINS