Southport MP Patrick Hurley to vote against assisted dying bill

Southport MP Patrick Hurley has told constituents he plans to vote against a bill that could legalise assisted dying for terminally ill patients.

MPs will be given a free vote in the Commons on Friday on a private members bill introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater. The bill would enable patients wishing to end their lives to seek independent assessments from two doctors before applying to a High Court judge.

In a social media video, Patrick Hurley told constituents that “thousands” of people had contacted him regarding the issue.

Before his election, when asked at a hustings event earlier this year if he supported assisted dying, Mr Hurley said he was undecided on the issue and would listen to the views of his constituents.

Speaking in June, Patrick Hurley said: “Everyone nearing the end of life must feel safe in the knowledge that they’ll receive the best care and be supported to die in a place of their choosing. The palliative care workforce in this country works extremely hard to provide good care, and we owe a debt of gratitude to people like McMillan nurses and Marie Curie nurses.

“Good palliative end-of-life care should enhance the quality of life and provide emotional support to everybody.

“In all honesty, I haven’t made my mind up about assisted dying. I lost my own wife to cancer back in 2006, and the suffering she went through seemed unbearable; I will be bringing a personal perspective to this, to whatever decisions I take if I’m given the opportunity to make a decision.

“I will not rush the decision, and I will endeavour to make the most informed choice if a bill is brought before the next parliament.”

But now Mr Hurley says that the legal protections within the bill aren’t strong enough for him to support.

On Wednesday, he told constituents: “Firstly, I looked at what the current allows, which stipulates that there is a public interest test that needs to be met for any prosecution. It also makes sure that there are decent ways in which people who have gone through an assisted death and their loved ones have helped, that they are protected, and I think that this is a way forward that the proposed legislation does not allow for.

“The proposed legislation appears to be more limited in scope than is currently allowed through the discretion of the public interest test. This also means that if people are excluded from the legislation, there may be an issue in relation to courts seeking prosecutions where currently they wouldn’t.

“It’s on that basis I’ve decided this coming Friday to vote against the proposed bill and to allow the current system as it is enacted in law to continue.