- Death wish two - 2nd March 2026
- News to celebrate! - 1st March 2026
- Bombs away! - 28th February 2026
During 42 years in journalism (when he was trained to use simple language, avoiding jargon) for our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry, it has always been fascinating to watch as policy-makers fail to keep up with public opinion, and this is now put centre stage by extraordinary news that an ‘assisted dying’ bill is likely to fail, because the UK Government will not give the legislation more time in the House of Lords where it has suffered an incredible number of amendments.
These astonishing reports come even though it appears the public are in favour of changing the law, and other states are legalising it.
Ordinary people often want a change in the law, but the politicians who could enact it seem to get in a tangle.
Meanwhile other countries, or parts of them, forge ahead leaving the UK in the dust, and quickly adjust to public opinion.
This is now shown in spades by what has happened with the ‘assisted dying’ bill which is now on the point of collapse, after it was subjected to more amendments than almost any other!
The bill needs to pass before the King’s Speech in May – in other words, before the end of this UK parliamentary session, but there may not be enough space in the parliamentary timetable.
If it doesn’t, it falls, and the legislative process has to start all over again, but with it being a private members’ bill, the UK Government is refusing to give it more time, so is, in effect, saying that it is not going to help this bill through.
All the systems in other countries have an array of safeguards (like our own proposed legislation), but these policy-makers have been MUCH quicker in changing the law to align with popular feeling, so that what is legal and what is not reflects public opinion.
Even Jersey (a Crown dependency) has passed a law legalising assisted dying.
Those eligible here are people with terminal illnesses causing unbearable suffering where they are expected to die within six months, or 12 months for those with neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s as well as Motor Neurone Disease (MND), and this follows the Isle of Man.
Both Crown dependencies have set residency requirements for eligibility – 12 months for Jersey and five years for the Isle of Man.
Lorna Pirozzolo, from Jersey, who suffers from terminal breast cancer, has said like a huge number of others, that the reform is “badly needed”.
“Like so many terminally ill people I’ve spoken with, I’m not scared of dying, but I am terrified of suffering as I go.
“Today brings enormous relief, not just for me, but for future generations of islanders who deserve compassion, choice and dignity at the end of life.“
Humanists UK Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andrew Copson said it was a “momentous vote of confidence for compassion, dignity, and choice at the end of life”.
Yet even here there was political opposition, and this may be being reflected in the HoL.
Jersey politician, Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache voted against the law and said he was “disappointed” by the result
“Life is a precious thing and I don’t think really that it’s for people to remove life in the way in which the assisted dying law is now going to authorise”, he declared.
Another case in point is what is happening now in the United States of America (USA).
New York (NY) is joining 12 other states (plus Washington, DC) where assisted dying is legal, and it seems to be part of a wave.
Last year Delaware as well as Illinois approved assisted-dying laws, and by the end of 2026 more than 30 per cent of Americans will live in states where doctors can prescribe a fatal medication to terminally ill patients.
Lawmakers are rapidly catching up with public opinion there, with slightly more than half of Americans believing that assisted suicide is morally acceptable.
This share grows to two-thirds if the patient is in severe pain, has no chance of recovery and is asking for help to die.
Canada and the Netherlands even allow it in cases where patients are suffering from incurable pain, but are not terminally ill.
American states tend to follow the model of Oregon, which was the first to legalise assisted dying in 1994.
In the UK however it is different.
It was more than a year ago that MPs first gave their backing to a proposed law which would introduce assisted dying in England and Wales, after an historic House of Commons (HoC) vote which was given a huge amount of publicity.
But after being stuck in the House of Lords (HoL) for months, being scrutinised line by line, it may now fail altogether.
A number of high-profile figures have supported a change in the law, including Dame Esther Rantzen.
Dame Esther is living with stage four lung cancer, first diagnosed in January 2023.
Her daughter reported in March 2025 that life-preserving drugs are no longer working, and she has joined the Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.
The assisted dying bill was introduced to Parliament by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater back in October 2024, as a private member’s bill because it was put forward by a backbench MP rather than the UK Government.
MPs then spent many days debating the draft legislation in the HoC, and first voted in favour of the principle of the bill the following month by a majority of 55.
A committee of MPs from both sides of the debate then spent months considering more than 500 changes.
Further debate and votes on amendments followed in the HoC before MPs voted by a majority of 23 in June for the bill to progress to the House of Lords (HoL).
Before its likely failure, the ermine-clad ones proposed more than 1,000 amendments, which experts believe is a record number for a bill supported by a backbench MP.
But people appear to want action, and other countries are just going ahead with legalising assisted dying anyway.
Popular support for help terminating life with appropriate safeguards, has historically remained at a very high level
In March 2024, the largest ever poll on assisted dying by Opinium Research (OR) found a majority supported a change in the law in every constituency in the UK.
● Three-quarters of respondents (75 per cent) said that they would support making it lawful for dying adults to access assisted dying in the UK, with only around one in eight people (14 per cent) stating that they would oppose such a move.
● More than half (52 per cent) would personally consider travelling to Switzerland for an assisted death if they were terminally ill, but less than three in 10 (28 per cent) would be able to afford.
How embarrassing this all is.
The people want it, other countries are legislating for it, but a bill for assisted dying in the UK which has suffered more changes than almost any other, may now fail completely..
Tomorrow – how a complaint received by the outgoing head of the BBC Tim Davie about the standard of its drama output, once again highlights the BBC’s REFUSAL to answer The Eye’s questions concerning the string of scandals which have engulfed the giant corporation.
