London (5th January 2026) – The SDP recognises Assisted Dying as a conscience issue. However, if it is to be introduced it must be done so humanely, with utmost precaution and with well-funded alternatives in place. To our regret – and in a process that amounts to an affront to democracy – the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has failed to attain the necessary standard for legislation of this importance.
It is now public knowledge that Labour plotted to make this momentous change behind voters’ backs by abusing the Private Members’ Bill process. As a result of this subterfuge, in place of the thoroughgoing processes on which Government Bills run, they have relied on the inadequate vehicle of a Private Members Bill. It has veered through Parliament with naive drafting, partisan sponsorship, and with reckless disregard for the impact on the values and integrity of the NHS, its staff and wider networks of caring and safeguarding.
Professional associations of those who work in these end-of-life situations and know how vulnerable those affected can be – from elder charities to coroners – have almost unanimously objected to the way this Bill handles the key issues. Their constructive suggestions have been set aside and disregarded.
In place of firm guard rails in law, this Bill leaves far too much to the whim of any existing or future Secretary of State. The extensions to eligibility for Assisted Dying seen in other jurisdictions might arise in Britain at the mere stroke of a Minister’s pen – a bleak and anti-democratic prospect.
The Government must finally accept that this is a wholly inappropriate approach for such a weighty matter. End-of-Life healthcare is a strategic, structural issue, not simply a question of individual autonomy. There is no true choice for individuals so long as the only alternative to early death is the inhumanity and neglect experienced by many senior citizens. This shameful little Bill sheds our social duties and shrugs off responsibility for caring for our most vulnerable fellow citizens. It satisfies neither those who favour nor those who oppose a right to euthanasia.
If Assisted Dying is ever to be brought into law in Britain it must be done so with requisite deliberation, proper consideration and with all of the necessary safeguards in place. The approach chosen and promoted by the government is demonstrably failing to achieve any of these and must be abandoned.
Note to editors:
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