McArthur ‘confident’ ahead of key vote on assisted dying bill at Holyrood

The MSP leading efforts to introduce assisted dying in Scotland has said he is “confident” of winning a key vote at Holyrood

Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur has brought forward a member’s Bill which, if passed, would allow terminally ill Scots to seek help to end their life.

With the first vote on the Bill – where MSPs decide on whether or not they support the general principles of the legislation – due on Tuesday, Mr McArthur said he is “confident that the support is there”.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr McArthur said: “I think the general mood is while it will be close, I am confident the support is there to allow us to go through to the next stage.”

It will be the third time Holyrood has voted on the issue, with previous attempts to change the law defeated in both 2010 and 2015.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has said that the proposals from Mr McArthur are a “much better Bill” than those introduced previously – though he stressed that he could not support the legislation.

It will however be a free vote when MSPs decide on the issue on Tuesday evening.

If a majority of MSPs back the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill on Tuesday evening, more detailed scrutiny will be carried out, with the legislation also opened up to other MSPs to put forward amendments, ahead of a final vote at Holyrood before it could become law.

But arguing that the majority of the public support such a change, Mr McArthur insisted it “would be pretty difficult to justify” voting down the Bill and not taking it forward for amendments.

He said Westminster MPs had initially passed Kim Leadbeater’s Bill on assisted dying to “enable the detailed committee scrutiny of amendments to take place”.

And he said that at Holyrood “I think we need to go through that process too”, adding that it “may well be that amendments are brought forward that can help address concerns”.

But the Liberal Democrat, who has been working on the issue since 2021, stated: “We only get to find that out if we pass the general principles next week.”

Opponents of the legislation argue that if it is passed, it could leave vulnerable people feeling pressurised to prematurely end their life.

Mr McArthur, however, believes that the “political mood” at Holyrood is “very, very different from what it was” when the previous Bills were considered.

He said: “The conversations I have had over the past four years with colleagues now suggests there is more of a willingness to look for reasons to support rather than excuses to oppose.

“There are many colleagues who come at this issue with their own personal stories of losing a family member or a close friend to a bad death, therefore they view this issue through that prism, they recognise that the current ban on assisted dying is leading to too many instances where people are at the end of life with horrendous choices.”

But he added: “As we get to Tuesday there is a recognition, even among some who still have reservations, that we can’t afford not to engage in the detailed scrutiny of potential changes to this Bill that might address the concerns they have.”

While his legislation originally proposed allowing eligible Scots with a terminal illness to seek an assisted death from the age of 16, Mr McArthur announced recently if the Bill progresses he will change that to 18.

“I think on balance 18 is a more appropriate threshold,” he said.

“On this issue it had become increasingly clear to me setting the age threshold at 18 would give more reassurance to my MSP colleagues, including many who are very supportive of a change in the law.”

However, he insisted that assisted dying could “provide additional choice to the small but not insignificant number of people for whom that is a desired option”.

The MSP stated: “I understand there are those who do not want to see a change in the law, I understand people have concerns and questions about how this might work in practice.

“But with growing international evidence I think we can have confidence that we will be able to deliver a law which gives that choice, the compassionate choice to the small number of dying Scots who need it.”

Adding that similar  debates have taken place in “all of the states in Australia and New Zealand, in a number of the states in the US and in other jurisdictions”, Mr McArthur argued those areas had “safely and successfully” introduced assisted dying legislation “in a way that continues to command strong public support and indeed the confidence of the medical profession”.