FRIDAY’S historic vote to legalise assisted dying should be followed up with major funding for hospices, according to former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey.
The former Anglican leader hopes that end of life care will be strengthened and has warned against “dirty tricks” and any attempt to derail the legislation when it goes to the Lords.
Lord Carey made headlines a decade ago when he when he abandoned his opposition to assisted dying, claiming the “old philosophical certainties have collapsed in the face of the reality of needless suffering”.
He now hopes that the introduction of assisted dying for terminally ill people in their last six months of life will unlock a more caring society.
The Bill cleared its first hurdle last week by 330 votes to 275 but this is just the start of its journey through the Commons and the Lords.
Lord Carey cautioned against any attempt to kill it off in the Lords, saying: “People would be very disgusted if there are dirty tricks. I do know the House of Lords pretty well and my hope is that people would go into it into respecting that the Commons has spoken clearly.”
He said a priority will be ensuring that strong safeguards are in place so “wicked people” cannot coerce vulnerable men and women into acting against their interests.
Setting out his hopes for a strengthening of hospices and the palliative care movement, he said: “The Government must put significant amounts of money into this because we are an ageing population. Some of us may end up in these institutions and we want the best for ourselves as well as others.”
A priority for many senior figures who are concerned about the consequences of changing the law is securing a commission on end of life care.
Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown – who opposes the legalisation of assisted dying – has called for a commission that would “devise a thought-through, fully funded, 10-year strategy for improved and comprehensive palliative care”.
Opponents of the Bill plan to submit “dozens” of amendments highlighting what they say is a lack of safeguards and other flaws in the legislation.
A source said: “There are MPs who voted for the Bill on second reading because they wanted the debate to continue, not because they have made a firm decision to support it.
“There will be future votes including the third reading. The fight is far from over.”
Another said: “A large number of MPs gave the Bill qualified support at second reading despite having significant misgivings with the Bill. When the major reworking of the Bill many of them are calling for is not possible we believe it’s highly likely they will withdraw their support at third reading. You only need 28 to change their vote and you have a different outcome.
“The campaigners for the Bill made clear time and time again that voting for the Bill at second reading wasn’t giving it the green light but continuing the debate. We will take them at their word.”
Labour MP and Mother of the House Diane Abbott told the BBC: “I am very worried that vulnerable people will get swept up in the assisted dying route, when actually what they really need is access to hospice care and proper end of life care.”
Lord Carey told the Sunday Express that preventing coercion will be a “fundamental plank of the legislation”. He said fellow peers in the Lords must “go through the Bill painstakingly and get it right and then send it back to the Commons”.
Praising the quality of Friday’s landmark debate, he said: “I thought it was a wonderful debate. It showed our Parliament at its best.”