MPs rage at assisted dying bill committee 'stitch-up'

The committee that will scrutinise the assisted dying bill will have a majority of supportive MPs, including two government ministers, in a move that has been branded “a stitch-up” by campaigners.

- HOLLY BANCROFT DAVID MADDOX

Care minister Stephen Kinnock and justice minister Sarah Sackman, who voted in favour of the legislation, have both been selected for the 23-member committee, which will test the proposed legislation line by line.

The bill, which will support terminally ill adults to end their own lives, has received initial backing from MPs but still has some way to go before it becomes law.

A leading voice of opposition to assisted dying, Conservative MP Danny Kruger, will also be on the committee. But MPs who voted against the bill are outnumbered on the scrutiny committee – nine to 14.

Reacting to the make-up of the committee, which was revealed on Wednesday night, opponents of the bill were furious. A list of nine MPs against assisted dying was proposed by Tory MP Danny Kruger to sit on the bill committee. However, only two of the MPs on that list were accepted, The Independent understands.

Among those rejected was psychiatrist Dr Ben Spencer, meaning that the three medically qualified MPs on the committee are all supportive of assisted dying.

MPs such as Rachael Maskell, who led the debate against assisted dying, and Treasury and liaison committee chair Meg Hillier were also kept off the committee.

It has also been noted that some of the opponents on the committee did not even speak in the debate and, in some cases, only voted against the bill following constituency consultations.

One campaigner told The Independent: “I am afraid this is a complete stitch-up.”