Statement by TUV North Antrim MP Jim Allister:
“I am appalled by the proposal by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater to bring forward a Bill on assisted suicide.
“Should this proposal complete its journey through the parliamentary process and end up on the statute book, we will have the ludicrous situation where we have charities and government campaigning against suicide and the heartache it brings to families in some cases while in other cases actively facilitating it if not promoting it.
“Those who have studied this issue, will be aware that mood immediately lowers after a terminal diagnosis but that for the vast majority it goes up over time.
“This issue raises a plethora of moral issues which I suspect Ms Leadbeater has given little thought to including the prospect of those who are ill, particularly if they are elderly, coming under pressure to end their lives. Such legislation has the potential to change the culture of society so that the elderly see themselves as a burden.
“Rather than pushing for assisted suicide and portraying it as something compassionate, it would be much better if the palliative care was properly funded and supported by the state. In Northern Ireland, for example, hospices are less than 50% funded and there isn’t so much as a up to date palliative care strategy.
“Should assisted suicide be introduced in the UK I believe there is a very real risk that what was introduced supposedly as providing people with a choice will become an expectation.
“Labour, having given us a cradle to grave NHS, should not allow one of their backbenchers to change this to a policy of cradle to old age”.