Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced he will sit out the upcoming vote on legalizing assisted dying, stating his intention to avoid unduly influencing the debate. In a letter to members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), Burnham emphasized that his role as Prime Minister is to lead a government that implements the will of Parliament, regardless of the outcome.
"This is an incredibly important and personal debate, not just for members, but for so many people across the country," Burnham wrote. "There is no single right position and I have deep respect for MPs on all sides, and the expertise they bring to this debate. We have all had different life experiences that will inform how we see this issue and everyone must be given the space to arrive at their own decision on the Bill."
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is scheduled for its return to the House of Commons on September 11. The legislation proposes that adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live could apply for an assisted death, provided it is approved by two doctors and an expert panel.
This bill previously ran out of time in Parliament's last session. It had passed two votes in the House of Commons in previous years. The second vote, in 2025, saw the majority in favor narrow to 23, down from an earlier majority of 55. The bill also fell in the House of Lords in April of this year before Parliament was prorogued.
Labour MP Lauren Edwards, who reintroduced the bill, welcomed Burnham's confirmation of the government's unchanged position. "Number 10's position on the Terminally Ill Adults Bill is unchanged – that this is a matter for MPs in a free vote and that it will be Government policy to implement whatever Parliament decides," Edwards stated.
Burnham, who was not an MP and thus could not vote when the bill was previously before the Commons, has previously expressed that the funding of palliative and adult social care needs to be addressed before assisted dying can be legalized. Last month, he stated, "Personally, I think there's something that needs to happen first. That is the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care."
Edwards responded to these comments last month by asserting that there would be sufficient time to improve end-of-life care before any assisted dying service could be implemented under her proposed law. She noted that for the bill to be voted down in the Commons, at least 12 MPs who voted in favor previously would need to switch their votes to 'no', with all other MPs maintaining their prior voting stance.