Maidenhead MP criticises Theresa May comments on assisted dying bill

Former Prime Minister Theresa May has spoken out against the assisted dying bill in the House of Lords – but her successor as Maidenhead's MP has hit back and accused her of 'scaremongering'.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill passed through the House of Commons and is now being scrutinised by the upper house.

Former Maidenhead MP, Baroness Theresa May (Con) voiced her opposition to it on Friday (September 12). Though she is an ambassador for Thames Hospice, she made it clear that she spoke only her personal views.

She said: “First, I do not believe that the safeguards in the bill will prevent people being pressurised to end their lives, sometimes for the benefit of others.

“I worry that, as we have seen in countries where there is such a law, people will feel that they must end their lives simply because they feel that they are a burden on others.

“I worry about the impact that it will have on people with disabilities, with chronic illness and with mental health problems, because there is a risk that legalising assisted dying reinforces the dangerous notion that some lives are less worth living than others.

“Again, as we have seen in other countries, once a law like this is passed, the pressure grows to extend the scope of it.”

She further thought that the bill gave the impression that ‘suicide is OK’ amid a national push to try to reduce death by suicide.

“This is not an assisted dying bill but an assisted suicide bill,” she told the House of Lords.

She also told the Lords she feared the bill could be used as a 'cover up' for hospital mistakes and said a friend had referred to it as the 'Licence to Kill Bill.'

Now Maidenhead’s MP, Joshua Reynolds – who voted in favour of the bill when it went through the Commons – has called Baroness May’s choice of language ‘incredibly unhelpful.’

“Whether you agree with the concept or not, that kind of scaremongering is not the kind of productive conversation that we need to have,” he said.

“Language like that is just designed to instil [fear].”

Mr Reynolds insisted that the bill’s scope and the act of suicide are ‘not comparable.’

“This bill says that if you have six months left to live, you can choose to take away that pain and suffering early. That is incredibly different [to suicide],” he said.

He also rejected Baroness May’s view that once the bill is passed, there will be ‘pressure to extend the scope of it.’

Mr Reynolds said the bill allows for assisted dying only under limited circumstances and criteria – and said it was ‘really clear in its scope.’

“Having read the bill in great detail a number of times, it is very clear that if there is a wish to broaden its scope in the future, it has to go back through the Commons,” he said.

Maidenhead’s MP also expressed scepticism regarding vulnerable people facing pressure to end their lives.

“The bill has some of the strongest safeguards in the world,” he said. “So no, I don't believe we’re going to be in that kind of position.”

He added that the act of going through the House of Lords was ‘the perfect opportunity’ to make existing safeguards even stronger.

“I would be interested to hear which safeguards the Lords would like to put in place if [they think those in place aren’t strong enough], rather than just talking about how they don’t like the bill,” he said.

“That’s the role of the Lords.”

Baroness May declined to comment further on Mr Reynold's words.