Anti-euthanasia campaigners celebrate victory

“WE HAVE won the battle, but not the war,” Catholic Labour MP Rob Flello said this week after MPs voted overwhelmingly against the legalisation of assisted dying, writes Liz Dodd. The Marris bill, which sought to allow terminally ill people the right to end their lives, was defeated by 330 votes to 118 in a free vote last Friday.

Mr Flello, who has campaigned against legalising euthanasia, said that some MPs changed their minds and voted against the bill at the last moment after being approached by constituents. He said these people defeated the well-funded PR operation behind pro-euthanasia organisations like the charity Dignity in Dying.

“Often people say they won’t bother writing letters to MPs as it won’t have an effect. This shows how vital it is to galvanise people to take action,” he said.

Ahead of the vote, the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales urged Catholics to lobby their MPs and supplied parishes with postcards to send them.

This week it welcomed MPs’ rejection of the bill. The Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith, said: “There is so much excellent practice in palliative care and I hope now the debate is behind us, that this will become a focus for political action.”

Mr Flello described the tension ahead of the landmark vote and said that powerful speeches made by the bill’s opponents during the debate also affected the outcome.

“The turning point came when I realised that the speeches were 2-1 against,” he said, but he warned the issue would not go away. “This was a ‘Trojan Horse’ bill,” he said. “They will be back.”

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said that the vote showed that MPs were out of touch. “Suffering will continue as long as MPs turn a blind eye to dying people’s wishes. Dying people deserve better,” she said.