MPs back assisted dying, but was the debate long enough?

The debate on assisted dying, which culminated in a victory for those in favour, hasn’t been long enough – we knew that from the start – but it has been a very good one. There have been some very powerful arguments on both sides. There has also been a division between those who think that voting for the legislation at this stage is merely a qualified agreement to let it receive further scrutiny, and those who see it as an endorsement, both of the principle and of the detail. 

A number of MPs who spoke in favour, including David Davis and Liz Saville-Roberts, nonetheless raised concerns with the drafting, with the latter saying she would vote against the bill at later stages if it did not receive the length of debate and scrutiny that it still deserved. Labour’s Marie Tidball similarly said she would be voting in favour for the bill to proceed to the next stage.