Watch: Lib Dem MP flounders on assisted dying

The Terminally Ill Adults has at last been published and MPs can finally pour over the detail. But one supporter of assisted dying who might want to brush up on her answers is Christine Jardine, the Honourable Member for Edinburgh West. Jardine – who is co-sponsoring Kim Leadbeater’s bill in the Commons – appeared on Newsnight last night to try to make the case for the legislation. Yet the Lib Dem MP came unstuck when host Victoria Derbyshire asked about coercion of patients.

How, Derbyshire asked, would anyone know if someone had been coerced? Jardine babbled about ‘medical knowledge’ before her host – correctly – pointed out that ‘doctors are not trained in coercive control.’ Her guest then suggested the legislation’s ‘impetus’ was coming from those at the end of the life, with Derbyshire asking Jardine if ‘sincerity’ was really a sufficient substitute for proof of an absence of coercion.