UK National News - 'Living wills' Bill passes reading amid Commons chaos

15 December 2004

'Living wills' Bill passes reading amid Commons chaos

A climb down last night by the Government helped push the Mental Incapacity Bill through its second stage reading, amid chaotic scenes in the Commons last night.

Much of the furore centred on a revelation by Constitutional Affairs Minister David Lammy that there had been contact with leading church figures regarding issues arising from the legislation proposed in the Bill.

It emerged that a letter sent by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, to the Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff, had sought to assure that the Government did not want the Bill to "authorise any decision where the motive is to kill, as opposed to relieving or preventing suffering, or ending treatment where the patient is in an irreversible coma".

The letter, which had not been seen by the other parties, was circulated to Labour MPs. Other MPs were outraged that they were being asked by the Government to vote on "life and death" legislation without being in possession of the "full facts".

The Government Bill had already faced a backbench revolt with critics of the Bill claiming that it could legalise euthanasia by the back door, by enabling doctors to legally withhold food and fluids from severely incapacitated patients.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith raised a petition supporting an all-party amendment that attempted to ensure that the proposed laws could not be used to justify a doctor doing anything that would cause the death of a patient intentionally.

The Liberal Democrats and Tories had a free vote, and Labour MPs declared that this was a "conscience" issue and appealed for a free vote - a plea that was rejected by Ministers.

In the end, although 34 Labour MPs defied the party whip voting to back the amendment and 100 other abstained, the amendment was defeated by 297 votes to 203 a majority of 94.

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who was absent from the house on other duties, did not take part in the vote.

Though the Government has maintained that the Bill has been misunderstood and has nothing to do with euthanasia, the Commons debacle has raised the spectre of the serious mishandling of a crucial Government Bill in its passage through the House of Commons.

While some consider that the Bill will give better safeguards over issues relating to treatment, Christian groups had expressed concerns that food and water could be withheld even if doctors thought this was inappropriate - in effect legalising killing by omission.

The Government said new legislation is necessary as laws relating to mental incapacity were out of date. In the Government's view people are entitled to write a 'living will' and set out how they would like to be treated, but under existing legislation this not binding.

The British Medical Association has backed the Bill, which the organisation says gives incapacitated people the same rights as others.

(SP)