May 17th, 2021
The Government would reportedly be pleased to see a parliamentary inquiry into the law banning assisted dying in England and Wales, it has been reported. The
Telegraph reports that the Government has no intention of instigating its own inquiry into assisted dying, but also quotes a senior source at the Ministry of Justice as saying words to the effect that Ministers would ‘be pleased to see either the Health select committee or Justice select committee gather evidence on the issue’.
The news follows shortly after a group of 56 MPs and peers wrote to the Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland MP, and the Chairs of the Health, Justice, and Human Rights select committee, about assisted dying. The letters were co-organised by Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision, and was backed by Humanists UK’s patron Dr Henry Marsh, who has advanced cancer. They urged one of them to launch an inquiry into assisted dying. If the Government was not minded to launch its own inquiry,