Legalising assisted dying would have prevented my father 'brutally' taking his own life - former MP

Campaigners say 600 terminally ill people take their own lives every year.

A former MP says legalising assisted dying in Scotland will prevent people like his father “brutally” taking their own lives.

Paul Blomfield says his father could have lived longer and died with his family if assisted dying had been an option for him, after his parent received a terminal diagnosis at the age of 87.

Speaking to The Scotsman, the former Labour MP said: “My father, at the age of 87, got a terminal diagnosis.

Former MP Paul Blomfield. | House of Commons Archive/Press Association.

“He’d seen a lot of his friends die badly and he’d always said that he wouldn’t want that for himself. But I was still shocked when he took his own life and took it at a relatively early stage.

“There was no treatment so he would have died, but it had not progressed to the point where he couldn't have had some enjoyment in life. He, like lots of other people who make that decision, died alone and prematurely because he acted while he still had the capacity to do so.

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“If assisted dying laws had been in place, he would have died with his family and lived longer.”

The Scottish Parliament is discussing the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, which has been introduced by Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur.

Liam McArthur MSP | Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

If passed, the legislation would give all terminally ill adults over the age of 16 the right to an assisted death if they still have mental capacity, and this was signed off by two separate doctors. Similar legislation for terminally ill adults over the age of 18 is being considered in Westminster.

Mr Blomfield said around 6,000 people a year suffer in death, and around 600 people take their own lives.

He said: “Some who take their own lives do so more brutally than my father. Someone told me of someone who had thrown himself in front of a train, which is an awful way to die and traumatising to the family and the train driver.

“Others have shot themselves. Some starve themselves and doctors are required to support them through that, and that is an awful way to die. So we will sanction that cruel assisted death, but not enable compassionate assisted death.”

Mr Blomfield made the comments at an event at the Scottish Labour Party conference in Glasgow on Friday. The event was hosted by the campaign group Dignity in Dying.

At the event, a nurse from West Lothian raised her own concerns about the legislation in Holyrood, saying the cost of social care could coerce people into opting for an assisted death.

Professor June Andrews, who specialises in dementia and elderly care, said: “I’ve been with lots of people who are dying and their families after they have died. MPs often describe horrible deaths, but I am not convinced that the legislation would stop the majority of these deaths from occurring.

“There is also a significant risk of unintended consequences. Knowing how much it costs to have dementia in this country, a diagnosis of dementia would strip me of everything I could leave for my daughter.

“The circumstances of our country and the funding of elderly care could lead people to say ‘I will take myself out of the picture’.”

Dementia would not be covered by the assisted dying laws going through Holyrood. Prof Andrews also raised concerns about discussions with relatives and psychiatric assessments in signing off assisted deaths.