Dying peer calls for relaxation of laws

A FORMER Labour MP “who is dying” and recently spent time in a hospice wants the laws on assisted dying to be relaxed.

A statement from Frank Field, 79, was read out in the House of Lords as his illness meant he was unable to take part in the Assisted Dying Bill at second reading.

The proposed legislation, tabled by independent peer Baroness Meacher, would give patients of sound mind, with six months or less left to live, the right to die by taking life-ending medication.

Campaigners say a change in the law would give those at the end of their lives greater control over how and when they die.

Opponents, including many religious leaders, say it could leave vulnerable people exposed to unwanted pressure.

Opening the debate, Lady Meacher said: “Our colleague Lord Field of Birkenhead, who is dying, asked me to read out a short statement.”

Peers heard Lord Field said: “I’ve just spent a short period in a hospice and I’m not well enough to participate in today’s debate. If I had been, I’d have spoken strongly in favour of the second reading.

“I changed my mind on assisted dying when an MP friend dying of cancer wanted to die early before the full horror effects set in, but was denied this opportunity.

“A major argument against the Bill is unfounded. It is thought by some the culture would change and that people would be pressured into ending their lives.

“The number of assisted deaths in the US and Australia remains very low, under 1%, and a former supreme court judge of Victoria, Australia, about pressure from relatives, said it just hasn’t been an issue. I hope the House will today vote for the Assisted Dying Bill.”

Lord Field took his seat in the upper chamber in October 2020 after being elected 10 times to represent Birkenhead between 1979 and 2019.

He served as welfare reform minister in Tony Blair’s first government in 1997 and went on to chair the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

He later resigned the Labour whip over antisemitism and “nastiness” in the party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.