Davidson: My mistake on assisted dying bill

RUTH Davidson has said she regrets her “mistake” in voting against a bill on assisted dying, with the leader of the Scottish Conservatives in Holyrood saying it is time for the law to change.

She said her own experiences of IVF treatment and some of those close to her suffering from dementia had led to a change of heart on assisted dying.

In a column for the Sunday Telegraph, she said her decision to vote against the bill is the one choice that “eats away” after her 10-year career at Holyrood.

She is due to step down as an MSP at the election next year and is expected to enter the House of Lords.

The Scottish Parliament has twice considered bills aimed at introducing assisted suicide, with these having brought forward by independent MSP Margo Macdonald and – following her death from Parkinson’s disease – Green MSP Patrick Harvie.

Both measures failed to get enough support from MSPS to become law.

Ms Davidson said: “For me, a tortuous clash of head and heart, faith and intellect, right to life versus injustice of suffering was finally resolved by living the science of birth and watching the degeneration of mind, each day.”

She continued: “In 10 years of elected politics, I have made more mistakes than I can ever hope to remember, but the mistake that eats away, demanding redress, is voting against assisted dying.

“Sometimes, amid complex arguments and conflicting evidence, you know – simply know in the essence of your being – that something is plain wrong. It’s time to change the law.”