Among the 22 signatories to the letter was Liz Reed, whose brother Rob Smyth died in Australia, where assisted dying is legal, with the letter stating he did so “in a place of their choosing, with their families holding their hand, peacefully and without pain”.
The letter’s author said his brother Michael “took his own life” while dying of the same disease, and his sister, Trudi, died at Dignitas after having motor neurone disease, having wanted to “die at home, in her own bed, with her family and dogs around her”.
In a post on X, the Conservative MP for East Wiltshire wrote: “The new plan: drop the judicial safeguard, replace it with a panel – not a court – without a judge, sitting in private, without meeting the patient, without family informed or able to appeal against an approval; and approval must be given if the easy test of ‘capacity’ is met.”.
Earlier this week, Kim Leadbeater, who has sponsored the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, announced she would bring forward amendments replacing a High Court judge’s oversight of the process with an expert panel including psychiatrists and social workers.
The letter, signed by five MPs including Dame Meg Hillier, said: “Many MPs were already deeply concerned about the removal of the High Court oversight that they voted for.
