Prime Minister Andy Burnham to abstain in assisted dying vote next month

Andy Burnham said he does not want to ‘unduly influence the debate’ in his role as Prime Minister (Carl Court/PA) PA Wire Y. Áine Fox 1 minute ago Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he intends to abstain from the upcoming vote on proposed legislation to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales.

He said he does not want to “unduly influence the debate” in his role as Prime Minister and has therefore decided it is “most appropriate” for him not to cast a vote next month.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which ran out of time in Parliament’s last session, is due back in the House of Commons on September 11.

The Bill proposes allowing adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.

In a letter to the Parliamentary Labour Party, he wrote: “I, of course, have my own personal views on the issue.

“However, I am also clear that this is a matter for Parliament to decide and my role, as the Prime Minister, will be to lead a Government that implements the will of Parliament in this area – whether that is to change the law or not.

“I also do not want to unduly influence the debate as Prime Minister and for every colleague to know it is a genuinely free vote. For these reasons, I have taken the decision that it is most appropriate for me not to vote at second reading.”

Mr Burnham also warned ministers they “should avoid being part of the public debate, and should not express views about the implications of the Bill for their department’s responsibilities”.

Wes Streeting, when in post as health secretary last year, voted against the Bill and warned that legalising assisted dying would take “time and money” away from other parts of the health service.

Mr Streeting had said better end-of-life care was needed to prevent terminally ill people feeling they had no alternative but to end their own life.

Labour MP Lauren Edwards has taken the Bill on after it ran out of time in the last session of Parliament earlier this year, having been first introduced in late 2024 by Kim Leadbeater.

UK deploys rapid response team to Nepal to support Britons affected by floods

Holidaymakers ‘disenfranchise themselves’, says Reform MP over postal vote plans

The Bill passed two votes in the House of Commons – albeit the second one with a narrowed majority – but fell in the House of Lords after peers tabled hundreds of amendments and were accused of effectively talking it out.