Sir Keir Starmer ‘doubles down’ on free vote on assisted dying but hints it won't be in first year of Labour government

12 July 2024, 06:02

Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer. Picture: Alamy
Natasha Clark

By Natasha Clark

Sir Keir Starmer has doubled down on his promise for a vote to change the law to allow assisted dying.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The Prime Minister told LBC he would honour his commitment made before the election to give MPs a free vote on whether to change the law.

But he suggested it would not be in the first year of a Labour government, as he had other priorities to sort out first.

Speaking to LBC and other media on the way to Washington DC for his first international summit, he insisted he would still like to see a private members’ bill from a backbench MP get used to change the law.

And he revealed he had looked at “tens of cases” of this during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions.

He insisted that he’d not made a decision on when the timing could take place, but insisted he would not row back on his commitment.

Read more: Dame Esther Rantzen says she will 'open a bottle of champagne live on air' if assisted dying vote goes ahead

Read more: British woman with terminal breast cancer euthanised on New Zealand beach after urging for assisted dying law change

Dame Esther Rantzen joins Nick Ferrari

The PM said: “I will double down on that commitment – we will allow time for a private members bill, and there will be a free vote.

“Having probably got more experience than most people, having personally looked at tens of cases in my time as DPP.

“I haven’t made a commitment on timing and don’t want to… I’m not going back on the commitment I made, but we have got to set out priorities for the first year or so.”

Follow the NATO summit on LBC
Follow the NATO summit on LBC. Picture: LBC

Dame Esther Rantzen, the former TV presenter, has said she will open a bottle of champagne live on air if a vote on assisted dying takes place.

The legendary broadcaster, who is suffering from cancer, has called for a change in the law to allow people suffering like her to be able to end their life with dignity, at a time they choose.

The King’s Speech is expected to include top aims for the government including on the NHS, prisons, putting VAT on school fees, and other promises from Labour’s manifesto.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Dorothy Chiles

Great-grandmother, 87, pictured for first time after deadly train station attack, as woman in her 20s arrested

President Donald Trump speaks on Wednesday night

Trump says 'the US wants its money back on Ukraine' as he makes plans to meet Putin and end war

Exclusive
Katie Amess has spoken out about the need for an inquiry into her father's murder by an Islamist terrorist

Daughter of Sir David Amess, MP murdered by Islamist terrorist, ‘made to sign NDA’ on report into father’s death

Exclusive
Angela Rayner reveals she took advice from NHS trauma specialists ahead of Grenfell demolition meeting

Angela Rayner reveals she took advice from NHS trauma specialists ahead of Grenfell demolition meeting

Italian F1 Grand Prix - Previews

Nightclub bouncer behind £12m plot to reveal Formula One star Michael Schumacher's health secrets jailed

Josef Fritzl

Incest monster Josef Fritzl could walk free from prison next year - and expects 'cheering crowds' to greet him

Ofsted's Chief Inspector Sir Martyn Oliver supports an extension to term times

'Time to think about school holidays': Ofsted's Chief Inspector supports extending term times

Exclusive
Angela Rayner insisted that British support for Ukraine was 'unwavering'

Rayner insists UK support for Ukraine 'unwavering' despite Trump's plan for 'immediate' peace talks with Putin

Prince William, President of BAFTA, operates a film camera as he visits the London Screen Academy in London, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)

William tries his hand at being a cameraman on visit to London film academy

President Donald J. Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during the G20 Japan Summit Friday, June 28, 2019, in Osaka, Japan.

Trump and Putin 'to meet in Saudi Arabia' and 'start negotiations immediately' to end war in Ukraine

Street scene in Peckham, London, with red bus

Bus driver, 76, found guilty of killing passenger who was run over while attempting to board vehicle

Norward Road, Lambeth, the proposed LTN.

Council staff given 'wellbeing day' after attending 'stormy' neighbourhood meeting

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, shakes hands with Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey prior to a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Feb.

Ukraine's NATO membership plans 'unrealistic' says US - as defence secretary claims US troops won't be peacekeepers

Jaysley Beck, 19, was found dead at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire

Officer accused of pinning down and trying to kiss soldier, 19, had been 'waiting for moment for them to be alone'

A public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks will begin 'within weeks'

Public inquiry into Nottingham attacks will begin 'within weeks', PM tells victims' families

Paul Allen.

Cagefighter guilty of Britain's largest cash robbery shot in neck in his kitchen in murder plot