Sir Ed Davey has said he is “sceptical” of the case for assisted dying in the UK, but agreed MPs should be given a free vote on the issue.
The Liberal Democrat leader, speaking from the party’s annual conference in Brighton, told Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates MPs must “listen to all sides” of a debate and “deeply and carefully” consider the outcome.
MPs could vote on whether to introduce assisted dying in the UK in the coming months after Downing Street confirmed it would not obstruct a private member’s bill on the subject.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously said he would back a change in the law, while the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said she could not support a policy she described as a “dangerous position to be in”.
Sir Ed said he has “quite personal” concerns about the “critical issue” of assisted dying, largely because of his own mother’s battle with bone cancer.
He said: “My concerns are both quite personal. I asked my mother as a teenager when she was dying of bone cancer. And I saw someone with a very painful disease.”
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The Liberal Democrat leader said that through nursing and palliative care “she was able to enjoy life and be with us”.
Separately, Sir Ed has concerns about the pressure legalising assisted dying could place on elderly people.
He said this wouldn’t “necessarily” be from relatives, but “from the inside, internally, which they may not express”.
Sir Ed added: “A situation where healthy people might think they are a burden and then proceed with this, that is a huge worry.”
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Despite his views on the issue of assisted dying, Sir Ed stressed that the Liberal Democrats are “very open” to a debate, which he said should end in a “free vote”.
He said: “It will take me to a lot to shift me, but I think we need to debate this. Maybe there are new treatments, new safeguards. I’m open to listening to the debate. But I do come to it as a sceptic for the reasons I’ve described.”
Assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
In Scotland, it is not a specific criminal offence but assisting the death of someone can leave a person open to being charged with murder or other offences.
A Liberal Democrat MSP, Liam McArthur, is leading efforts to change the law in Scotland with a private member’s bill on the issue, despite the party leader’s own reluctance.
The issue came back to prominence earlier this year after journalist and campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen revealed she had signed up to the assisted dying clinic, Dignitas, due to her stage four lung cancer.
She said under current UK law, her family could be left at risk of prosecution if they helped her to go to Zurich, where assisted dying is legal, something she branded “not right” and “not ethical”.
But those who oppose a change warned it could put pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a burden on others, and argued the disabled, elderly, sick or depressed could be especially at risk.