Moments before the result on the assisted dying bill was announced earlier today, I saw a WhatsApp message telling me we had lost the vote. My heart sank and I exchanged depressed glances with some of my fellow anti-assisted dying Lib Dem colleagues. I prayed earnestly that those figures were in error.
Then the result was revealed: the Ayes had 270 votes and the Noes, 286 votes. I felt a spine-tingling sense of God at work, a deep relief… but no desire to be triumphalist.
The advocates for assisted dying are motivated by compassion for those suffering. It’s important to recognise that MPs come to this debate from a range of complex standpoints, and not to demonise those who hold different views. Leaving the Commons, I put my arm around a pro-assisted dying colleague from another party who was sobbing. To her, this bill would have alleviated suffering and that prospect had just been snatched away.
The rise of populist politics?
The Clacton by-election takes place on 13th August with 33 candidates – none from the main political parties – challenging …