Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said palliative care and social care need to be fixed before assisted dying is considered in the UK. His comments came as MPs prepare to debate a Bill designed to legalise assisted dying when Parliament returns after its summer recess.
Mr Burnham's intervention marks a change of direction from his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer, who personally supported legalising assisted dying but said changing the law was a matter of conscience for MPs.
Burnham's position on assisted dying
Mr Burnham told reporters: “I take the view that that debate – and I don’t say that there shouldn’t be a debate at some point about those issues – personally, I think there’s something that needs to happen first. That is the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care. I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care. That’s the way I kind of see this, and that’s the position that I will stick to.”
His comments came as he announced plans to reform the social care system, aiming to create a national care service and reach broad political consensus on funding.
Previous stance and personal experience
In 2024, just before the first Commons vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, Mr Burnham told BBC Manchester he would “probably vote in favour of it”. He had previously abstained from a 2015 vote on another Bill due to concerns over safeguards and people feeling under pressure. However, he said “family experience in the nine years since that has changed my view”. He added: “I think we do allow people to suffer and families to suffer too much.”
He caveated his support as being for the principle of assisted dying and insisted he would want a requirement that hospices be “properly funded and sorted out” before any new law was implemented. He also spoke of his Catholic background and how “Catholic social teaching underpins my politics”, despite being “not particularly religious”. The Catholic Church opposes assisted dying legislation.
Reactions from other politicians
Mr Burnham's views align with several prominent parliamentarians, including Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who have called for improved palliative care before assisted dying is legalised. Labour MP Jess Asato, an opponent of the Bill, welcomed Burnham's stance. She said: “Most MPs concerned about the assisted dying Bill have always been clear that their concerns aren’t about the principle, but the practical implications. We have a responsibility to consider the safety of introducing such a flawed Bill into a broken and failing care system. There can be no meaningful choice and no dignity at the end of life if we don’t have a palliative care system that provides basic support for the vulnerable, and an affordable social care system that gives everyone dignity at the end of their lives. It’s really welcome that the PM recognises this and has committed the Government to fixing our broken social care system.”
