Archbishop-designate: I will vote against assisted dying Bill

The Archbishop of Canterbury-in-waiting has vowed to vote against the assisted dying Bill, warning it is “unsafe”.

Dame Sarah Mullally, who already had a seat in the House of Lords as Bishop of London, has been outspoken in her opposition to legalising a right to die for terminally ill adults.

On the day she was publicly confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury-designate, she said she will vote no if the opportunity arises in the coming months in Parliament.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill passed second reading stage in the House of Lords last month – the furthest any such legislation has progressed through Parliament at Westminster.

While Bills at third reading in the Lords are presented to peers for approval, they are not always put to a vote.

But Dame Sarah has said she and her Church of England colleagues on the chamber’s red benches are likely to bring an amendment to vote on the principle of the Bill.

In an interview with the PA news agency, she said: “If there is an amendment that comes that is on the principle, I will vote against the assisted dying Bill.”

The Bill is currently set to go through further “unprecedented” scrutiny by a select committee of peers, to begin this month, before moving along any further in the parliamentary process.

Dame Sarah, speaking in Canterbury Cathedral, told PA: “I think that what is absolutely right at the moment is that the House of Lords are giving space for scrutiny and also for further exploration.

“My belief is that the Bill is unsafe, and no matter how you amend it, it is unsafe. I also recognise that I would share the view of those that are pro the Bill, that we want to ensure that people have a peaceful and pain-free death.

“But my belief is that we should be improving palliative care, palliative care research, rather than a Bill that in a sense, is going to be most challenging to those that are already challenged in our society.

“There is every possibility that, when it comes to the third reading, that the Lord spirituals will put a vote on the actual principle.”

She said in this event she will vote no.

A predecessor of Dame Sarah’s, Lord George Carey, has previously warned that bishops and peers in the Lords should not claim to know better than the public by standing in the way of legalising assisted dying.

Lord Carey, who was the Church of England’s top bishop for 11 years, is at odds with his religious colleagues on the issue and claimed they are not representing their own Church in their staunch opposition to the Bill.

He warned that both the Lords and Church bishops risk their legitimacy as major institutions in public life by blocking the Bill.

Lord Falconer, who is steering the Bill through the Lords, has previously warned against attempts to slow the progress of or even block the Bill, telling peers: “Our job is not to frustrate, it is to scrutinise.”

The draft legislation proposes allowing terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death.

This would be subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.