Most of what our lawmakers do on a day-to-day basis is fairly drab. This is not to say it is unimportant, but the issues they tackle and the decisions they make tend to impact only small subsets of the population.

Oftentimes, we wouldn’t even know. Yesterday, in the Scottish Parliament, MSPs nominated a new Patient Safety Commissioner. Most of us will never know her name, nor ever need to (it’s Karen Titchener, by the way).

The Scottish Government’s debating time yesterday was dedicated to Scotland’s place in Europe. An important issue, no doubt, but a debate which is not going to lead to any material change, one which will be dominated by entrenched views and pre-scripted speeches, and one to which the average person in the street will be oblivious.

Every so often, however, a parliament reaches in behind the front door of our lives and makes a decision which impacts us all. On Tuesday, at Holyrood, MSPs did this by voting on Liam McArthur MSP’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.

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There is some distance to travel before this Bill becomes law; this was a Stage 1 vote, which means that the legislation will now be subject to scrutiny and amendment by the relevant Scottish Parliament committee, before facing another vote by MSPs.

Nonetheless, it was a momentous day by any measure and, if passed, the assisted dying legislation could, in some way, impact great numbers of us for the remainder of our lives.

It was invigorating, therefore, to witness our Parliament and........

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