When the Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP, Liam McArthur, first tabled his Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill two years ago, the result seemed almost a foregone conclusion. Nearly all of the party leaders supported it, at least in principle, along with a clear majority their elected members. Around 80 per cent of Scottish voters approved the principle of ‘dignity in dying’. They still do.

By no means all jurisdictions which passed ‘right to die’ laws have progressed down the infamous slippery slope to perdition, but enough have

By no means all jurisdictions which passed ‘right to die’ laws have progressed down the infamous slippery slope to perdition, but enough have

But as the day of decision drew near, MSPs of all parties began to reassess the simplistic argument for individual choice. Last night Holyrood staged a dignified and well informed debate – though it was highly emotional at times, with a number of MPs, McArthur included, breaking down. The majority against his private members’ bill, 69 to 57 was far greater than many had expected. But it should not have been. For in reality the moral case for assisted dying, as it is called, had crumbled long since. 

You can trace the change in sentiment to the moment last year when the former first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said she was ‘veering away’ from supporting the Bill. ‘It will be impossible,’ said the influential nationalist politician, ‘to guarantee that no one at the end of their life will feel a degree of pressure [to seek assisted suicide]’.

The party leaders all started veering in the same........

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