St Pier’s plans have helped kill demand early next year

Gavin St Pier labeled yesterday’s vote in the House of Commons, in which MPs voted in favor of Labor MP Kim Leadbeater’s Terminal Adults (End of Life) Bill, as “historic and very welcome”.

“It will bring a safer and more compassionate choice at the end of life for the terminally ill,” he said.

At the vote, 330 MPs voted in favor of allowing assisted death, with 275 against.

It means England and Wales have moved a step closer to passing a law giving terminally ill people the right to choose to end their lives.

Months of parliamentary scrutiny lie ahead, and if it becomes law, the first cases in England and Wales are not expected for at least two years.

The St Pier MP, who unsuccessfully campaigned to change local laws in 2018 and more recently suggested that Guernsey and Jersey should work together on any necessary legal changes, reiterated his frustration that lawmakers in Jersey, the Isle of Man and now England and Wales had managed to get ahead of Guernsey.

“I have said many times in recent years that this is inevitable social change, not least because the overwhelming majority of the public wants it,” he said.

“States missed an opportunity to lead on this issue in 2018.”

Local research published in March indicated that almost nine out of 10 islanders wanted to see the law changed to allow assisted dying.

The St Pier MP said it had always been his intention to give the states a vote on the issue during the current term.

“I will now try to work with colleagues to bring an application to the United States in the first quarter of 2025,” he said.