The letter, signed by MPs from across both the country and the political divide, was published in The Times:
Sir,
After informed, compassionate, reasoned and detailed contributions from all sides and all parties, more than half the House of Commons last week voted to reject the proposal that doctors should be licensed to help their patients kill themselves. This followed similar rejections in the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly in the past year. Many MPs stated that instead the way forward should be to improve the quality and availability of palliative care.
It is therefore now right that parliament, and the government, show the same rigour and compassion in seeking the best available care and support for those facing the challenge of terminal or chronic illness, and that substantially increased funds are provided to support end-of-life care and further research in this area, building on the huge progress made in this country on end-of-life care over recent decades. It is the least that we, as a society, owe to our elderly and vulnerable. In an aging population this is an urgent and essential responsibility.
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Rt Hon Frank Field MP Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP Rt Hon Jeffrey Donaldson MP Rt Hon David Lammy MP Rt Hon Gisela Stuart MP Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP Sir David Amess MP Sir William Cash MP Sir Roger Gale MP Sir Edward Leigh MP Stuart Andrew MP Caroline Ansell MP Sir Henry Bellingham MP Bob Blackman MP Lady Victoria Borwick MP Graham Brady MP Lyn Brown MP Fiona Bruce MP Conor Burns MP Simon Burns MP |
David Burrowes MP Gregory Campbell MP Maria Caulfield MP Dr Thérèse Coffey MP Rosie Cooper MP Neil Coyle MP Jim Cunningham MP Nigel Dodds MP Nadine Dorries MP Steve Double MP Flick Drummond MP Rob Flello MP John Glen MP Sir Alan Haselhurst MP Susan Elan Jones MP Mike Kane MP Seema Kennedy MP Jeremy Lefroy MP Tim Loughton MP Paul Maynard MP |
Siobhain McDonagh MP Mark Menzies MP Bob Neill MP Ian Paisley MP Neil Parish MP Mark Pawsey MP John Pugh MP Yasmin Qureshi MP Jonathan Reynolds MP Gavin Robinson MP Jim Shannon MP Virendra Sharma MP Gavin Shuker MP Caroline Spelman MP Gary Streeter MP Kelly Tolhurst MP Michael Tomlinson MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP Valerie Vaz MP Sammy Wilson MP |
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