Burnham to abstain on assisted dying bill to avoid swaying Labour MPs

Andy Burnham has written to Labour MPs stating he will not vote when the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill returns to the Commons next month, according to reporting by the Guardian and the Mirror. The Greater Manchester mayor said he does not wish to influence the outcome of the debate among colleagues. No 10 is reported to have indicated that the prime minister similarly has no intention of steering the vote in either direction, leaving MPs to reach their own view.

The bill, which ran out of parliamentary time in its previous session, will return to the Commons for what is expected to be a significant vote on whether to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults. Burnham had previously said publicly that he believed palliative and social care provision needed to be improved before any such change in the law, making his decision to abstain rather than vote against notable. The bill has divided opinion across parties and within Labour itself.

Supporters of the bill are reported by the Guardian to have welcomed Burnham's decision not to vote against. No formal opposition response is available in the supplied material. The bill's return is expected next month, and the government's position of allowing a free vote means individual MPs will face pressure from both sides of the argument in their constituencies.