New Oxford University Chancellor undecided on Assisted Dying Bill
Lord William Hague gives his views on the Assisted Dying Bill
Lord William Hague, the new Oxford University Chancellor has been speaking about his views on the Assisted Dying Bill.
Tomorrow morning MP’s take to the House of Commons and vote for the first time in a decade on a bill that would legalise assisted dying for people who are terminally ill across England and Wales.
“These are issues of life and death”
The former foreign secretary and Conservative Party leader says he is undecided on which way he would vote if he was still an MP, he says: “I’m not in the House of Commons but if I was, I probably wouldn’t be voting for the bill.
“I would like this whole issue to receive bigger debate as it’s five hours of debate probably, where MP’s who are agonising over it have to make a difficult decision.”
He added: "It’s the sort of issue on which the Government should facilitate different options where Parliament could discuss things over a period of months to reach a considered decision with options in front of them.
If the Bill passes the first stage in the Commons, it will go to committee stage where MPs can table amendments, before facing further scrutiny and votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
“I think that would be a better path to go down if this issue needs considering again in the future.”
There's been some debate about whether religion should play a role in how MPs decide to vote tomorrow, which William Hague says, “you can’t separate views on religion from views on other issues”.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say to people, you have strong religious views, but you must put that to one side whilst deciding about this. These are issues of life and death”, Lord Hague adds.
Campaigners on the matter:
Pro-change campaigners Dignity in Dying argue that, along with good care, dying people who are terminally ill, and mentally competent adults deserve the choice to control the timing and manner of their death.
On the other hand, campaign group Care Not Killing are against “assisted suicide” and “euthanasia”, arguing that the focus should be on “promoting more and better palliative care” rather than any law change.
University of Oxford’s next Chancellor
It’s only one day after the former foreign secretary and Conservative Party leader, Lord William Hague has been elected as the new chancellor of the University of Oxford.
Staff and alumni voted online for the first time to elect the chancellor, a post which has been in place at Oxford for 800 years.
Lord Hague beat a number of high-profile candidates, including the Sarah Everard Inquiry chief Lady Elish Angiolini and Labour peer Lord Peter Mandelson, in the race for the historic position.
It comes after fellow Tory Lord Chris Patten announced that he would be retiring after more than 20 years in the role.
Lord Hague will be inaugurated as chancellor early in the new year and he will serve for a term of 10 years.