Can a change be expected? Will the UK Law Change?

SUMMARY

In March 2026 the Scottish Parliament voted, by 69 votes to 57, to defeat a Bill that would have legalised Assisted Dying. That was the final stage of the Bill. Its loss means that, realistically, Assisted Dying will remain illegal in Scotland at least until 2031

In England and Wales, the prospects are similarly gloomy – but not entirely without home. In June 2025 The House of Commons voted by 314 to 291 to pass, at its first stage, an Assisted Dying Bill. The Bill then progressed right through the House of Commons but has faced severe difficulties in the House of Lords. Its opponents have moved hundred of amendments and insist upon talking endlessly about them – their purpose is not to improve the Bill but simply to ensure that it runs out of Parliamentary time, thus ensuring its defeat. At the time of writing (March 2026) this tactic seems likely to succeed. The picture will be clearer by the end of May.

The England and Wales Bill, if passed, will allow a terminal dose of medication to be prescribed for someone who is incurably ill with less than six months to live. They will need to be over eighteen and a citizen of the UK. The decision will be their own. It will need to be supported by two doctors. The patient’s decision and the verdicts of the two doctors will need to be approved by a “panel of experts”. As originally drafted, the Bill made no reference to such a panel. Instead, each decision had to be signed off by a High Court Judge. This provision was changed during the Committee Stage because such close involvement of Judges would have been both impractical and financially expensive. Without the change, the Bill might not have passed at all.

It will no longer be an offence for anyone to help the patient through the process. Because no offence will have been committed, the Forfeiture Rule will not apply. The criteria for acceptance mean that patients with Parkinsons, any form of Dementia, Lewy Bodies or Motor Neurone Disease will still not be able to receive help in the form of an Assisted Death. The Bill will therefore have only a limited effect. It is estimated that the number of British people travelling to Switzerland to end their lives will fall by 30% but no more.

THE SITUATION NOW

If, as seems likely, the Bill in England and Wales joins its Scottish counterpart in defeat, then what will be the consequences for those seeking to end their lives before things get worse ?

There will not be an attempt to re-introduce such a Bill until after the next General Election. In England and Wales that need not be until June 2029. Even then, it is unlikely that a Bill could achieve success through the customary route of a Private Member’s Bill. The difficulties faced by Tracy Leadbeater’s current Bill should at least have been sufficient to ensure that. The main hope must be that one or more of the political parties will make such a Bill a core plank of their own election platform. It could then be included in their manifesto and, consequently, enshrined in the law if that party was successful in forming a Government after the Election. At the moment, such inclusion seems possible in the case of the Liberal Democrats and possibly the Greens. It is unlikely in any of the others.

In the meantime, however, there are two other minor changes that could be considered. Both could still make progress through the Private Member’s route.

The first would simply de-criminalise the relatives who have accompanied AVD (Assisted Voluntary Death) recipients to Switzerland. Such a Bill would be relatively simple. It was, in fact, on the point of being introduced in 2019 but its progress was stopped by Dignity in Dying.

The second would be to clarify the law concerning the Forfeiture Rule. At the moment, many Solicitors’ firms will not accept instructions to act as an executor of a Will if the deceased has received an AVD in Switzerland. They are worried that beneficiaries might cite the rule in order to challenge the Will. This could leave all executors with liabilities they do not want.