Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Lauren Edwards and Jim Shannon

2nd reading
Friday 11th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

The hon. Lady is setting the scene for what the Bill hopes to achieve, but she cannot ignore the overwhelming 68% of the public who believe that it must be paused, or the 73% of people who say that it should be rejected outright. The public see the danger. This House must halt the process, pause the Bill and instead focus on properly funding world-class palliative care.

[Lauren Edwards]

I think we need to be very careful when we are quoting polling. For instance, we know that Whitestone Insight has been criticised heavily by the British Polling Council in recent weeks for failing to meet its standards in terms of disclosing who has been funding its research. The reference I am making in my speech is to those very robust, independent polls, such as the British attitudes survey, which in 2024 found that 73% of the British public supported assisted dying and have done so over the last 20 years.