Burnham says he will sit out new vote on legalising assisted dying to avoid influencing MPs and warns ministers the Government should be neutral

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 11:04 EDT, 28 August 2026 | Updated: 11:26 EDT, 28 August 2026 Andy Burnham will sit out a new vote on legalising assisted dying because he does not want to 'unduly influence the debate as Prime Minister'.In a letter to members of the Parliamentary Labour Party ahead of a new attempt to pass the controversial law, he said he wanted to give MPs space to make up their own minds.Mr Burnham has previously voiced support for legalisation but last month said it would be difficult to do so before adult social care was improved.The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which ran out of time in Parliament's last session, is due back in the House of Commons on September 11.The Bill proposes allowing adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.When it was first brought forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater in 2024 as a Private Member's Bill, then PM Sir Keir Starmer voted for it. However, senior ministers, including then Health Secretary Wes Streeting, voted against it. In his letter, Mr Burnham appeared to warn his top team against getting involved this time, saying his role was 'to lead a Government that implements the will of Parliament in this area – whether that is to change the law or not'.'This is an incredibly important and personal debate, not just for members, but for so many people across the country,' he said. In a letter to members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) ahead of a new attempt to pass the controversial law, he said he wanted to give MPs space to make up their own minds. When it was first brought forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater in 2024 as a Private Member's Bill, then PM Sir Keir Starmer voted for it.'There is no single right position and I have deep respect for MPs on all sides, and the expertise they bring to this debate. 'We have all had different life experiences that will inform how we see this issue and everyone must be given the space to arrive at their own decision on the Bill.'I know the conclusions colleagues come to weigh heavily on them and that we will all take our responsibilities as MPs incredibly seriously when it comes to the debate and voting. It is vital that every view is respected.The bill originally fell in the House of Lords in April, having run out of time to become law before Parliament was prorogued that month.It had passed two votes in the House of Commons, although the second one, which took place in 2025, saw the majority in favour of the Bill narrow to 23 from a previous majority of 55.For the Bill to be voted down in the Commons, at least 12 MPs who voted 'yes' last time around would have to switch their vote to 'no', with all other MPs voting the same way they did previously, including abstentions. Lauren Edwards, the Labour MP who has reintroduced it, said: 'I very much welcome the Prime Minister's confirmation that number 10's position on the Terminally Ill Adults Bill is unchanged – that this is a matter for MPs in a free vote and that it will be Government policy to implement whatever Parliament decides.' Mr Burnham, who was not an MP and therefore did not have a vote when the Bill came before the Commons in recent years, said last month that he believes the funding of palliative care needs to be fixed before consideration can be given to legalising assisted dying.He said at that time: 'I take the view that that debate – and I don't say that there shouldn't be a debate at some point about those issues – personally, I think there's something that needs to happen first.'That is the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care.'I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care.'But Ms Edwards, responding to those comments last month, insisted there is time to improve end-of-life care before any assisted dying service would come into effect under her proposed law.