Britain is moving towards assisted dying

IN 2015MPMP the Conservative party conference hosted a fringe meeting on assisted dying. There were, recalls Kit Malthouse, a Tory , three people in the audience—one of whom was his aide. Despondent, Mr Malthouse turned to a colleague and told him their prospects looked dreadful. “No,” the colleague replied, undaunted. “This is how gay marriage started.”Assisted dying, though still controversial, is no longer a fringe issue in Britain. Bills that would allow it are already moving forward in Jersey, the Isle of Man and Scotland. The leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, openly supports a change in the law. He has promised a free vote (in which s are not pressed to follow a party line) on the issue in Parliament if, as expected, his party wins the next election. Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, is less effusive but has indicated he would allow time for a bill, too.Britain may be on the verge of its next big social reform.