Assisted dying should be brought back in next parliament, says Lib Dem leader

Alex Cole-Hamilton denied it would be too soon and said changing the law would "finally bring parliament into step with the rest of the public".

But opponents accused him of irresponsibly causing disabled and vulnerable people “huge anxiety” by suggesting another bill.

MSPs voted to reject assisted dying by 69 votes to 57 last month following an emotional debate in the Holyrood chamber.

READ MORE: Assisted dying legislation rejected by MSPs following emotional debate in Holyrood

Liam McArthur, the Liberal Democrat MSP behind the bill, said many of those voting against it would come to regret it “deeply”.

Speaking to The Scotsman, Mr Cole-Hamilton said: "I think for as long as there are Scots who are deprived of a good death, then this will remain an unanswered question. Palliative care is amazing, but not everybody gets it.

"But this is not mutually exclusive. I think everyone should have access to palliative care, and everyone should have access to assisted dying. We have rights that govern every aspect of our lives, save one, and that's our departure from it.

"Of course, those of us who passionately support the idea of assisted dying legislation will need to dust ourselves off, take a breath, see what the new parliament brings, because with every parliament it feels like the majority gets nearer and nearer for that.

"But at the same time, I think it's important that we draw breath and we learn from this experience.

"There are very few issues where politicians are so out of step with public opinion, but this is one. Successive polling shows that as many as 80 per cent of the public think that you should - if you are nearing the end of your life anyway, and you're beyond the reach of palliative care, you should have the right to say, ‘This far and no further’."

Asked if bringing forward new legislation in the next parliament would be too soon, he said: "No, not if there is a majority for it, and we can finally bring parliament into step with the rest of the public."

He added: "I would hope it would be brought back in the next parliament."

READ MORE: Cross-party campaign and religious lobbying: How Scotland's assisted dying legislation fell

Mr Cole-Hamilton said he would be “very proud and very humbled to be chosen to be the parliamentarian to bring it forward”.

However, he added: "But it needs to be somebody who can unite people, and it's bigger than personalities, and I would want to be sure that I was the best person to do that.

"And I think sometimes, certainly in the past, I've been quite a divisive character, and I wouldn't want that to cloud people's judgement.”

Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of campaign group Care Not Killing, which opposes assisted dying, said: "Liam McArthur's bill was rejected because it put the most vulnerable at risk of abuse and pressure to end their lives. It's impossible to protect against coercion, feelings of being a burden, depression and pressure from families or an underfunded health care system.

"Cole-Hamilton has produced no solutions to those challenges and it's irresponsible for him to cause many disabled and vulnerable people huge anxiety by suggesting another assisted suicide bill without providing any answers to the real concerns they have expressed regarding assisted suicide.

"He is out of touch with public opinion. Polling shows that when presented with 10 arguments against assisted suicide, based on the practice of implementing such laws overseas, support for it among Scots falls to just 19 percent. The more people know about state-sponsored killing, the less they support it.”