MY father suffered with anxiety and depression for decades, but as he faced old age, he was overwhelmed with worry about how his life might end. Although he didn't actually have a terminal physical illness, he feared the possibility of a slow and distressing decline, and most of all he worried about losing control of his own circumstances. I am convinced that this uncertainty was a significant factor in his decision to take his own life in 2020 at the age of 72.

I believe that if assisted dying was an option to avoid an unbearable death, this would have lifted a great cloud of worry from my father's mind, and we would not have lost him so soon, or in such sudden and traumatic circumstances.

But having listened to last week’s excellent debate in Parliament, where MPs spoke movingly and thoughtfully about their own personal experiences and points of view, it is clear that there are some serious potential problems with assisted dying:

Whilst the Bill makes clear that explicit coercion would be criminalised (e.g. where a relative pressurises a parent to end their life for financial gain), it is hard to see how we can prevent "self-coercion", where a person doesn't really want to end their life, but feels obliged to do so because they perceive themselves to be a burden on the care system, or a drain on the family finances, or simply that others would be "better off without me".

Many opponents also raised concerns that if people were choosing to end their lives because the care they were receiving was inadequate, then this was not really a true choice, but a "Hobson's choice" between an unbearable life and an unwanted lethal injection.

My view is that turning "Hobson's choice" into no choice at all (i.e. forcing someone to live an unbearable life), is the wrong response to this challenge. Instead, I believe that the government must give people a real choice to have a better end of life: Making sure that everyone has the best possible palliative care; funding councils properly so that they can afford to give everyone the care they need; and providing this care to all, free of charge.

For too long, political debate has focused on waiting times for ambulances and NHS operations, whilst ignoring the growing need for end-of-life care. I hope that the non-partisan attitude shown in Parliament last Friday will be taken forward so that these long-standing failings of care can be addressed. If our MPs can achieve this, as well as legalising assisted dying, then they will have taken a great step forward for genuine freedom of choice, thereby creating a more liberal society.

Colin Martin

Liberal Democrat Cornwall Councillor for Lostwithiel and Lanreath