British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said social care reform should come before any further move to legalise assisted dying, as he avoided committing his support for renewed efforts to change the law.
Burnham made the comments on Wednesday while restarting his long-standing campaign to establish a national care service aimed at addressing challenges facing elderly and vulnerable people across the United Kingdom.
Responding to questions about his position on assisted dying, the prime minister said the country needed to improve access to quality care and provide greater reassurance for those in need before having a wider debate on the issue.
“I think there’s something that needs to happen first,” Burnham said, adding that discussing assisted dying was difficult when many people were not receiving adequate care.
The remarks marked his first public comments on the sensitive issue since becoming prime minister less than two weeks ago.
A previous bill seeking to legalise assisted dying failed in Parliament in April after facing opposition in the House of Lords. Under the proposed legislation, terminally ill adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live would have been allowed to request assisted death with approval from two doctors and an expert panel.
Burnham, a Catholic who previously served as a member of Parliament, abstained during a 2015 vote on assisted dying. However, in 2024, he said he would likely have supported the principle of the proposal if he had remained an MP.
The prime minister later told BBC Radio that any legal change should be accompanied by proper funding and support for hospices and end-of-life care services.
Campaigners behind the failed legislation have vowed to continue pushing for reform, with Labour lawmaker Lauren Edwards expected to reintroduce the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill when Parliament returns in September.
The proposed legislation will again be introduced as a private members’ bill, meaning it is not officially backed by the government.
