PM 'strings pulled by puppet master Lord Alli on assisted dying vote'

Sir Keir Starmer was last night accused of pressurising Labour MPs into backing new laws on assisted dying – with controversial Labour donor Lord Alli acting as his ‘puppetmaster’ on the issue.

The Prime Minister faced claims that his open support for the momentous change in the law meant Labour MPs would feel they had to back it, despite being offered a ‘free vote’.

The Mail on Sunday revealed last month that the PM was privately supporting plans to fast-track the hugely controversial proposal through the Commons via a Bill introduced by a backbench Labour MP.

Last week, Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater, who topped the ballot to introduce her own Private Member’s Bill, confirmed she would be bringing forward proposals to give the terminally ill in England and Wales the right to end their life.

Details of her Bill have yet to be revealed, but it is expected to mirror existing proposals by Labour peer Charlie Falconer to allow terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to get medical help to die.

 Sir Keir, who has repeatedly voiced his support for a change in the law, has promised to give his MPs a free vote rather than whipping them to vote in a particular way.

But even some Labour MPs privately feel that the PM’s open support puts pressure on them to vote for Ms Leadbeater’s Bill. One said: ‘There are hundreds of new Labour MPs who want to get on, and some will feel they therefore can’t vote against [it].’

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Inside Lord Alli's long donation 'love affair' with Labour

Sir Keir also faced claims of being influenced on assisted dying by Labour donor Lord Alli, who has given him more than £39,000 in gifts and hospitality. Tories seized on the fact Lord Alli voiced his support for the idea during a House of Lords debate in 2014 on Lord Falconer’s proposals.

While admitting the moral complexities involved, he said then: ‘I believe I am the guardian of my life; I believe my behaviour is my responsibility; and I believe that, in the end, I should have the right to decide whether I wish to bring my life to an early close.’

A Labour source dismissed any suggestion last night that the PM’s views on assisted dying had been influenced by Lord Alli and insisted it would be a genuinely free vote in the Commons.

But former Tory Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: ‘Lord Alli is the puppetmaster and paymaster of Sir Keir Starmer, and when it comes to assisted dying the PM is clearly having his strings pulled by the donor who gave him clothes and glasses.

‘Lord Alli’s backing for the dreadful idea of assisted dying explains why Sir Keir has been in such a rush to engineer a Commons vote and push this through. The PM’s overt backing also makes a mockery of the notion that this will be a free vote by MPs.

‘For the very many Labour MPs in the Commons – especially the new, more impressionable ones – this will be in effect a whipped vote as they will feel they have to back it.’