Right to die campaigners have urged the UK Ministry of Justice not to ‘thwart the democratic will’ of the Isle of Man by delaying Royal Assent for the island’s Assisted Dying Bill.
Dr Alex Allinson’s private member’s bill, which would give terminally ill residents with a clear and settled intention to end their lives the right to do so, completed its passage through Tynwald in March 2025.
However, 11 months on, it has yet to receive Royal Assent.
Former Treasury Minister Dr Allinson has written to the UK’s Lord Chancellor about the apparent delay.
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He is seeking personal assurance from David Lammy that the bill’s progress towards Royal Assent is ‘neither anomalous nor been subject to any artificial impediment’.
Dr Allinson has not yet received a reply from Mr Lammy or Jake Richards, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice.
The Lord Chancellor is responsible for recommending whether Crown Dependency primary legislation should receive Royal Assent.
Chief Minister Alfred Cannan, who voted against the legislation, told the House of Keys that the delay relates to queries raised by the Ministry of Justice about the bill’s implementation and safeguards.
The Assisted Dying Coalition is calling on the MoJ to resolve any outstanding issues and grant Royal Assent as soon as possible.
Nathan Stilwell, chair of the Coalition, said: ‘The Manx public and their elected politicians have been clear: people who are dying should have the right to control the manner and timing of their death. For terminally ill people, this will mean less fear, less suffering, and more control at the end of life.
‘Westminster should not delay the democratic will of the Isle of Man’s parliament. Every month they stall, more dying people are forced to endure needless suffering or travel abroad to die.’
Vicky Christian, campaigner for My Death, My Decision Isle of Man, part of the Coalition, said: ‘The people of the Isle of Man want this legislation, and the MHKs voted for it.
‘For it to be delayed at this late stage would cause a democratic crisis and is extremely unfair towards terminally ill people on the Island.
‘For many families, simply knowing that this option exists would be an enormous comfort, even if they never choose to use it. It will end the cruel choice between an agonising death at home and a lonely death in another country.’
Similar legislation in the UK has faced delays in the House of Lords over proposed amendments.
Former justice secretary Lord Falconer said a ‘minority of peers’ were ‘filibustering’ – or delaying – the Bill and has threatened the unprecedented use of the Parliament Act to override peers’ objections.
The Ministry of Justice’s queries about the island’s bill are understood to focus on compliance with human rights legislation and ensuring adequate safeguards and oversight mechanisms to protect patients and professionals.
In his letter to Mr Lammy, Dr Allinson said: ‘The constitutional relationship between the UK and the Isle of Man is very important to me, and to our community, and I would not want this matter to bring this into question.’