In expressing his purely personal view, Mike Macleod said –

“Liam McArthur seems to be a genuinely nice guy and by all accounts is a good constituency MSP.  The massive amount of work he has done to get the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill this far should be acknowledged.  Everything Liam has done, will have been done with the best of intentions.  However, the road to a certain place is always paved with good intentions.”

At a public meeting in Kirkwall in November, Mr Macleod had expressed concerns about the Assisted Dying Bill, that elderly people might be coerced by unscrupulous relatives into ending their lives prematurely. 

Since then, Mr Macleod has become extremely concerned by developments in Canada since Euthanasia was introduced there.  In 2016 Canada legalised “Medical Assistance In Dying” (MAID) only for people whose death was reasonably foreseeable.  In 2021 MAID was expanded to those who are not terminally ill, but have a chronic, debilitating condition.  Then it was proposed to extend MAID to those with mental illnesses, though this has apparently been blocked. 

In 2024, 16,499 Canadians died utilising MAID, representing 5.1% of those who died that year.  The number of Canadians choosing MAID has increased every year since 2016, although the rate of increase is now slowing.  Ominously, Canada has noticeable regional and racial disparities in take-up of MAID, and medical professionals are known to be concerned about a number of cases where those applying for MAID could continue living but would need support to do so. 

The concern is that Euthanasia as a way of reducing health costs has become embedded in Canada, with the poor and marginalised being disproportionately affected.

Mike Macleod stated:

“The current proposal seems to be that the Bill will pass without discussion of provisions for medical professionals regarding conscientious objection and the right not to participate.   These are to be added later by a Section 104 Order.  Naturally medical professionals are concerned that this may lead to inadequate parliamentary scrutiny – resulting in bad legislation.  It would be better if these provisions could be debated properly upfront.”

“If the Assisted Dying Bill passes, then we are potentially opening Pandora’s Box, in terms of the way we treat our elderly, the infirm and those with mental health conditions.  Inevitably it will change the relationship between doctor and patient.”

“Given the need for the NHS to save money, the worry is that, little by little, attitudes will change so that medical professionals will come under insidious pressure to offer termination to high-cost patients. Once we allow the Government to kill individuals, we can have no certainty of where it will end. We should instead focus on improving home and palliative care.”

The elections to the Scottish Parliament take place on Thursday 7 May. Mike Macleod is the Scottish Labour & Scottish Co-operative Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Orkney Constituency.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was introduced on 27 March 2024 by Liam McArthur, LibDem MSP for the Orkney Constituency and is at Stage 3. The final vote will take place on Tuesday, 17 March 2026.