Author Archives: Julian Huppert

My mother died last year. She was an amazing woman, as an academic, a mother, a mountaineer and much more. But her breast cancer had metastasised to her stomach and abdomen, killing her. But because she lived in New South Wales, Australia, she could choose Voluntary Assisted Dying, and was able to control how, when, and where she would die. That mattered immensely to her, empowering her to end her life with dignity, how she chose.

When I was an MP, I was keen to see the UK pass legislation to enable this in the UK – but the opportunity never arose. I’m delighted that Kim Leadbeater did propose an Assisted Dying Bill, and have been following it closely before and after the key second reading debate. Today’s MPs have this chance once again and I am meeting with Parliamentarians today to argue that they must deliver this long overdue reform.

Assisted dying is an issue of both principle and practice. As a Liberal Democrat, I have always shared commitments to liberty, equality, and human rights. These values are the foundation of my conviction on this issue. Allowing people to make their own decisions at the end of life is both the liberal and the Liberal thing to do. I was so pleased and proud to see that, in line with these values, the vast majority of Liberal Democrat MPs (85%) supported this Bill at Second Reading, especially given our manifesto commitment to making time for a full and fair debate. But as ever, it is the combination of the personal and the political that makes my support for law change so urgent.

My mother, Professor Felicia Huppert, was a pioneering psychologist with academic expertise and interest in well-being and peace of mind in healthcare settings and beyond. Her work covered everything from aging and dementia to positive psychology and wellbeing – one of her last articles was entitled, appropriately “Compassion at the heart of well-being”. She was also a liberal – a founder member of the SDP. Her books – especially on ‘Creating the world we want to live in’ and ‘The Science of Wellbeing’ could be essential reading for anyone – liberal or otherwise, who wants to think about how to empower people to make their lives better.