Shabana Mahmood intervenes in assisted dying debate

Plus Canadian pensioners look to ‘sell’ Birmingham Airport.

Dear Patchers — Roll up, roll up: who wants to buy a 450-year-old Shropshire manor house with seven bedrooms and a secret tunnel? Or if airports are more your thing, you could maybe pick up a share in Birmingham’s, which looks up for sale soon. Plus we’ve got the results of a local Tommy Shelby lookalike contest and an update on our story about the splintering of the “radically inclusive church.” So, something for everyone.

Top of the agenda, however, is the news story everyone is talking about: assisted dying — should we allow it? Birmingham Ladywood has become a focal point of a national debate ahead of a vote on a bill this Friday that, if passed, could allow some people to die at a time of their choosing. MP and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has spoken out about the controversial issue which the majority of her constituents are against. That’s today’s Big Story.

Catch Up and Coming Up:

• Read The Dispatch’s 50th-anniversary piece on the Birmingham Bombings. We ask why there hasn’t been an independent public inquiry into the multiple failings of the West Midlands Police, the miscarriage of justice against the Birmingham Six and the absence of any prosecutions against the suspected IRA bombers. 

• Catch Rachel Segal Hamilton’s piece on Birmingham’s long, intertwined, history with trees: from the forest of Arden and Joe Chamberlain’s tree planting campaign to 2024’s UK Tree Cities conference.

• Do you or does anyone you know have a child who plays in a junior football league in the West Midlands? We want to hear from you about the ultra-competitive world of football parenting. Get in touch at kate@birminghamdispatch.co.uk

• Are you a Green in Solihull? Used to vote Tory? Emails to sam@birminghamdispatch.co.uk.  

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Weather

🌥️Tuesday: Clear then cloudy by night time. Max 8°C.

🌙 Wednesday: Overcast but, once again, clear in the evening. Max 5°C.

⛅ Thursday: Clear skies in the morning, clouds in the afternoon. Max 5°C.

🌥️ Friday: Foggy, with sunny spells from late morning. Max 9°C.

☀️ Weekend: Misty — but the sun breaks on Sunday. Max 13°C.

We get our weather from the Met Office.

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Big story: “A Duty to Die?” Shabana Mahmood intervenes in assisted dying debate. 

Top Line: Over the weekend, news broke that Labour Birmingham Ladywood MP, Shabana Mahmood has announced her opposition to legalising assisted dying. In a letter to a constituent on the 19th of November, the MP  — who is also Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice — called the practice a “slippery slope towards death on demand.” She worries that the bill, if passed, would open up the possibility that “the right to die for some will…become the duty to die for others.” As Lord Chancellor, her view holds significant weight in both the Labour Party, Birmingham and the UK legal sector. 

Mahmood’s position is shared by prominent Labour figures such as Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and various disability rights groups. She’s also secured a surprising endorsement from Isabel Hardman at the conservative Spectator. Within Labour, those who disagree with her include Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, fellow Birmingham MP Jess Phillips and potentially Prime Minister Keir Starmer.  

Context: Assisted dying, or euthanasia, has been formally illegal in the UK since the 1961 Suicide Act. For now, passive euthanasia (the withdrawal of life support, or refusal of treatment by a patient) is legal, but active and voluntary assisted suicide is not. Currently, the only countries with legal assisted suicide regimes are Spain, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Colombia and New Zealand.  

A bill will come before the House of Commons on Friday, at which point, MPs will have a free vote.

“Death as a service,” Mahmood wrote to a concerned constituent last Tuesday detailing her opinions on the bill. 

The letter argues that: “the state should never offer death as a service.” However, Mahmood clarified that she had talked, and written, to many of her constituents on the issue and recognises that people “feel strongly about it on both sides” with those arguing for assisted death being “in good faith.” 

Arguments against: Mahmood gave two reasons for her opposition to the assisted dying bill:

• Her Islamic faith: “As a practising Muslim, I believe in the sanctity and value of human life”, Mahmood wrote. “But while that is the starting point for my consideration of this issue, I have never, and would never, impose my religious beliefs on anyone else.”

• A concern for safeguarding vulnerable people: “Predictions about life expectancy are often inaccurate,” she wrote, with the bill presenting a legal and medical certainty that “is not there.” 

She also added that, by passing the bill: “we place ourselves on a slippery slope towards death on demand.” 

The Canada case: 

The letter cites what has now become an incredibly famous precedent for this slippery slope: Canada. The country introduced assisted dying in the 2010s and has faced scandal and increased scrutiny over its practices as the scope for euthanasia expands. 

Mahmood argues that: “Canada offers us a cautionary tale. There, in 2016, [assisted dying] was introduced, initially limited to those with a terminal illness.” She goes on to add that: “Ministers initially predicted just 100 suicides a year. Eight years on, the annual number of state-assisted deaths is 100 times higher…eligibility for assisted suicide has expanded - starting with the terminally ill, but widening to cover non-terminal health conditions.” 

Shabana Mahmood, MP at 2024 Labour Party Conference, Liverpool. (Nicola Tree/ Getty Images). 

Ladywood, the odd one out? Birmingham Ladywood, Mahmood’s constituency, is fairly unusual in the UK, being one of only seven constituencies where less than half of people support assisted dying. As of 2024, only 49% of people in Ladywood supported the idea. In contrast, according to polling conducted by think-tank More in Common, the UK public supports assisted dying 5 to 1. The constituency, which stretches from Hockley to Bordesley Green, has historically contained large Catholic and Muslim populations, many of whom will be opposed to the bill.  

Lord Falconer intervenes: Mahmood’s predecessor as Lord Chancellor under Tony Blair, Charlie Falconer, spoke out against her position on assisted dying, sparking further controversy. In an interview on Sky News yesterday, Falconer said: “She, and I respect this, has religious and spiritual reasons why she believes completely in the sanctity of life.” He added: “I respect her religious belief, but I do not think it should be imposed on everybody else.” In turn, the Christian Labour MP, Rachael Maskell has criticised Falconer arguing that his comments were “hugely discriminatory and offensive.” 

Bottom Line: Mahmood’s intervention came despite encouragement from the Prime Minister for cabinet members to stay out of the debate. If the proposal eventually passes into legislation, that could put her in a difficult position. As Justice Secretary her job is to uphold the nation’s laws — something hard to do once you’ve spoken out strongly against them. And if the bill does pass it may weaken the Labour Party further in parts of Birmingham — Mahmood’s seat went from being one of the safest in the country to a much closer run thing at the last election.

Your opinion? Have strong opinions on assisted dying? Live in Birmingham Ladywood? Drop The Dispatch an email at sam@birminghamdispatch.co.uk. 

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Photo of the week

Boulton, Watt and Murdoch, covered in snow. Photo (with permission) by Owen de Visser. 

Owen de Visser captured this moment of deliberation by Birmingham’s ‘golden boys’ when snow fell on the city last Tuesday. “I believe it’s called snow, sir” was his ingenious caption. 

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Brum in brief

🚨 A 49-year-old man has been arrested and released on bail following allegations of sexual assault by members of an LGBTQ+ church. West Midlands Police is investigating several claims made by former attendees of Inclusive Gathering Birmingham (IGB), a Methodist Church established in 2017. The action comes several months after The Dispatch reported on a breakdown in relations at IGB when the alleged victims claimed their concerns had not been taken seriously, despite being escalated to district and national officers. The church has said it took “swift action” and its five-month investigation into the claims concluded in June, finding there were no further safeguarding risks. But advocate for the alleged victims, Matthew Lloyd has described the church’s approach to the issue as “gaslighting” by heterosexual representatives who brushed off the accusations as a “misunderstanding about hugging” and has condemned the church’s safeguarding procedures. 

✈️ Birmingham Airport could be up for sale in a reported cash grab by its Canadian pension fund owner. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) is said to be in talks about selling its 25% to 70% stake to minority shareholders, following a resurgence in air travel after the Covid-19 pandemic. The Guardian reports that Labour is watching foreign investments closely, hoping to replicate their success — ensuring that UK investors take a bigger interest in British assets: allowing domestic pensioners to reap the benefits.

🏆 The trend for lookalike contests has reached its peak — the best Tommy Shelby mimic in Birmingham has been crowned. More than 100 people gathered outside the Bullring on Saturday to join in the judging of seven peaky blinders and 66-year-old Derek Brennan, who founded the West Midlands Peaky Blinder Group, walked away victorious after receiving the loudest cheer from the crowd. "My looks and my personality won me the competition, I can't help but be the best," he joked. 

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Home of the week

This three-bedroom townhouse in Moseley has not one, but two balconies — one indoor and one outdoors. Perfect for a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. It’s available for £399,999.

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Media picks

🎧 Following on from last week’s Dispatch deep-dive into the debate around whether or not there should be an inquiry into the Birmingham pub bombings of 1974, learn more about the impact of the atrocity on the city’s Irish community by listening to this podcast. Micheal Flavin is an academic and novelist who grew up in Birmingham in the 1970s. He often writes about the Troubles and here discusses the impact of the Birmingham Six’s wrongful convictions with journalist and former MP Chris Mullin, whose investigation secured their freedom. 

📰 Poundland co-founder Steve Smith is selling his late parents' home, the Jacobean manor house Ludstone Hall. The Times has featured the property in their House Histories segment, delving into the background of the Shropshire estate which was built by the banker John Whitmore in 1607. Described as one of the most historically important homes in the West Midlands, Ludstone’s lake is said to be “bottomless” and the nine-bedroom, seven-bathroom home has a rumoured secret tunnel that leads to the village of Claverley — but Smith says he’s never found it. 

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Things to do

Dancers performing in The Nutcracker. Photo by Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Tuesday

🩰 It wouldn’t be Christmas without a Birmingham Royal Ballet production of Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker. Catch the first show of the season at 7.30 pm. Tickets from £18.50.

🎭 Bill Bryson’s bestselling book, Notes From a Small Island (1995) part travel tome, part memoir has been adapted for the stage at Highbury Theatre Centre. Catch the comedy at 7.30 pm with tickets at £12.

Wednesday

🎀 Christmas is coming, as the old jingle goes. Be prepared by making a festive wreath for your front door at the Button Factory. Mulled wine and a mince pie are included in the £5 entry fee which will be donated to the mental health charity Birmingham Mind.

🧑‍🏫 Love him or hate him, street stencilist Banksy has achieved a level of recognition that eludes most practising artists — all while remaining anonymous. This Birmingham Arts Society lecture by London tourist guide Pepe Martinez, who has been giving London street art tours for years, explores the reason for his rise, asking: Banksy: Fraud or genius? The talk is free and doors open for tea and coffee from 9.45 am. 

Thursday

📖 Hear from Dr Shahmima Akhtar, UoB Assistant Professor of Black and Asian British History, about anti-racist activism in British Bangladeshi communities in Birmingham in the late 20th Century at The Heath Bookshop. Tickets are a very reasonable £6.13.

🎶 Join spoken word artist and musician Diary of a Poet at Centrala for a listening party as she performs her new EP Earl Grey. There’ll be opening acts and a Q&A session too. Tickets are £6.13 or free to those without funds.

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