Mass advertising campaigns on assisted dying, including billboards at Westminster station and targeted Facebook adverts, have sparked anger among MPs.
Amid an increasingly fractious debate on assisted dying before a vote on Friday, MPs have raised concerns about “inappropriate” tactics used by both camps.
MPs have objected to a billboard campaign featuring terminally ill patients promoted by Dignity in Dying, which is in favour of the legislation. One MP said the billboards, some of which have been covered by Samaritans posters, were inappropriate in a tube station.
Meanwhile, Care Not Killing, one of the main groups campaigning against assisted dying, has used photographs of more than 50 MPs in Facebook adverts targeted at voters in their constituencies. The adverts ask people to write to their MPs to vote against the bill on Friday.
The adverts also use the NHS logo, which is a protected brand. MPs targeted by the campaign include Labour’s Rupa Huq and Dan Tomlinson and Reform’s Lee Anderson, who have said publicly they are undecided.
A significant number of adverts in the last week targeted new Labour MPs, about 100 of whom have told colleagues they have not made their minds up about the legislation.
“This is a really important decision on a very detailed bill. These kind of tactics are completely inappropriate when we’re trying to consider this carefully,” one new MP said. Another said it was “deeply misleading for this religious campaign group to use the NHS logo”.
A spokesperson for Care Not Killing said: “Given the importance of this debate, the speed that it is being pushed forward and the very significant problems with the draft legislation that would lead vulnerable people to feel like a burden and end their lives prematurely, especially when our NHS and palliative care are in crisis, we have been encouraging our many supporters to contact their elected representatives.
“This is standard practice not just on the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia but for those worried about current or proposed legislation. The MPs we have spoken to welcome this engagement with their constituents as this is an incredibly sensitive issue with many differing views.”
Meanwhile, MPs travelling to parliament have been targeted by a billboard campaign at Westminster station, including posters that show a woman smiling and celebrating in pink pyjamas which says: “My dying wish is that my family won’t see me suffer and I won’t have to.”
The advert, which is one of a number in the concourse that runs under the road between Whitehall and the Houses of Parliament, features Sophie Blake, a terminally ill breast cancer patient.
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The Labour MP Patrick Hurley wrote on Bluesky: “While I’ve not yet made my decision on how I’ll vote on the assisted dying bill this coming Friday, I must admit to being uneasy with advertisements promoting suicide on the tube. This strikes me as unwise for a range of quite obvious reasons.”
A TfL spokesperson said that the adverts were reviewed and were found to be compliant with their advertising policy.
A spokesperson for Dignity in Dying said: “Our Let Us Choose campaign features real people who want a change in the law on assisted dying, either because they are terminally ill and want the choice, or because their loved one wanted the choice but was denied it. The campaign uses positive imagery of these people living life on their own terms, alongside messages about why they are campaigning for greater choice. It is fully compliant with the Committee of Advertising Practice code.
“For some of our posters to be vandalised in this way is disappointing, and understandably upsetting for those pictured. We are in contact with them and we are making sure that they are being supported.”
There are concerns that the legislation is being voted on at second reading without enough scrutiny. As many as 150 MPs are expected to apply to speak in the debate on Friday, which is scheduled to last five hours. A cross-party amendment has been put forward to reject the bill and hold an independent review and public consultation on the existing law and how it can be improved.
Ellie Cumbo, who until recently advised the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, wrote on X that “this amendment speaks directly to my concerns, and I think MPs wanting to do this well rather than quickly should back it”.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, told the Evening Standard he was against the bill because he had “real concerns” about the prospect of coercion.
Polling carried out by JL Partners earlier this month found that 65% of people supported legalising assisted dying, compared with 13% who said they opposed it. However, a similar proportion – 64% – said they would prioritise improving palliative care over new end-of-life legislation.