Controversial assisted dying ads on Tube network covered up with Samaritans posters

TfL has said the controversial ads are compliant with its policy - (X)

Controversial ads on the London Underground backing legalising assisted dying have been covered up with Samaritans posters in a row.

The ads from campaign group Dignity in Dying appeared in tunnels at Westminster Tube station as MPs prepare to debate a bill on Friday which would legalise assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults with six months or less to live.

The posters, which have also appeared at Euston Station, were given the go ahead by TfL despite its rules barring campaigns on “public controversy or sensitivity”.

In one of the adverts, a Brighton mother with terminal cancer is pictured dancing in her kitchen alongside the caption: “My dying wish is my family won’t see me suffer. And I won’t have to.”

Another pictured a man called Anil alongside the message: “My dying wish is to know I have choice. My dad didn’t.”

Critics have hit out at the posters, questioning whether the adverts were appropriate given that dozens of people attempt to take their lives on the London Underground every year.

People have already sabotaged the assisted dying posters on the London Underground with suicide prevention posters.

Jolly good. pic.twitter.com/FtVTKOmhdb

— Dead Ferrets (@Deadferrets) November 25, 2024

Dr Cajetan Skowronski, a palliative care doctor campaigning against changing the law, said: “Very irresponsible of TFL to be glorifying suicide here.

“Will Dignity in Dying advertise at Beachy Head next?”

Other opponents of the law change pointed to the fact that TfL has banned ads for ‘junk food’ since 2019, but had allowed the Dignity in Dying ads to go ahead.

Some of the posters later appeared to have been covered up with ads for the Samaritans mental health charity in a sign of the strongly-felt opinions on the topic.

Dignity in Dying has launched a concerted ad campaign to liberalise the law ahead of Friday’s vote, saying the bill is the “most detailed, robust proposal on assisted dying reform that Westminster has ever considered.”

They argue that up to 650 terminally ill people end their own lives every year, often in lonely and traumatic ways, and that legalising assisted dying in the UK would allow them to make that choice in a regulated way.

Under the bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater and due for its second reading on Friday, assisted dying could be requested only by terminally ill, mentally competent adults and only with medical and legal sign-off.

But several MPs, including Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, have signalled their intention to vote against the legislation, saying it could create a “slippery slope towards death on demand”.

A TfL spokesperson told the Standard: “We reviewed this advertising campaign against both our advertising policy and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code, and it was found to be compliant.”

: If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch