For many, the failure of the assisted dying bill (MPs vote against legalising assisted dying in England and Wales, 11 September) has brought relief that a manifestly unsafe law will not be entering the statute book. But it should also prompt reflection about how it got this far.
Two hundred and seventy MPs voted for the bill despite multiple warnings from the medical royal colleges and other professional groups responsible for implementing it that it was unsafe and unworkable. Supportive MPs appeared to be voting on an abstract principle rather than engaging with the concerns raised.
