Progress

The assisted dying bill made it through the Commons today, albeit with a slender majority 314 for, 291 against. My bet is that the LibDem member for Epsom and Ewell voted for it, but I shall check. And what are the 291 at? What are they on? The majority in the country at large is much bigger, and my understanding is that it is well spread out. It is not all pockets of Guardian readers in places like Islington.

PS 1: I learned in the margins that the matter was first debated in our Parliament in the 1930s. The Swiss also debated it, and passed it into law at that time, where it has been ever since.

PS 2: I thought to ask Gemini about this. I also thought that it might count as political and that he would decline to answer, but no. Inter alia: '... While there have been various attempts to introduce legislation since the 1930s, a significant early debate on a formal bill was in 1936, when Lord Arthur Ponsonby introduced the Voluntary Euthanasia (Legislation) Bill to the House of Lords...'. And on a supplementary about the Swiss: '... Instead, the legal framework for assisted suicide in Switzerland stems from its 1937 Penal Code (which came into force in 1942). / Specifically, Article 115 of the Swiss Criminal Code states that "Anyone who, for a self-interested motive, incites a person to commit suicide, or who provides assistance for suicide, shall, if the suicide is fulfilled or attempted, be punished by a maximum of five years in prison or a fine". / Crucially, this article implies that if the motive for assisting a suicide is not selfish, then it is not a criminal offense. This omission, rather than a direct legalization act, is the basis for assisted suicide being permitted in Switzerland. This is why organizations like Dignitas can operate there, as long as they can demonstrate their motives are not selfish...'. I had forgotten, if I ever knew, that they did things in this roundabout way.

Regarding Ponsonby, Bing turns up the snap above and reference 2 below. So it looks as if Gemini has got it right again.

Reference 2 includes the speech against from Archbishop Lang, whom I read about more than ten years ago, as noticed at reference 3. Noting in passing that they might have been wrong, but at least they had good manners.

I can't find anything about it at reference 4, only turning up a Maurice Ponsonby who was one of his personal chaplains for a bit. But, at least in the margins, I have learned that Gemini knows all about the Latin phrase 'alterius orbis papa', attributed by some to Anselm, and claimed by others to give sanction to the existence of the Anglican Church. Included obscurely near the start of reference 3.

It looks, from reference 5, as if Lang's seat is presently vacant, so perhaps York will have to weigh in for the church in the Lords debate to come.

PS 3: progress of a different kind: following the discovery of caterpillars in our oak tree noticed at reference 6, I have now had a helpful reply from Forest Research at Alice Holt and reference 7. Given that we are in the middle of the area of infestation, it seems that monitoring is more the thing than drastic (and possibly expensive) action. To be thought about.

References

Reference 1: https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/. Not updated as of 15:07. Perhaps they have got something better to do.

Reference 2: https://churchinparliament.org/1936/12/01/1936-archbishop-lang-and-the-voluntary-euthanasia-legalisation-bill/.

Reference 3: https://psmv2.blogspot.com/search?q=cosmo+lang.

Reference 4: Cosmo Gordon Lang - J G Lockart - 1949.

Reference 5: https://www.canterburydiocese.org/our-life/our-people/the-archbishop-of-canterbury/.

Reference 6: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-day-of-rabbit.html.

Reference 7: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/.