Palpable anger as both sides of assisted dying debate gather in Parliament Square | UK News

Finger jabbing, the frenetic shaking of heads and the competitively loud chanting to drown out the opposition are all symptoms of rising tensions. 

The two sides of the assisted dying debate clashed on Parliament Square Garden as parliament worked through amendments on Kim Leadbeater’s controversial bill.

The sides have not shared the same space before, not intellectually, nor emotionally, nor physically.

But on Friday, they stood uncomfortably close together, mostly squaring up to each other because neither side could afford to give an inch to the other.

The pink-wearing supporters of the bill usually have the green lawns opposite Big Ben to themselves.

The black-wearing opponents of the proposed legislation usually stand with their tombstone placards much further down towards Jewel Tower.

But they decided to decamp to Parliament Square on the penultimate day ahead of the final vote next week.

As the months have passed, the discourse has become increasingly bitter. There is a lot at stake for both sides, and the anger is palpable.

Doctors have been publicly falling out with each other, each side accusing the other of spreading misinformation.

Even some of the Royal Colleges have become embroiled in rows with sections of their membership calling out their leadership.

Read more:
Will the bill pass and what’s changed?
How the assisted dying debate is dividing doctors

And the emotion outside parliament was reflected inside the Commons when Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden (South Devon), whose husband died of oesophageal cancer, warned MPs about the language being used. Assisted dying, she said, was not the same as “murder and killing”.

But those words, and stronger, were plastered across placards held by opponents of the bill outside parliament.

Expect the language to become more incendiary, more accusatory in the weeks to come. In seven days, we will learn which side has won.