THE Scottish TUC remitted a motion supporting assisted dying today.

The motion from Fife trades council argued that “death with dignity is a human right. For those in pain at the end of life, the ban on assisted dying robs them of that right.”

It called on the STUC to support the assisted dying Bill being promoted in the Scottish Parliament by Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur.

Explaining the general council’s recommendation to remit, Ben Lunn said that “for almost all our affiliates, it is a genuinely new area of policy, one that unions and trades councils have still to debate.”

He added a personal appeal to unions to “remember to seek contributions from your disabled members also, as there is a risk they will be overlooked in a discussion which has massive ramifications for their lives.”

Disability Equality Scotland opposes Mr McArthur’s Bill, arguing that “the Bill poses a major threat to ... those with long-term conditions and disabilities.”

It warned the scope of assisted dying practice has “widened steadily” in countries which have legalised it.

“Safeguards have gradually been eroded or even ignored. In Belgium, assisted suicide is available for psychiatric illness. The Canadian Parliament is considering that the ‘right to die’ should include those with mental illness and minors with disability.”

Assisted dying legislation is opposed by disability rights groups including Disabled People Against Cuts, who argue it will combine with financial pressures on health and social care to encourage vulnerable people to accept death rather than prioritising provision of appropriate care to allow them to live in dignity.