UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday said debate around the introduction of assisted suicide should be put on hold until palliative and social care programs in the country are properly funded.

“I take the view that that debate – and I don’t say that there shouldn’t be a debate at some point about those issues – personally, I think there’s something that needs to happen first,” Burnham told reporters on Wednesday.

“That is the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care,” said the Prime Minister, who was speaking with reporters after a speech at a London care home on Wednesday.

During his Wednesday remarks,  Burnham vowed to repair his country’s social care system – the day-to-day assistance network for the elderly and persons with disabilities, chronic illness, and other vulnerabilities – saying politicians’ failure to address systemic problems is a “major dereliction of public duty.”

“I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care,” Burnham told reporters, “a context where palliative and social care remains poorly funded.”

“That’s the position I will stick to,” Burnham said.

Labour MP Lauren Edwards reintroduced an assisted suicide bill to the UK parliament, which will have its second reading on Sept. 11.

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The bill has nearly the exact same wording as Kim Leadbeater’s bill, which recently fell after narrowly passing the House of Commons before running out of time in the House of Lords.

Burnham’s position is a departure from his predecessor, Keir Starmer, who supported Leadbeater’s bill.

It is also something of a departure from statements Burnham – a Catholic – had made in 2024, when the Leadbeater measure was before the House of Commons.

Burnham in that year told BBC Manchester he would “probably vote in favor of [the Leadbeater bill,” if he were in the House.

It is also a major setback for assisted suicide proponents in the UK, who had relied on the former Prime Minister’s support.

Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool welcomed the news.

“It is highly significant that the Prime Minister has confirmed his position about the need for proper palliative and social care ahead of the Second Reading,” said Sherrington, who heads the pro-life advocacy efforts of the Catholic bishops in England and Wales.

Sherrington stressed the Church’s long-standing opposition to assisted suicide and support for palliative and end of life care “as an appropriate focus to uphold the dignity of all at the end of life.”

“People who are dying are vulnerable and need compassionate care and spiritual accompaniment until their last breath,” Sherrington said.

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Responding to the Prime Minister’s statements, Edwards said improving palliative and social care “can and must go hand in hand” with legalizing assisted suicide.

Edwards said the proposed legislation has already been thoroughly debated over nearly two years and includes a four-year implementation period.

“[I]f my current bill becomes law next year,” she said, “we would have until 2031 to fix the status quo that Andy Burnham rightly says is broken.”

Sherrington, however, called the bill “fundamentally flawed,” and urged members of parliament “to vote against this dangerous legislation.”

He also called on UK lawmakers “to work together to ensure that our palliative and social care services can be held up as examples of truly dignified care at the end of life for all.”