Chief Minister Alf Cannan has called for people to have their say on the Assisted Dying Bill in what would be the island’s first ever referendum.

Mr Cannan made an impassioned speech at the House of Keys on Wednesday during a sitting which ran through the controversial bill’s clauses.

Dr Alex Allinson’s bill proposes that the option of assisted dying should be available as a choice for terminally ill, mentally competent residents.

A debate has raged over whether drugs used to end life should be only self-administered or whether health professionals or family can also do it, as well as who meets the criteria for assisted dying.

There are also concerns over the pressure assisted dying would place on health professionals and whether such laws could be exploited putting already vulnerable patients at further risk.

Mr Cannan put forward an amendment to the bill, seeking a referendum to be held which was seconded by Douglas North MHK John Wannenburgh.

The island has never held a referendum.

Mr Cannan said: ‘This is a change of huge significance. It changes the role of the doctor and our healthcare professionals, it changes the way our medical services are viewed, it has implications for new criminal offences, it may change the way we, as a society views death, it may create fear and uncertainty among the disadvantaged.

‘It certainly puts us at odds with our traditional values and, quite frankly, once this legislation is passed it can only go one way and that is to widen and encompass more people and more scenarios.

‘We know that the Isle of Man Medical Society has clearly said doctors on the island do not want this due to the impact it could have on vulnerable groups in our society including the elderly, the disabled and mental health problems.’

Mr Cannan then quoted words from the Isle of Man Medical Society press release which says doctors on the island say they would be acting against GMC regulations and puts their licence to practice at risk.

Mr Cannan added: ‘No longer will the role of the state, after this legislation is through, be to give and prolong life, it will also be its role to end life.

‘Change in the social contract under which we live our lives requires a public mandate. A bill that effectively that ends people’s lives, that kills people requires a public mandate

‘There is no demonstrable public mandate for this legislation. I suggest there was no material public debate of significance during the general election and the consultation was just that, a consultation.’

The only way to introduce such a seismic law, Mr Cannan argued, is to take it to the people.

He said: ‘This is too important to make it up as you go along, aside from the fact that many people believe this legislation to be unworkable and flawed, nevertheless, if it is passed and the social contract is proposed to be broken then we must get a proper public mandate. In other words, the people must decide and there must be a referendum.

Dr Alex Allinson, who proposed the Bill, told the PA news agency that a referendum had never been held on the island before and described the amendment as ‘very much a delaying tactic to try and prevent the Bill coming into effect despite parliamentary approval’.

He has argued that this issue should have been raised when he first sought to introduce his Bill.

In the first stage of debate on the clauses stage of the Bill, MHKs voted that a person seeking an assisted death should have been resident on the island for five years instead of one, and that the life expectancy criteria be extended from six months to a year.

The clauses stage will resume on Monday (July 1) with continued debate on the referendum amendment.