MPs debate assisted dying before crunch parliament vote
The outcome will lead to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill either clearing the House of Commons and moving to the Lords, or falling completely – with a warning the latter could mean the issue might not return to Westminster for a decade.
Bill sponsor Kim Leadbeater (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Opening her debate, Bill sponsor Kim Leadbeater, said her proposed legislation is 'cogent' and 'workable', with 'one simple thread running through it – the need to correct the profound injustices of the status quo and to offer a compassionate and safe choice to terminally ill people who want to make it'.
She shared emotional stories from people she had met throughout the campaign to legalise assisted dying, both bereaved and terminally ill.
Pressed by Conservative former minister Simon Hoare on concerns raised about the Bill by some doctors and medical bodies including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Ms Leadbeater said: 'We have different views in this House and different people in different professions have different views.'
She noted that all the royal colleges have a neutral position on assisted dying.
The relatively narrow majority of 55 from the historic yes vote in November means every vote will count on Friday.
The Bill would fall if 28 MPs switched directly from voting yes to no, but only if all other MPs voted the same way as in November, including those who abstained.
Supporters and opponents of a change in the law gathered at Westminster early on Friday, holding placards saying 'Let us choose' and 'Don't make doctors killers'.
On the eve of the vote, in what will be seen as a blow to the Bill, four Labour MPs confirmed they will switch sides to oppose the proposed new law.
Paul Foster, Jonathan Hinder, Markus Campbell-Savours and Kanishka Narayan wrote to fellow MPs to voice concerns about the safety of the proposed legislation.
They branded it 'drastically weakened', citing the scrapping of the High Court judge safeguard as a key reason.
Kemi Badenoch (Lucy North/PA)
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urged her MPs to vote against the legislation, describing it as 'a bad Bill' despite being 'previously supportive of assisted suicide'.
As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.
Ms Leadbeater has insisted the replacement of High Court judge approval with multidisciplinary panels is a strengthening of the legislation, incorporating wider expert knowledge to assess assisted dying applications.
Before confirmation of the four vote-switchers, Ms Leadbeater acknowledged she expected 'some small movement in the middle' but that she did not 'anticipate that that majority would be heavily eroded'.
She insisted her Bill is 'the most robust piece of legislation in the world' and has argued that dying people must be given choice at the end of their lives in a conversation which has seen support from high-profile figures including Dame Esther Rantzen.
Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter Rebecca Wilcox outside Parliament (Yui Mok/PA)
MPs have a free vote on the Bill, meaning they decide according to their conscience rather than along party lines.
There is no obligation on MPs to take part in the vote, and others present on Friday could formally abstain.
Ms Leadbeater warned that choosing not to support the assisted dying Bill is 'not a neutral act', but rather 'a vote for the status quo'.
She said: 'It fills me with despair to think MPs could be here in another 10 years' time hearing the same stories.'
All eyes will be on whether Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and senior colleagues continue their support for the Bill.
Sir Keir indicated earlier this week that he had not changed his mind since voting yes last year, saying his 'position is long-standing and well-known'.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting described Ms Leadbeater's work on the proposed legislation as 'extremely helpful', but confirmed in April that he still intended to vote against it.
Wes Streeting (Ben Whitley/PA)
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has voiced her continued backing of the Bill, saying she she hopes it can clear the Commons and continue its progress to becoming law.
She told Sky News she has a 'long-standing personal commitment to change the law on assisted dying with appropriate safeguards' and praised the 'very considered and respectful debate over the last few months on all sides'.
A vote must be called before 2.30pm, as per parliamentary procedure.
Friday's session began with considerations of outstanding amendments to the Bill, including one to prevent a person meeting the requirements for an assisted death 'solely as a result of voluntarily stopping eating or drinking'.
The amendment – accepted without the need for a vote – combined with existing safeguards in the Bill, would rule out people with eating disorders falling into its scope, Ms Leadbeater has said.
Another amendment, requiring ministers to report within a year of the Bill passing on how assisted dying could affect palliative care, was also approved by MPs.
Marie Curie welcomed the amendment, but warned that 'this will not on its own make the improvements needed to guarantee everyone is able to access the palliative care they need' and urged a palliative care strategy for England 'supported by a sustainable funding settlement – which puts palliative and end of life care at the heart of NHS priorities for the coming years'.
Ms Leadbeater has warned it could be a decade before legislation returns to Parliament if MPs reject her Bill on Friday.
A YouGov poll of 2,003 adults in Great Britain, surveyed last month and published on Thursday, suggested public support for the Bill remains at 73% – unchanged from November.
The proportion of people who feel assisted dying should be legal in principle has risen slightly, to 75% from 73% in November.
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The Independent
37 minutes ago
- The Independent
Campaigners for and against assisted dying make feelings known at Westminster
Campaigners on both sides of the assisted dying debate voiced their opinions as they gathered outside Parliament ahead of a crunch vote on Friday. Dame Prue Leith, Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, and the broadcaster, Jonathan Dimbleby, were among the high-profile figures supporting the Bill to change the law in England and Wales. Members of the Dignity in Dying campaign wore pink and held placards in memory of friends and family members. Those opposed to the Bill included groups dressed as scientists in white lab coats and bloodied gloves and masks, as well as nuns and other members of religious organisations. The mood amongst campaigners was largely calm and respectful on both sides. Dame Prue told the PA news agency she was 'both nervous and confident' about the outcome. 'It's so moving to see all these people with placards of people they've lost or people who are dying of cancer,' she said. 'It's hard not to cry because I think they have done such a good job. Let's hope we've won.' Mr Dimbleby said he believed the Bill would be 'transformative'. He added: 'What it will mean is millions of people will be able to say to themselves, 'If I'm terminally ill, I will be able to choose, assuming I am of sound mind and I am not being coerced, to say 'Yes, I want to be assisted – I have dignity in death'.' Rebecca Wilcox, the daughter of Dame Esther, said: 'It couldn't be a kinder, more compassionate Bill that respects choice at the end of life, that respects kindness and empathy and gives us all an option when other options, every other option, has been taken away, and it would just be the perfect tool for a palliative care doctor to have in their med bag.' Teachers Catie and Becky Fenner said they wanted other families to benefit from the Bill. Their mother, who had motor neurone disease, had flown to Dignitas in Switzerland to end her life at a cost of £15,000. The sisters said they did not get to properly say goodbye and grieve and worried about the legal repercussions. Catie, 37, said: 'We were left quite traumatised by the whole experience – not only seeing a parent go through a really horrible disease but then the secrecy of the planning.' Campaigners against the Bill, who were gathered outside Parliament, chanted 'We are not dead yet' and 'Kill the Bill, not the ill'. A display was erected with a gravestone reading 'RIP: The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Bury it deep', and behind were two mounds meant to resemble graves. Andrew Hilliard, 75, said he was opposed for religious reasons. He was dressed in a white lab coat with a placard reading: 'Protect our NHS from becoming the National Suicide Service'. The chief executive of Care Not Killing, Dr Gordon Macdonald, said MPs should prioritise improving palliative care. He said: 'Most people, when thinking about the practical implications of this, for those most vulnerable, they change their minds.' George Fielding, a campaigner affiliated with the Not Dead Yet group which is opposed to assisted dying, said he attended to represent disabled people. He said: 'This Bill will endanger and shorten the lives of disabled people.'
Spectator
an hour ago
- Spectator
The assisted dying debate is not ‘Parliament at its best'
MPs are coming to the end of the assisted dying debate. The speeches can be roughly divided into the following camps: those who, like the Bill's sponsor Kim Leadbeater, are very much in favour of the Bill and confident in its drafting; those who are in favour of the principle of assisted dying but who are so concerned about the drafting of the Bill that they are opposed to it; and the implacable opponents to the principle. The speeches from the latter two camps largely focused on the argument that today's vote is not about the principle of assisted dying but about the Bill as it stands. The proponents of the legislation, though, have largely focused on the need to back assisted dying as a principle. Leadbeater argued in her speech that if the Commons did not vote for the Bill today, then MPs would be leaving more people to die without dignity. She said: I say to colleagues who are supportive of a change in the law but are hesitant about whether now is the time, that if we do not vote for a change in the law today, we will have many more years of heartbreaking stories from terminally ill people and their families, of pain and trauma… There will be stories of suicide attempts, post traumatic stress disorder, lonely trips to Switzerland, police investigations and everything else we have all heard of in recent months. Leadbeater was followed by James Cleverly, who argued 'about the practicalities of the Bill', but did also point to the way the legislation would change 'the relationship between medial professionals and those they serve.' He also highlighted that while most professional bodies in the medical world are 'neutral on the topic of assisted dying', they were 'opposed to the provisions within this Bill in particular'. Cleverly, like many other opponents, argued that MPs needed to do their job properly in scrutinising this particular Bill rather than campaigning for a principle. That argument was made with even greater force by a furious Sarah Olney, one of the Lib Dems opposed to the Bill. She told the Chamber that MPs should not act like activists pushing for a cause but as legislators, which is what they had been elected to do. One of the best speeches against came from Diane Abbott, who started by saying she was in favour of assisted dying, but then spoke powerfully against the Bill, saying: I have heard talk today of the injustices of the current situation. What could be more unjust than someone losing their life because of poorly drafted legislation? She spoke of coercion and of the vulnerability of someone who 'all their life has lacked agency' and has not, like MPs, 'been confident in dealing with authority and institutions'. Vicky Foxcroft gave her first speech on the backbenches since resigning last night. She said she based her opposition to the Bill on her experience as shadow minister for disabled people, where she found that most disabled people and almost all the organisations representing them were opposed to and in fear of assisted dying. She had voted for the previous attempt to introduce assisted dying in 2015, but would be voting against today. Peter Prinsley spoke from his experience as a doctor, saying he had started his medical career opposed to assisted dying, but what he had seen in his professional practice had changed his mind about the need to give people dignity and choice over the end of their lives. Other supporters of the Bill spoke of constituents and family members who had desperately wanted that dignity. The margin of the result will be narrow, which will create problems if the Bill does pass. The speeches today have largely been considered and well-argued, though far too many MPs have congratulated themselves with the dreadful phrase: 'Parliament at its best'. Perhaps they have reached that conclusion because MPs have mostly been polite to one another – which stands in contrast to some of the very ill-tempered debates over the past decade, particularly around Brexit. But this is not an example of Parliament at its best on legislating, which is after all its primary role, rather than a forum for people to parade their politeness.
Western Telegraph
an hour ago
- Western Telegraph
Campaigners for and against assisted dying make feelings known at Westminster
Dame Prue Leith, Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, and the broadcaster, Jonathan Dimbleby, were among the high-profile figures supporting the Bill to change the law in England and Wales. Members of the Dignity in Dying campaign wore pink and held placards in memory of friends and family members. Those opposed to the Bill included groups dressed as scientists in white lab coats and bloodied gloves and masks, as well as nuns and other members of religious organisations. The mood amongst campaigners was largely calm and respectful on both sides. Dame Prue told the PA news agency she was 'both nervous and confident' about the outcome. 'It's so moving to see all these people with placards of people they've lost or people who are dying of cancer,' she said. 'It's hard not to cry because I think they have done such a good job. Let's hope we've won.' Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, supporting the Dignity in Dying protest outside Parliament (Yui Mok/PA) Mr Dimbleby said he believed the Bill would be 'transformative'. He added: 'What it will mean is millions of people will be able to say to themselves, 'If I'm terminally ill, I will be able to choose, assuming I am of sound mind and I am not being coerced, to say 'Yes, I want to be assisted – I have dignity in death'.' Rebecca Wilcox, the daughter of Dame Esther, said: 'It couldn't be a kinder, more compassionate Bill that respects choice at the end of life, that respects kindness and empathy and gives us all an option when other options, every other option, has been taken away, and it would just be the perfect tool for a palliative care doctor to have in their med bag.' Teachers Catie and Becky Fenner said they wanted other families to benefit from the Bill. Campaigners against the assisted dying Bill outside Parliament (Yui Mok/PA) Their mother, who had motor neurone disease, had flown to Dignitas in Switzerland to end her life at a cost of £15,000. The sisters said they did not get to properly say goodbye and grieve and worried about the legal repercussions. Catie, 37, said: 'We were left quite traumatised by the whole experience – not only seeing a parent go through a really horrible disease but then the secrecy of the planning.' Campaigners against the Bill, who were gathered outside Parliament, chanted 'We are not dead yet' and 'Kill the Bill, not the ill'. A display was erected with a gravestone reading 'RIP: The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Bury it deep', and behind were two mounds meant to resemble graves. Andrew Hilliard, 75, said he was opposed for religious reasons. He was dressed in a white lab coat with a placard reading: 'Protect our NHS from becoming the National Suicide Service'. The chief executive of Care Not Killing, Dr Gordon Macdonald, said MPs should prioritise improving palliative care. He said: 'Most people, when thinking about the practical implications of this, for those most vulnerable, they change their minds.' George Fielding, a campaigner affiliated with the Not Dead Yet group which is opposed to assisted dying, said he attended to represent disabled people. He said: 'This Bill will endanger and shorten the lives of disabled people.'
