MPs back assisted dying bill in historic Commons vote

In an historic vote, MPs have approved a bill which gives terminally ill adults in England and Wales the right to end their own lives.

The Terminally Ill Adults Bill, which was backed by 314 votes to 291, will now go to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.

The bill was backed by a majority of 23 MPs, representing a drop from the first time it was debated in November, when it passed by 55.

The vote came after an emotionally-charged debate which saw MPs recount personal stories of seeing friends and relatives die.

MPs were given a free vote on the bill, meaning they did not have to follow their party’s line.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer backed the measure, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Health Secretary Wes Streeting voted against.

The bill had been proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater and speaking to the BBC after the vote she said she was “over the moon”.

“I know what this means for terminally ill people and their love ones.”

She added it had been a “particularly emotional week” because it marked nine years since the murder of her sister Jo Cox, who had been a Labour MP at the time.

“Jo used to say if good people don’t step forward and come into politics then what do we end up with?

“And even though some of us feel quite out of place in this place at times we are here to make a difference and we’re here to make positive change that society has asked us to do.”

Critics of the bill have argued the bill risks people being coerced into seeking an assisted death but Leadbeater said she was “100% confident” sufficient safeguards. were in place.

Conservative MP Danny Kruger, who has been a prominent opponent of the bill, said the majority had been cut in half adding: “It is clear support for this bill is ebbing away fast.”

He said he hoped the House of Lords would either reject the proposed legislation or “substantially strengthen it”.

He argued it would not be unconstitutional for peers to block a bill, approved by the democratically-elected House of Commons, pointing out that it had not appeared in Labour’s election manifesto.

Before the vote, the House of Commons spent more than three hours debating the general principles of the bill.

Conservative MP James Cleverly said he was struck by the number of medical professional bodies who were neutral on the principle of assisted dying but were opposed to the specific measures in the bill.

“When the people upon whom we rely to deliver this say we are not ready… we should listen,” he said.

Speaking in favour, Labour MP Peter Prinsley said: “There is an absolute sanctity of human life, but we are not dealing with life or death – we are dealing with death or death.

“For there is also a sanctity of human dignity and fundamental to that is surely choice – who we to deny that to the dying?”

At the start of the day, MPs voted on a series of amendments that had been debated last week.

These included a measure to close the so-called “anorexia loophole” which would stop people qualifying for assisted dying on the basis of life-threatening malnutrition.

MPs backed that amendment as well as one requiring the government to publish a review of palliative care services within a year of the bill passing.

Attempts to block access to assisted dying for people suffering mental health problems or because they feel “burdensome” was defeated by a majority of 53.