Assisted dying vote on a knife edge as Yes and No camps BOTH claim they have numbers to win bitter campaign over law on helping terminally ill end their lives
The vote on legalising assisted dying is on a knife-edge today with both Yes and No campaigns saying they are on course to win the increasingly close campaign.
Kim Leadbeater said she is confident MPs will tomorrow back her plan to allow terminally ill people with six months or less to live to be helped to commit suicide, when it is put to a final vote tomorrow.
But opponents of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill also believe they may have the numbers to see it off the proposed decriminalisation in England and Wales.
Ms Leadbeater has argued terminally ill people must be given choice at the end of their lives, but opponents of her Bill have warned it fails to guarantee protections for society's most vulnerable.
The legislation passed a preliminary vote last November by 55 votes.
But since then more than 20 MPs who backed it have publicly changed their minds, and the Bill would fall if 28 MPs switched directly from voting yes to no on Friday.
So close is the vote that Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood, who is isolating with Covid, has been offered a private ambulance to bring her to the Commons to vote against it.
MPs will get a free vote on what is known as a 'conscience matter' with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer indicating he will vote Yes and ministers Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood expected to vote No.
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.
Significant changes since it succeeded in the initial vote in Parliament include the replacement of a High Court safeguard with the expert panels, and a doubling of the implementation period to a maximum of four years for an assisted dying service to be in place should the Bill pass into law.
Making her case for a change in the law, Ms Leadbeater said: 'We have the most robust piece of legislation in the world in front of us tomorrow, and I know that many colleagues have engaged very closely with the legislation and will make their decision based on those facts and that evidence, and that cannot be disputed.
'But we need to do something, and we need to do it quickly.'
A YouGov poll of 2,003 adults in Great Britain, surveyed last month and published on Thursday, suggested public support for the Bill remains high at 73 per cent – unchanged from November.
The proportion of people who feel assisted dying should be legal in principle has risen slightly, to 75 per cent from 73 per cent in November.
Friday will be the first time the Bill has been debated and voted on in its entirety since last year's historic yes vote, when MPs supported the principle.
So close is the vote that Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood, who is isolating with Covid, has been offered a private ambulance to bring her to the Commons to vote against it.
However opponents claim there are not enough safeguards in the legislation as it stands to protect vulnerable people.
A think tank last night warned hundreds of domestic abuse victims could be coerced into using assisted dying by their abusers.
The Other Half warned that victims are already at a higher risk of taking their own lives and the situation could be exacerbated.
It has estimated that as many as 631 abuse victims, who are also terminally ill, could opt to die every year within a decade, based on the Government's own calculations about the uptake of the ability to seek help to die.
A poll carried out by the women's rights think tank found that two thirds of voters, men and women, are concerned about victims being pressured into dying by their abusers.
The Other Half chief executive Fiona Mackenzie said: 'This bill is designed to kill people – and that extraordinary purpose needs extraordinary safeguards.
'Government cannot avoid facing up to the reality before us, we have to understand how the bill could deliver the death of those we otherwise work hard to prevent.
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The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
Historic vote brings assisted dying closer to becoming law in England and Wales
Assisted dying is a step closer to being made legal in England and Wales after the proposed legislation cleared the House of Commons in a historic vote – albeit with a narrower majority. More than 300 MPs backed a Bill that would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to end their lives. Yes campaigners wept, jumped and hugged each other outside parliament as the vote result was announced, while some MPs appeared visibly emotional as they left the chamber. Others lined up to shake hands with Kim Leadbeater, the Bill's sponsor through the Commons, with some, including Home Office minister Jess Phillips, stopping to hug the Spen Valley MP. Despite warnings from opponents around the safety of a Bill they argued has been rushed through, the proposed legislation has taken another step in the parliamentary process. MPs voted 314 to 291, majority 23, to approve Ms Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at third reading. This means the Bill has completed its first stages in the Commons and will move to the House of Lords for further debate and scrutiny. Both Houses must agree the final text of the Bill before it can be signed into law. Due to the four-year implementation period, it could be 2029 – potentially coinciding with the end of this Government's Parliament – before assisted dying is offered. Encouraging or assisting suicide is currently against the law in England and Wales, with a maximum jail sentence of 14 years. Supporters of assisted dying have described the current law as not being fit for purpose, with desperate terminally ill people feeling the need to end their lives in secret or go abroad to Dignitas alone, for fear loved ones will be prosecuted for helping them. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer remained supportive of the Bill, voting yes on Friday as he had done last year. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who had urged MPs to vote against the legislation, describing it as 'a bad Bill' despite being 'previously supportive of assisted suicide', voted no. Friday was the first time the Bill was debated and voted on in its entirety since last year's historic yes vote, when MPs supported the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55 at second reading. Labour MP Ms Leadbeater has argued her Bill will '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'. During an hours-long date on Friday, MPs on both sides of the issue recalled personal stories of loved ones who had died. Conservative former minister Sir James Cleverly, who led the opposition to the Bill in the Commons, spoke of a close friend who died 'painfully' from cancer. He said he comes at the divisive issue 'not from a position of faith nor from a position of ignorance', and was driven in his opposition by 'concerns about the practicalities' of the Bill. MPs had a free vote on the Bill, meaning they decided according to their conscience rather than along party lines. 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. Public support for a change in the law remains high, according to a YouGov poll published on the eve of the vote. The survey of 2,003 adults in Great Britain, suggested 73% of those asked last month were supportive of the Bill, while the proportion of people who feel assisted dying should be legal in principle stood at 75%.
South Wales Argus
18 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Historic vote brings assisted dying closer to becoming law in England and Wales
More than 300 MPs backed a Bill that would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to end their lives. Yes campaigners wept, jumped and hugged each other outside parliament as the vote result was announced, while some MPs appeared visibly emotional as they left the chamber. Others lined up to shake hands with Kim Leadbeater, the Bill's sponsor through the Commons, with some, including Home Office minister Jess Phillips, stopping to hug the Spen Valley MP. Despite warnings from opponents around the safety of a Bill they argued has been rushed through, the proposed legislation has taken another step in the parliamentary process. MPs voted 314 to 291, majority 23, to approve Ms Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at third reading. Kim Leadbeater has been the MP behind the assisted dying bill (Jonathan Brady/PA) This means the Bill has completed its first stages in the Commons and will move to the House of Lords for further debate and scrutiny. Both Houses must agree the final text of the Bill before it can be signed into law. Due to the four-year implementation period, it could be 2029 – potentially coinciding with the end of this Government's Parliament – before assisted dying is offered. Encouraging or assisting suicide is currently against the law in England and Wales, with a maximum jail sentence of 14 years. Supporters of assisted dying have described the current law as not being fit for purpose, with desperate terminally ill people feeling the need to end their lives in secret or go abroad to Dignitas alone, for fear loved ones will be prosecuted for helping them. Public support for a change in the law remains high, according to a poll (James Manning/PA) Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer remained supportive of the Bill, voting yes on Friday as he had done last year. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who had urged MPs to vote against the legislation, describing it as 'a bad Bill' despite being 'previously supportive of assisted suicide', voted no. Friday was the first time the Bill was debated and voted on in its entirety since last year's historic yes vote, when MPs supported the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55 at second reading. Labour MP Ms Leadbeater has argued her Bill will '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'. During an hours-long date on Friday, MPs on both sides of the issue recalled personal stories of loved ones who had died. Conservative former minister Sir James Cleverly, who led the opposition to the Bill in the Commons, spoke of a close friend who died 'painfully' from cancer. He said he comes at the divisive issue 'not from a position of faith nor from a position of ignorance', and was driven in his opposition by 'concerns about the practicalities' of the Bill. MPs had a free vote on the Bill, meaning they decided according to their conscience rather than along party lines. Campaigners in Parliament Square, central London, ahead of the vote (PA) 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. Public support for a change in the law remains high, according to a YouGov poll published on the eve of the vote. The survey of 2,003 adults in Great Britain, suggested 73% of those asked last month were supportive of the Bill, while the proportion of people who feel assisted dying should be legal in principle stood at 75%.
The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
Kim Leadbeater in tears as MPs vote in favour of assisted dying bill
Watch the moment MPs voted in favour of the assisted dying bill which will legalise the right for terminally ill people in England and Wales to end their own life with medical assistance. Following a debate on the The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the House of Commons on Friday (20 June), MPs voted 314 to 219 in favour of the legislation. It will now transfer to the House of Lords for several more stages of scrutiny. Kim Leadbeater, who proposed the bill, was seen crying in the chamber as it was passed.
