What today's crucial assisted dying vote is all about
MPs are preparing to take part in a crucial vote on Friday on the issue of assisted dying.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater says she is confident that her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will get the backing it requires in the Commons to then move on to the House of Lords.
She introduced the bill to the house in October last year, and the proposed legislation has undergone a number of changes since.
On the eve of the vote, Leadbeater said: 'We have the most robust piece of legislation in the world in front of us tomorrow."
It is 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 of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55.
Leadbeater said of Friday's vote: 'There might be some small movement in the middle, some people might maybe change their mind one way, others will change their mind the other way but fundamentally I don't anticipate that that majority would be heavily eroded so I do feel confident we can get through tomorrow successfully.
'If we don't pass this law tomorrow, it could be another decade before this issue is brought back to Parliament."
The legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales who have been told they have fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death.
This would need to be approved by two doctors and a panel that has a social worker, a senior legal figure and a psychiatrist.
If approved, the terminally ill person would take an approved substance to end their life, provided by a doctor but administered by the person themselves.
The third reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday will be the last vote in the Commons and will determine if the proposed legislation goes to the House of Lords, where peers may suggest their own amendments.
The first reading of a bill is its formal presentation, before the Commons debates it during the second reading, and any amendments made at committee and report stage.
Once the Commons and the Lords are agreed on the contents of a bill, it receives royal assent and becomes law.
MPs can have a free vote on the bill, meaning they do not have to follow party lines.
It has been reported that about 15 MPs who supported the bill or abstained at its second reading vote last November have changed their minds and plan to vote against it.
Supporters say the bill has better safeguards after more than 90 hours of parliamentary time spent on it so far, but opponents say the process has been rushed, weakening the legislation.
Sir Keir Starmer has indicated he will back the bill, having already done so in a vote last November. He said this week position on the issue is 'long-standing and well-known', suggesting he has not changed his mind.
HOW YOUR MP VOTED LAST TIME
He said: 'There has been a lot of time discussing it, both in Parliament and beyond Parliament, and quite right too. It's a really serious issue."
However, both his health secretary Wes Streeting and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood voted against the bill in November.
Dan Carden, the MP for Liverpool Walton and leader of the so-called Blue Labour group, who previously abstained, said he will vote against the proposals.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch voted against the bill in November, as did Lib Dems leader Sir Ed Davey and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
One major change is that, if the bill did become law, the implementation period has been doubled to a maximum of four years after royal assent, rather than the initial suggestion of two.
That means if the bill did eventually pass both houses later this year then assisted dying may not be offered until 2029.
In addition, the initial requirement for a High Court judge to approve assisted dying applications has been scrapped, replaced by expert panels made up of a senior legal figure, a social worker and a psychiatrist, which opponents said weakened the bill.
But Leadbeater said: "We are adding the expertise and experience of psychiatrists and social workers to provide extra protections in the areas of assessing mental capacity and detecting coercion while retaining judicial oversight."
There were also changes made to ensure the establishment of independent advocates to support people with learning disabilities, autism or mental health conditions, while there is also a proposal to set up a disability advisory board to advise on the impact on disabled people.
Assisted dying adverts will be banned if the bill does become law, following an amendment added earlier this month during the report stage, and doctors will be prohibited from talking to under-18s about assisted dying.
A group of more than 50 Labour MPs wrote to the leader of the house Lucy Powell asking her to postpone Friday's vote because of the sheer number of amendments, saying more parliamentary time is need to scrutinise the bill.
They wrote: "MPs will be arriving at Westminster on Friday morning without sight of the final version of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.'
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