Assisted dying bill - latest: MPs vote in favour of historic legislation following fierce debate
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill received 330 ayes and 275 noes, a majority of 55 votes
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.MPs have voted in favour of the assisted dying bill following a fierce commons debate.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill received 330 ayes and 275 noes, a majority of 55 votes.
In a sign of the level of feeling on the divisive issue, more than 160 MPs made bids to speak during Friday’s Commons debate – the first on the issue in almost a decade.
The bill will now go to the committee stage where MPs can table amendments, before facing further scrutiny and votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, meaning any change in the law would not be agreed until next year at the earliest.
The law would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live to end their lives, subject to the approval of two doctors and a High Court judge.
Warning: this article contains information that people might find distressing, including accounts of human suffering.
Tory MP argues bill is ‘too flawed’ to continue beyond today’s vote
Danny Kruger, Conservative MP, is arguing that the bill is “too flawed” to address in the committee stage, beyond today’s vote.
He argues that palliative care needs to get better before assisted deaths are allowed. He told MPs: “If we get our broken palliative care system right.. We can do so much more for all the people we will hear of today. But we won’t be able to do that if we introduce this new option. Instead we will expose many more people to harm.”
Mr Kruger is arguing that doctors can make the suggestion of an assisted death to the patient, under the terms of the Bill.
Andrew George LibDem MP has argued that today’s vote is just to let the Bill go to the next stage, and that any problems can be ironed out later.
Danny Kruger reflects the way assisted dying divides families
Tory MP Danny Kruger has been chosen to respond to Kim Leadbeater and lead the arguments against the assisted dying bill.
While he is making a very conciliatory and respectful speech, his own family reflects the deep divisions on this issue.
Mr Kruger’s mother cookery writer and TV personality Prue Leith is a campaigner in favour of assisted dying who supports Ms Leadbeater’s bill.
Kim Leadbeater seeks to reassure MPs over bill scrutiny
Kim Leadbeater has sought to reassure colleagues over the level of scrutiny the bill will face, saying she will consider giving the Bill Committee the power to take oral and written evidence – something that goes beyond normal practice for a Private Members Bill.
She promised “line-by-line scrutiny” if the legislation passes its second reading, reminding members that a “vote to take this bill forward today is not a vote to implement the law tomorrow”. “It is a vote to continue the debate”, she added.
She also reassured MPs that the committee will meet over a number of weeks, saying there will be “ample time for full consideration of the details”.
It comes after some MPs expressed fears that the legislation has been rushed, with many suggesting that a Private Members Bill is not the right medium for such significant legislation to be debated.
Addressing the Commons, MP Danny Kruger said this bill is “simply too big for the time its been given”.
Tory MP says assisted dying crosses ‘irreversible medical red line’ for medics
Conservative MP Mark Pritchard said the assisted dying Bill crosses an “irreversible medical red line for doctors and for nurses”.
Intervening, the MP for The Wrekin said: “Is it not the case that this crosses a new medical irreversible medical red line for doctors and for nurses?
“And is it not the case that in other Bills that we’ve seen in this House over the years, that the safeguards invariably over time become obsolete, so the safeguards in this Bill, however well meant should be seen as temporary safeguards not immutable safeguards?”
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater (Spen Valley) replied: “I respectfully disagree with (Mr Pritchard), the countries where a Bill of this nature has been implemented, the safeguards have been in place and the boundaries have never changed.”
The horse trading begins
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper has intervened to ask if Kim Leadbeater is willing to toughen up the language of her bill to strengthen safeguards.
Perhaps realising the criticism of alleged loopholes in her bill, Ms Leadbeater readily agreed.
Such interventions can sway some of the undecideds and be more important than they seem in the moment.
Just changing the minds or reassuring a few MPs could be the difference between success and failure today.
A number of MPs have risen during Kim Leadbeater’s opening speech to raise their concerns about her Bill
Independent MP Richard Burgon has said he is “really concerned” that people in care homes would feel like a burden to their families and seek to end their lives earlier to save social care fees.
He said people might think “If I end my life now, I can save my family between 25,000 and 50,000 thousand pounds”.
DUP MP Jim Shannon was concerned that the Bill did not offer assurances that “we won’t end up in the position in Belgium”, where the criteria for those who can have an assisted death is much broader.
Ms Leadbeater assured the house that “the model that is being proposed here is nothing like what happens in Belgium, it is nothing like what is happening in Canada.”
Tory MP Oliver Dowden raised concerns about “excessive judicial activism” that might broaden the intentions of MPs and widen the Bill beyond just terminally ill adults or others.
Man with cerebral palsy says ‘we should be assisting people to live rather than to die’
A 29-year-old man with cerebral palsy has said the NHS should be “assisting people to live, rather than to die”.
George Fielding from Hammersmith, west London said: “We should be prioritising reform to social care, to the NHS and to palliative care.
“We should be assisting people to live rather than to die.
“This is the cart before the horse. It is, very darkly, the cart before the horse, and it is very pessimistically the cart before the horse.”
He said the situation reads to him like “we can’t afford for disabled people to live good lives”.
Proposed laws are ‘nothing like’ existing legislation in other countries, says Leadbeater
Kim Leadbeater told MPs the assisted dying Bill being debated was “nothing like” the laws in Canada and Belgium because while it strived for a similar purpose, it had greater safeguards.
DUP MP Jim Shannon (Shannon) intervened to claim the situation in Belgium had “deteriorated” to include dementia and under 18s.
He asked: “What guarantees have we that this legislation today will not end up as it will in Belgium, in which case ‘anything goes’? Is that what she really wants? I don’t want it, does she?”
Spen Valley MP Ms Leadbeater replied: “Let’s be very clear. A huge amount of research has been done by the Health and Social Care Select Committee and indeed by myself and others.
“The model that is being proposed here is nothing like happens in Belgium, it is nothing like happens in Canada. It is strict, stringent criteria, and if the House chooses to pass this Bill, that criteria cannot be changed.”
Former Tory minister rasies fears medic will be unable to check for coercion
Conservative former minister Simon Hoare raised fears medics will be unable to check for coercion in assisted dying requests.
Intervening in Kim Leadbeater’s speech to introduce the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, Mr Hoare said: “She references coercion and I recognise the point that she makes about the two medics, but the medics won’t be able to see or have heard anything and everything at all times. People will not be put beyond challenge because subsequent to the death, if a relative claims coercion of another relative, investigation will remain.”
Ms Leadbeater, the Labour MP for Spen Valley, replied: “We’re going to check for coercion in a very robust system. We don’t have any of that now, so at the moment the person will definitely be dead.
“We have to look at the status quo by putting layers of safeguarding and checking for coercion. That’s got to be better than the system that we’ve got now.”
Where are the public on assisted dying?
Kim Leadbeater noted in her opening speech that 75 per cent of the public support the principle of assisted dying. It is true that this result has been repeated in most polls on the subject as the debate has drawn nearer.
However, there are other polling results which suggest that the public also have concerns.
Results by Delta polling published today reveal that 70 per cent say the NHS is insufficiently funded to provide pain relief or palliative care for people at the end of their lives and 73 per cent believe this would improve end of life experiences if palliative care was fully funded.
It reflects other polling used by former prime minister Gordon Brown last week who argued that a commission into palliative care is required before a decision on assisted dying is taken.
On the issue of coercion, Delta found 70 per cent fear that disabled people could be impacted to end their life, even if they don’t want to and 66 per cent of people are worried about terminally ill people being pressured by others requesting an assisted death. We need to make sure disabled people’s concerns are fully explored.
But there are other issues which arise and could affect decisions on whether people decide to end their own lives.
Delta found that 83 per cent are worried about a long and painful death; 77 per cent are worried about losing dignity and independence; 77 per cent are worried about unsupervised suicide; 78 per cent are worried about financial hardship; and 63 per cent are worried about the cost to the NHS.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments