MPs make last minute pleas as Commons prepares for assisted dying vote

High-profile supporters of change include Dame Esther Rantzen and Dame Prue Leith, while Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and Liz Carr have spoken out against the bill. ITV News reporter Fred Dimbleby has the latest.
Parliament has a chance to “correct injustice and reduce human suffering” when it debates assisted dying, the MP behind the bill said – but opposition campaigners have warned of “inevitable abuse, pressure, coercion and mistakes”.The divisive issue is being debated in the Commons on Friday for the first time in almost a decade – having been voted down by MPs in 2015.Five hours have been set aside for MPs to air their views on Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, and a vote must be called before 2.30pm, otherwise the bill is highly unlikely to make any further progress through Parliament.
Ms Leadbeater has said the current law is not fit for purpose and her proposals would allow terminally ill adults in the two nations with less than six months to live to end their lives, subject to the approval of two doctors and a High Court judge.
Ahead of the debate, she said: “People will be looking in on Parliament as it debates this important change to the law – a change that, when we most need it, could bring comfort to any one of us or to somebody we love.“I hope Parliament will show itself at its best and most compassionate and that MPs will show themselves, as they have in the past when major social reforms have come before them, ready to correct injustice and reduce human suffering.”
High-profile supporters of change include Dame Esther Rantzen and Dame Prue Leith.
While those for a new law have said it will give choice to dying people in specific, limited circumstances, opposition campaigners have warned of the risk of people feeling coerced into taking their lives.
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and actress and disability campaigner Liz Carr are among the well-known faces to have spoken out against the bill.Ms Carr said: “It’s no exaggeration to say that many disabled people are terrified of this bill being voted in. Our recent past showed us how ill, older and disabled people’s lives are viewed as less valuable and more disposable.“Set against this backdrop of inequality, bias and disadvantage, we do not believe any safeguards could protect us from the inevitable abuse, pressure, coercion and mistakes made under the Leadbeater bill.”
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A small group of MPs have already made a bid to halt the bill’s progress, claiming the fact it is a private member’s bill, rather than a government bill, means the process does not “allow for sufficient debate on and scrutiny” of a matter of such importance.The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Britain’s equality regulator, has said it is neutral on assisted dying, but has said Parliament should be given “adequate time, expertise and the supporting materials required to effectively scrutinise” the bill.
A tally by ITV News, as of Thursday evening, suggests 205 MPs intent to support the bill, while 159 say they will vote against it, while 125 remain undecided and 24 are due to abstain.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, who supported a change in the law in 2015, has not said publicly how he intends to vote, claiming he does not want to “put pressure” on MPs who will be taking part in the free vote according to their conscience, rather than along party lines. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is among those who have said they remain undecided as MPs study the bill’s details. The Cabinet is split on the issue, with Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood intending to vote no, while Energy Secretary and former Labour leader Ed Miliband is supporting the bill alongside Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.Former prime minister Rishi Sunak has not said which way he will vote, while Lord Cameron, who would have a vote if the Bill progressed to the Lords, is the only living former PM to publicly back the legislation.
Whether this bid is successful depends on the Commons Speaker choosing it for debate and a majority of MPs supporting it.If the Bill passes on Friday, it will go to 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.
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