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.

A majority of MPs backed a Bill that would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to end their lives.

Despite warnings from opponents around the safety of a Bill they argued has been rushed through, the proposed legislation took another step in the parliamentary process.

MPs voted 314 to 291, majority 23, to approve Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at third reading.

Dame Prue Leith joins activists from Dignity in Dying in support of the assisted dying Bill in Parliament Square, central London, ahead of a debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the House of Commons | Yui Mok/PA Wire

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.

A similar Bill, brought by Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, is being considered by MSPs at Holyrood.

Scottish MPs rejected the assisted dying bill at Westminster, with 29 of the 57 voting against.

From the Labour group, 22 MPs voted against and 15 voted for. All five Conservatives voted against, and the SNP abstained.

Two Scottish Liberal Democrats were for and two against. Scottish Liberal Democrat Wendy Chamberlain abstained by voting for and against.

‘Milestone moment’

Responding to the vote by MPs, Mr McArthur said: "I am delighted that the House of Commons have voted to pass Kim Leadbeater's assisted dying bill at Third Reading - it's a milestone moment for choice and compassion at the end of life. MPs have listened to dying people, to bereaved families and the public – and have voted decisively for safe and compassionate law change.

"Last month, MSPs backed the principles of assisted dying in recognition that under the current law, terminally ill people can suffer despite the best care, take drastic action to end their own lives, or travel at huge cost to die in a foreign country. With this vote, MPs have sent a clear message that the worst outcome of all would be to allow the status quo to continue and that a better, safer and fairer law is possible.

"I'll be making this case to colleagues in the Scottish Parliament as my bill moves through its following stages. I look forward to working with them to ensure that in Scotland too we have an assisted dying law that gives dying people the choice they need and puts vital protections in place for all. Undoubtedly today's vote adds to the momentum behind this work.

"I'd also like to personally congratulate Kim Leadbeater and acknowledge not only the work that she has done to bring about this result today but also the compassion, care and respect with which she has led the debate."

Campaigners opposing the assisted dying Bill demonstrate at Parliament Square, Westminster, central London, ahead of a debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the House of Commons | Lucy North/PA Wire

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.

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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.

Concers over practicalities

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 per cent 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 per cent.