MPs in historic vote for assisted dying in England and Wales
Opposition and pro-change campaigners had gathered outside Parliament from early on Friday.
Assisted dying could be legalised in England and Wales after a historic vote saw proposed legislation clear its first hurdle in Parliament.
A majority of MPs, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, supported a Bill that would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to end their lives.
Encouraging or assisting suicide is currently against the law in England and Wales, with a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.
MPs voted 330 to 275, majority 55, to approve Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at second reading.
Meanwhile eight voted against, including Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Women and Equalities minister Anneliese Dodds, while there was no vote recorded for Scotland Secretary Ian Murray.
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak voted in support, while Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch voted against.
Meanwhile, one of the Bill’s most high-profile supporters, Dame Esther Rantzen, said she is “absolutely thrilled” with the result.
The Childline founder and broadcaster told the PA news agency: “I listened to the debate and it was very deeply felt. Members of Parliament, whether they opposed it or proposed it, had obviously given it a great deal of thought, and right up to the end of the debate, I had no idea whether it would be voted through or not.”
But Christian Concern branded this a “very Black Friday for the vulnerable in this country”, and said the Bill “must be stopped at third reading”.
The four-and-a-half hour debate in the Commons heard arguments from MPs about a need to give choice to dying people.
She told the BBC: “We have shown Parliament in its best light today. Very respectful, very compassionate debate, irrespective of the different views that people hold.”
Spen Valley MP Ms Leadbeater said a “thorough, robust” committee would now work to make the Bill “the best it possibly can be”.
But Conservative MP Danny Kruger, lead MP for opponents of the Bill, said he believed Parliament can do “better” for terminally ill people than a “state suicide service”.
Mr Kruger’s mother, Great British Bake Off judge Dame Prue Leith has been vocal in her support for legalisation of assisted dying.
Mr Kruger branded the Bill “too flawed”, while Labour MP Rachael Maskell said the proposed legislation is the “wrong and rushed answer to a complex problem”, and “falls woefully short on safeguarding patients”.
The Bill will face 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.
Some MPs indicated during the debate that their support for the Bill might not continue at a further vote, if they are not convinced of the safeguards.
Ms Leadbeater has said it would likely be a further two years from then for an assisted dying service to be in place.
