MPs debate assisted dying bill ahead of crunch vote – UK politics live

Summary of amendments to assisted dying bill voted for and against today:

Joe Coughlan

Here is a roundup of the votes from this morning so far:

MPs have voted to reject an amendment which would have prevented a person who is substantially motivated by feeling they are a burden, from qualifying for assisted dying. Conservative MP Rebecca Paul’s new clause 16 stated that a wish to end one’s own life should not be substantially motivated by factors such as a mental disorder, disability or suicidal ideation. The Commons voted 208 to 261, majority 53 against.
A proposal to disapply the presumption that a person has capacity unless the opposite is established in cases of assisted dying requests, has been rejected by MPs. The Commons voted 213 to 266, majority 53 to reject amendment 24, which was tabled by Labour MP Daniel Francis.
MPs have agreed that ministers should get powers to update the National Health Service Act 2006 as part of the assisted dying bill, to include voluntary assisted dying services as part of the NHS’s purposes. Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh pushed her amendment 12 to a vote, which would have blocked ministers from broadening the NHS’s purposes without a fresh bill. But MPs rejected McDonagh’s proposal 269 votes to 223, majority 46.
A ban on advertising assisted dying would be extended to all of the UK, should the bill pass, MPs have agreed, as part of amendment 77. They also voted for the UK-wide extension of regulations about approved substances intended to be used to help terminally ill patients to die. They also approved an opt-out for medical professionals being extended to Scotland. MPs voted 275 in favour, 209 against, majority 66.
MPs have also supported a safeguard which would prevent a person meeting the requirements for an assisted death “solely as a result of voluntarily stopping eating or drinking”.
Ministers will have a year to report on how assisted dying could affect palliative care, if the assisted dying bill passes. MPs called “aye” to approve Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson’s amendment 21.
MPs voted in favour of the final amendment 94, which proposed to give the devolved Welsh government powers to set regulations for some aspects of the bill in Wales. MPs voted 274 in favour, 224 against, majority 50.

Key events

Vicky Foxcroft says engagement with disabled people on bill has been ‘negligible’

Joe Coughlan

Disabled people want politicians to “assist them to live, not to die”, Labour’s Vicky Foxcroft told the Commons.

Speaking for the first time since her resignation as a government whip over welfare reforms, Ms Foxcroft said:

I don’t claim that every disabled person opposes assisted dying, but I do claim that the vast majority of disabled people and their organisations oppose it.

They need the health and social care system fixing first. They want us as parliamentarians to assist them to live, not to die.

Disabled people’s voices matter in this debate, and yet, as I’ve watched the Bill progress, the absence of disabled people’s voices has been astonishing. They have wanted to engage. Indeed, they have been crying out to be included, yet the engagement has been negligible.

Ms Foxcroft, a former shadow disabilities minister, added:

We are not voting on principles today. This is real, and we have to protect those people who are susceptible to coercion, who already feel like society doesn’t value them, who often feel like a burden to the state, society and their family.

I urge anyone in this chamber who has any doubts that this Bill doesn’t protect them, who has any worries and concerns, please don’t vote for it today.

Joe Coughlan

Prue Leith, who supports the bill, told the PA Media agency outside parliament she was both “nervous and confident” ahead of the vote, adding that she was “superstitious” on whether the bill would pass.

She added:

It’s so moving to see all these people with placards of people they’ve lost or people who are dying of cancer.

It’s hard not to cry because I think they have done such a good job, let’s hope we’ve won.

Prue Leith joins activists from Dignity in Dying in support of the assisted dying bill in Parliament Square. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Joe Coughlan

The chief executive of Care Not Killing called for MPs to reject the bill.

Speaking outside parliament, Gordon Macdonald said there were still “lots of problems” with the bill, PA Media reports.

He added:

As this is a private members’ bill, the MP in charge of the bill was able to choose who she wanted in the committee, choose who she wanted to give evidence and decide which amendments would be accepted and which wouldn’t, so I believe the whole process is completely flawed and I believe the Government needs to hold responsibility for this.

Keir Starmer should have taken responsibility for this.

We’re seeing more MPs who are voting against it which doesn’t surprise me as the more people think about this issue the more likely they are to support it.

Any amendments can be voted on at the committee stage of a bill, at the discretion of the whole committee.

The committee is made up of a list of people proposed by the bill’s sponsor, but ultimately decided upon by the committee of selection.

Anorexia patients could still access assisted dying through a “loophole”, Labour MP Naz Shah has warned.

Shah said she had originally supported the assisted dying bill “in principle”, adding:

But this debate is no longer about the principle of assisted death – that is not the decision before us today, and nor is it the issue that we will be walking through those lobbies for when we are deciding to vote for or against this bill.

She cautioned that the assisted dying bill was “not safe”.

Referring to her amendment 14 to prevent a patient meeting the requirements for an assisted death “solely as a result of voluntarily stopping eating or drinking”, which MPs backed earlier on Friday, and a further amendment 38 which was not added to the bill, Shah told the House of Commons:

This is not the anorexia loophole that has been closed – that was another amendment.

When people stop voluntarily eating and drinking, that is not what happens to people with anorexia. People with anorexia stop eating and drinking because they have a psychiatric illness. These are two categorically different issues.

So I must make it clear, absolutely clear, even though amendment 14 has passed today, this amendment does not address concerns about anorexia or close that loophole.

Ending her speech, Shah told MPs:

The question for all members is simply this, ‘what is the margin of error when it comes to something as serious as death that we are willing to risk today?’

In Parliament Square, campaigners opposing the bill, wearing white T-shirts, appeared to outnumber those for the bill, wearing pink T-shirts, reports the PA news agency.

Campaigners against the bill chanted “We are not dead yet” and “Kill the Bill, not the ill”.

A display was erected with a gravestone reading “R.I.P: The terminally ill adults (end of life) bill. Bury it deep”, and behind were two mounds meant to resemble graves.

Campaigners in support and in opposition of the assisted dying bill in Parliament Square, central London, on Friday. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

One campaigner against the bill could be seen being spoken to by police after shouting at an opposing activist, reports the PA news agency.

Jonathan Dimbleby joins activists from Dignity in Dying in support of the assisted dying bill in Parliament Square, central London, before a debate in the House of Commons. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Diane Abbott urges MPs to reject the assisted dying bill

Diane Abbott said she was not opposed to the principle of assisted dying, but urged MPs to reject the bill for fear that “people will lose their lives who do not need to”.

The Labour MP said:

I came to this house to be a voice for the voiceless. It hasn’t always been favoured by my own leadership, but that is why I came to the house. Who could be more voiceless than somebody who is in their sickbed and believes they are dying?

I ask members in this debate to speak up for the voiceless one more time, because there is no doubt that if this bill is passed in its current form, people will lose their lives who do not need to, and they will be amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society.

It is not because I am opposed to assisted dying in principle, but because my concern is for vulnerable and marginalised persons, vulnerable and marginalised communities, that I implore the house to reject this bill.

Summary of amendments to assisted dying bill voted for and against today:

Joe Coughlan

Here is a roundup of the votes from this morning so far:

MPs have voted to reject an amendment which would have prevented a person who is substantially motivated by feeling they are a burden, from qualifying for assisted dying. Conservative MP Rebecca Paul’s new clause 16 stated that a wish to end one’s own life should not be substantially motivated by factors such as a mental disorder, disability or suicidal ideation. The Commons voted 208 to 261, majority 53 against.
A proposal to disapply the presumption that a person has capacity unless the opposite is established in cases of assisted dying requests, has been rejected by MPs. The Commons voted 213 to 266, majority 53 to reject amendment 24, which was tabled by Labour MP Daniel Francis.
MPs have agreed that ministers should get powers to update the National Health Service Act 2006 as part of the assisted dying bill, to include voluntary assisted dying services as part of the NHS’s purposes. Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh pushed her amendment 12 to a vote, which would have blocked ministers from broadening the NHS’s purposes without a fresh bill. But MPs rejected McDonagh’s proposal 269 votes to 223, majority 46.
A ban on advertising assisted dying would be extended to all of the UK, should the bill pass, MPs have agreed, as part of amendment 77. They also voted for the UK-wide extension of regulations about approved substances intended to be used to help terminally ill patients to die. They also approved an opt-out for medical professionals being extended to Scotland. MPs voted 275 in favour, 209 against, majority 66.
MPs have also supported a safeguard which would prevent a person meeting the requirements for an assisted death “solely as a result of voluntarily stopping eating or drinking”.
Ministers will have a year to report on how assisted dying could affect palliative care, if the assisted dying bill passes. MPs called “aye” to approve Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson’s amendment 21.
MPs voted in favour of the final amendment 94, which proposed to give the devolved Welsh government powers to set regulations for some aspects of the bill in Wales. MPs voted 274 in favour, 224 against, majority 50.

James Cleverly argues that assisted dying bill is not a ‘now or never’ decision

The assisted dying bill is not a “now or never” decision on assisted dying, James Cleverly said, as he argued there will be “plenty of opportunities” in future.

The Conservative former minister told the Commons:

We have got to recognise that this is an important moment, and whilst I respect [Kim Leadbeater], I disagree with her assessment that it is now or never, and it is this bill or no bill, and that to vote against this at third reading is a vote to maintain the status quo.

None of those things are true. There will be plenty of opportunities. And indeed, we are duty bound and, I think, stimulated by this debate – which is why I don’t criticise her for bringing it forward – stimulated by this debate to have a serious conversation about palliative care, a serious conversation about how we get to that.

James Cleverly said moments with his “dear friend” might have been “lost” if assisted dying was an option at the time of his death.

This came in response to an intervention from Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh, who spoke of her late sister, Margret McDonagh, former Labour party general secretary.

The Mitcham and Morden MP said:

On Tuesday, it is the second anniversary of my sister’s death. Three weeks prior to her death, we took her to hospital because she had a blood infection, and in spite of agreeing to allow her into intensive care to sort out that blood infection, the consultant decided that she shouldn’t go because she had a brain tumour and she was going to die.

She was going to die, but not at that moment. I’m sure Mr Speaker can understand that a very big row ensued. I won that row. She was made well, she came home and she died peacefully. What does [James Cleverly] think would happen in identical circumstances, if this bill existed?

Cleverly replied:

She asks me to speculate into a set of circumstances which are personal and painful, and I suspect she and I both know that the outcome could have been very, very different, and the moments that she had with her sister, just like the moments I had with my dear friend, those moments might have been lost.

James Cleverly has urged MPs not to “sub-contract” scrutiny of the assisted dying bill to peers.

At the bill’s third reading debate, Cleverly told MPs:

At the second reading debate, I made the point that we need to think about the detail of this bill and not just vote in accordance with the broad principles.

Referring to the future passage of this bill, if it clears the Commons, the Conservative former minister added:

We were told at second reading that a lot of the concerns, a lot of the worries, a lot of the detailed questions would be resolved through the committee process. We were promised the gold-standard, a judicially underpinned set of protections and safeguards. Those protections did not make it through committee.

And I’ve also heard where people are saying, ‘well, there are problems, there are still issues, there are still concerns I have’, well, ‘the Lords will have their work to do’.

But I don’t think it is right and none of us should think that it is right to sub-contract our job to the other place [the House of Lords].

Conservative former minister James Cleverly makes a statement in the House of Commons on the third reading of the assisted dying bill. Photograph: House of Commons/PA

After Kim Leadbeater, James Cleverly spoke to the House of Commons.

Cleverly has said his view was driven by “concerns about the practicalities” of the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill.

The Conservative former minister told the Commons:

I have no doubt the vast majority – probably every single member and right honourable member in this house – is sympathetic with the underlying motivation of this bill, which is to ease suffering in others and to try and avoid suffering where possible.

Cleverly described himself as an atheist and added:

I’ve had this said to me on a number of occasions, ‘if you had seen someone suffering, you would agree with this bill’.

Well, Mr Speaker, I have seen someone suffering – my closest friend earlier this year died painfully of oesophageal cancer and I was with him in the final weeks of his life.

So I come at this not from a position of faith nor from a position of ignorance.

Starmer says ‘act of vandalism’ at RAF Brize Norton was ‘disgraceful’

Joe Coughlan

Prime minister Keir Starmer said the “act of vandalism” at RAF Brize Norton was “disgraceful”, after pro-Palestinian activists sprayed two military planes with red paint.

Palestine Action, a pro-Palestine protest group, released a short video on Friday morning showing two people driving electric scooters unimpeded inside the airbase at night, in what appears to be a significant and embarrassing breach of Ministry of Defence (MoD) security.

The prime minister said in a post on X:

The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful.

Our armed forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day.

It is our responsibility to support those who defend us.

The group said it had targeted RAF Voyager aircraft used for transport and refuelling, and that “activists have interrupted Britain’s direct participation in the commission of genocide and war crimes across the Middle East”.

Screen grab from handout footage issued by Palestine Action of pro-Palestinian activists breaking into RAF Brize Norton and spray painting the runway next to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker. Photograph: Palestine Action/PA

Kim Leadbeater told the Commons the assisted dying bill “is not a choice between living and dying – it is a choice for terminally ill people about how they die”, reports the PA news agency.

The Labour MP added:

I fully appreciate that there are some colleagues who would never vote for any version of this bill due to their own fundamental beliefs – be they religious or otherwise – and I am respectful of their views, despite disagreeing, but to those colleagues who are supportive of a change in the law but are hesitant about if now is the time – if we don’t vote to change the law today – what does that mean?

It means we will have many more years of heartbreaking stories from terminally ill people and their families, of pain and trauma, suicide attempts, PTSD, lonely trips to Switzerland, police investigations and everything else we have all heard over recent months.

Leadbeater insisted groups like palliative care doctors, and hospices were “not homogenous” after taking interventions from several MPs who pointed out concerns from these groups.

Choosing not to support the assisted dying bill is ‘not a neutral act’, Leadbeater tells MPs

Choosing not to support the assisted dying bill is “not a neutral act”, Kim Leadbeater has told the Commons.

The Labour MP for Spen Valley said:

It is an either/or decision for us today – either we vote for the safe effective workable reform contained in this bill or we say the status quo is acceptable.

Over recent months I have heard hundreds of stories from people who have lost loved ones in deeply difficult and traumatic circumstances … along with many terminally ill people themselves.

She added:

Not supporting the bill today is not a neutral act, it is a vote for the status quo … and it fills me with despair to think MPs could be here in another 10 years’ time hearing the same stories.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater makes a statement in the House of Commons on the third reading of the assisted dying bill. Photograph: House of Commons/PA

People have “different views” on assisted dying, Kim Leadbeater has said.

Intervening in her speech, Conservative former minister Simon Hoare asked:

What level of concern does it give her that since second reading and today, the growing canon of professionals and their independent professional bodies have urged great caution about this bill – not on the principle – but are opposed to the details of this bill and believe it should be defeated?

The Labour MP for Spen Valley who tabled the assisted dying bill replied:

I think what he’s saying is people have got different views, and they do have different views – we have different views in this house and different people in different professions have different views.

Every royal college has a neutral position on assisted dying.

Prior to Leadbeater speaking, MPs voted in favour of the final amendment 94, which proposed to give the devolved Welsh government powers to set regulations for some aspects of the bill in Wales.

MPs voted in favour, 274 to 224.

Kim Leadbeater says assisted dying bill will ‘offer compassionate and safe choice to terminally ill people’

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater said the assisted dying bill will “offer a compassionate and safe choice to terminally ill people who want to make it”.

Speaking at third reading, the Spen Valley MP told the Commons:

I have been pleased to work with members on all sides of the debate to ensure that this legislation is something that parliament can be proud of.

A cogent, workable bill that has one simple thread running through it – the need to 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.

I won’t go into the amendments in detail as I know that is not the purpose of this debate, but whether it’s adding further safeguards and protections for … patients through additional training around coercive control; or the addition of specialist expertise through the inclusion of multidisciplinary panels; widening the provision for professionals to opt-out of the assisted dying process; providing additional employment protections; or prohibiting the advertising of assisted dying – cross-party working has strengthened the bill.

Opening the debate, Leadbeater said it had been a “long journey” for the bill to get to this stage. She said death is a topic many people shy away from. She added that the bill is a ‘“bill this parliament can be proud of”.

Esther Rantzen’s daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, who was outside parliament on Friday in support of the Dignity in Dying campaign, said she hoped the assisted dying bill would be passed and go on to the House of Lords, reports the PA news agency.

She said:

This is such an important time for this bill, the third and final vote, and then hopefully it will go on to the House of Lords.

It couldn’t be more entrenched with safeguards; it couldn’t be a kinder, more compassionate bill that respects choice at the end of life, that respects kindness and empathy and gives us all an option when every other option has been taken away.

It would be the perfect tool for a palliative care doctor to have in their med bag.