M Ps Reject Legalising Assisted Dying In England Wales

A bid to make assisted dying legal in England and Wales has failed after MPs rejected it.

After nearly five hours of at-times emotional debate in the House of Commons, they voted 286 v 270 not to pass the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at second reading.

It means the issue is now unlikely to return to parliament until after the next general election.

Under the legislation, adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live would have been able to apply for an assisted death subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.

Supporters said it will allow terminally ill patients who wish to end their lives to die with dignity at a time of their choosing.

But opponents – including disabled groups – said the legislation does not contain enough safeguards to protect vulnerable people and is open to abuse.

The result is a complete reversal from June last year, when MPs voted 314-291 to allow a near-identical bill proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater to proceed to third reading in the Lords.

However, it became bogged down as peers opposed to the legislation tabled more than 1,000 amendments to it, and it eventually ran out of time.

Labour MP Lauren Edwards brought back the bill earlier this year and urged her fellow MPs to send it back to the Lords “so that they can finish what they started” in scrutinising the legislation.

Kicking off today’s debate, she said: “We must grasp that opportunity in front of us to create a holistic end of life care system that will deliver choice and dignity for every single one of our constituents.”

Former Tory minister Karen Bradley, who led opposition voices to the bill, urged her fellow MPs to consider “whether this bill, in this form, on the evidence before us now today, is safe enough for parliament to force into law”.

Quoting the National Down Syndrome Policy group, she said the bill “hopes for the best rather than prepares for the worst”.

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