Assisted dying law takes step closer after historic MP vote

It was passed with a majority of just 23 this afternoon in a packed and sweltering House of Commons.

This was far narrower than the first vote last November, and makes it highly likely that assisted dying will eventually be legalised.

Campaigners wept, jumped and hugged each other outside parliament as the vote result was announced.

Louise Shackleton, whose husband Anthony died at Dignitas in Switzerland last November after suffering from debilitating motor neurone disease, told The Yorkshire Post it was a day of “mixed emotions”.

The 58-year-old from North Yorkshire, who has been campaigning for a law change, said: “If this had been here in December my husband would still be alive.”

Many MPs also appeared visibly emotional throughout the hours-long debate.

Kim Leadbeater, the bill’s sponsor through the Commons, was in tears before the votes were read out, and parliamentarians lined up to hug the Spen Valley MP.

Earlier in the week, she had marked the ninth anniversary of the murder of her sister, Jo Cox, who was then the MP for Batley and Spen.

She said: “Thank goodness we got the result that so many people need.”

“When you’ve spent as much time as I have with people who have got experience of losing loved ones in very difficult circumstances, and you’ve spent time with terminally ill people, who are just asking for choice at the end of their days, then this is absolutely the right thing to do.

“We’re [MPs are] here to make a difference and Jo used to say ‘politics needs good people’, and it needs people from normal backgrounds.”

Opponents had criticised the safety of the bill and argued the process has been rushed, with both Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood coming out against the proposed legislation.

More than 100 doctors from across the region wrote in The Yorkshire Post last week that the quality of palliative care was not good enough to allow people to make a fair choice as to whether to seek an assisted death.

However MPs voted 314 to 291, with a majority 23 including Sir Keir Starmer, to approve Ms Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at third reading.

MPs had a free vote on the Bill, meaning they decided according to their conscience rather than along party lines.

Of the 54 MPs across Yorkshire and the Humber, 31 voted in favour including Chancellor Rachel Reeves, former prime minister Rishi Sunak and Penistone and Stocksbridge MP Dr Marie Tidball.

Four recorded no vote, while 19 voted against the legislation. 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 to the final text of the bill before it can be signed into law.

Ms Leadbeater added: “It’s a convincing majority, and the will of the House will now be respected by the Lords, and the Bill will go through to its next stage.

“But I also remain really respectful to the people who took a different view today, and who might continue to hold a different view.”

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.