Many questions still need to be answered on assisted dying

While it may not be the last vote MPs make on this - as the House of Lords could send the legislation back to the Commons - it effectively assures it of becoming law eventually.

I know this matter has weighed incredibly heavily on MPs, particularly those first elected last year.

“It’s been difficult for all of us,” Lib Dem Christine Jardine said, summing up what many members were feeling.

In a sweltering House of Commons, with temperatures hitting 30C, the emotion of the occasion naturally got to some MPs.

I watched on from the Parliamentary press gallery as they hugged, some on the verge of tears, before heading through the division lobbies.

Questions have been raised over the process, in the form of a private member’s bill, put forward by Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater, instead of Government legislation.

Her West Yorkshire colleague, Shipley MP Anna Dixon, has called for a mechanism like a Royal Commission to weigh up the pros and cons of such a weighty topic.

Despite this, MPs narrowly passed the bill by just 23 votes.

And ultimately, this is really just the start of the debate around assisted dying.

Many questions around the law going forward are still unanswered.

Will an assisted death be available on the NHS or will it be conducted privately?

If it is the former, where will the money for this come from?

As the bill has not yet been passed no money was allocated in the Spending Review, which has set out departmental budgets for the next four years.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting recently told me: “As the impact assessment showed, there may well be savings down the line, but there will nonetheless be upfront costs.

“Now, at the moment, there isn't money allocated to do that, and as ever, with any decisions the government is taking, there are choices and trade offs.”

And if an assisted death is carried out by private healthcare companies, what are the ethics of that?

Care Minister Stephen Kinnock, who closed the debate, told MPs that if Parliament passed the law then the Government “will ensure the safe and effective implementation of this service”.

But questions still need to be answered on the assisted dying law.