How Are MPs Planning To Vote On The Assisted Dying Bill?

MPs will vote on Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s Assisted Dying Bill on November 29.

If passed by parliament, the legislation would make it legal to help a terminally ill person end their life.

Since it is a matter of conscience, MPs will be free to vote how they like rather than being whipped by party managers.

The last time the Commons voted on the issue was in 2015, when parliament comprehensively rejected the proposed law by 329 to 117.

However, given the fact that the make up of the Commons has changed so much since then, the result on November 29 is difficult to predict.

It is understood that Keir Starmer – who voted in favour of assisted dying nine years ago – plans to do so again next month.

But early indications are that his cabinet are evenly split on the issue.

Here’s what we know so far about the voting intentions of senior ministers and other MPs.

IN FAVOUR

The first cabinet minister to confirm they will vote for the bill was energy and net zero secretary Ed Miliband.

He said: “I will be voting for the assisted dying bill. 

“These are very complex and difficult issues and there are very respectable views on both sides.

“For my part, I know there are people who are in the late stages of terminal illnesses, and I think the current situation is rather cruel actually.

“I think people having control over their own life and their own death is something that is the right thing to do.

“Obviously there have to be proper safeguards and I understand the concerns of some people on these issues, but my personal view will to be vote in favour of this Bill.”     

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy also plans to vote for the bill, telling BBC Breakfast: “I’ve just seen too many examples of people who have no choices and no dignity at the end of their lives.

“And I think the current system is unsustainable.”

AGAINST

Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood – who as Lord Chancellor would have a key role in implementing the law were it to pass – has said she will be voting against it.

She told The Times: “As a Muslim, I have an unshakeable belief in the sanctity and value of human life.”

And earlier this year she said: “I know some MPs who support this issue think, ‘For God’s sake, we’re not a nation of granny killers, what’s wrong with you’… [But] once you cross that line, you’ve crossed it forever.

“If it becomes the norm that at a certain age or with certain diseases, you are now a bit of a burden… that’s a really dangerous position.”

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, also revealed that he has changed his position on the issue, having voted in favour of it in 2015.

He said: “The challenge is, I do not think palliative care, end-of-life care, in this country is good enough to give people a real choice.

“I worry about coercion and the risk that the right to die feels like a duty to die on the part of, particularly, older people.”

Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick, who voted in favour of assisted dying in 2015, told the party’s annual conference that he would now vote against it.

Meanwhile James Cleverly, who was voted out of the race to succeed Rishi Sunak in the final MPs’ ballot, has also confirmed that he will vote against the bill, just as he did in 2015.