MPs back legalising assisted dying in England and Wales – as it happened | Politics
MPs vote to accept assisted dying bill
MPs have voted to accept the assisted dying bill, with 314 votes in favour to 291 against, a majority of 23.
The bill will now go to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.
Key events
Closing summary
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You can keep up to date with the Guardian’s UK politics coverage here. You can also see how your MP voted on the assisted dying bill via this interactive:
Here is a summary from today’s blog:
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Assisted dying is set to become law after a historic vote in parliament, as MPs passed Kim Leadbeater’s bill by 314 to 291 votes, a majority of 23, to legalise the procedure for terminally ill people. Keir Starmer backed the bill, which will head to the House of Lords, though peers are not expected to block its progress.
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Labour’s Kim Leadbeater – the bill’s sponsor – described the passing of the assisted dying bill at third reading as a “result that so many people need”. Speaking after the historic vote, the Spen Valley MP said: “Thank goodness we got the result that so many people need, but I also feel that it was done really respectfully and the atmosphere in the chamber was very civilised.”
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Ahead of the final vote on the bill, MPs passed several new amendments, including two from opponents of the bill. One would bar those who refused food and water from being classified as having a terminal illness, though MPs concerned about anorexia said it may not prevent that slipping through the gap. The other would commission the health secretary to report on the state of palliative care.
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The cabinet was deeply split on the legisation. Cabinet ministers to join Starmer voting in favour included Rachel Reeves, Yvette Cooper, John Healey, Liz Kendall, Pat McFadden, Heidi Alexander, Ed Miliband, Steve Reed and Peter Kyle. Among those opposed were Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, Bridget Phillipson, Jonathan Reynolds, Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood and Darren Jones.
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Opening Friday’s debate, Leadbeater said that now was the moment to seize, 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”. She said it was “not a choice between living and dying – it is a choice for terminally ill people about how they die”. She said rejecting the bill was “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”.
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The former foreign secretary James Cleverly, who had opened the debate for opponents of the measure, said he was an atheist but had rejected the bill because, he said, the right safeguards were not in place. “We were promised the gold standard, a judicially underpinned set of protections and safeguards,” he said, citing concerns from professional bodies including the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
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Terminally ill people and families were in the public galleries watching the debate and at a rally in Parliament Square. But concerns were raised by disability activists, who held a protest outside parliament, and MPs opposed to the bill made passionate pleas that it would lead to people being coerced into ending their lives early.
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The Labour peer Charlie Falconer will take over shepherding the bill through the Lords and Leadbeater said she hoped it would receive royal assent by October.
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Assisted dying supporters celebrated and thanked MPs for the “historic step”. Campaigners My Death, My Decision described the result as a “momentous victory for the overwhelming majority who support assisted dying”, but opposition campaigners said, after the vote, descibed the assisted dying bill as “deeply flawed and dangerous”.
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Hospices and end-of-life care professionals are now said to face “huge implications” after the assisted dying bill cleared the House of Commons. Ministers will have a year to report on how assisted dying could affect palliative care, if the assisted dying bill becomes law, as MPs called “aye” to approve Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson’s amendment 21.
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A security review has been launched across the defence estate after pro-Palestinian activists broke into an RAF base and sprayed two military planes with red paint. Footage posted online by Palestine Action on Friday morning shows two people inside RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine. The Ministry of Defence condemned the vandalism, while Keir Starmer said it was “disgraceful”.
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British nationals who want to leave Israel will be offered charter flights from Tel Aviv as soon as airspace reopens, the government has said. With the conflict with Iran continuing, Whitehall officials have been working to organise escape routes for the thousands of British and dual nationals in Israel.
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UK government borrowing rose to £17.7bn last month, marking the second highest for May on record, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said May borrowing was £700m higher than a year earlier, though it was slightly less than the £18bn most economists had been expecting.
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A major rebellion is not brewing over the government’s welfare reform plans, Lisa Nandy said on Friday. Asked by BBC Breakfast if she was detecting signs of a large rebellion, the culture secretary replied: “I’m not. It would be wrong to say that when you bring forward big reforms, there aren’t concerns and there aren’t dissenting voices, of course there are.”
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Keir Starmer’s artificial intelligence tsar, a key figure in steering the government’s approach to artificial intelligence, is stepping down after six months in the role. Matt Clifford, the author of the government’s AI opportunities action plan, said he would leave his post next month for personal reasons.
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Thousands of European airline staff are being trained to stop people boarding flights to Britain without valid visas, in a move billed by the foreign secretary as a digital upgrade to border controls. Lammy said the measures marked a step towards “more secure, more digital and more effective” borders, but the move could raise questions about human rights safeguards.
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The Scottish government aims to make £1bn of savings with a public service reform strategy that aims to reduce the spend of public bodies by 20% over the next five years. Ivan McKee told BBC Radio Scotland this morning was looking “across the gamut” of 131 public bodies and 51 directorates for savings, and reduction of duplication.
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Fergus Ewing, the former Scottish National party (SNP) minister and son of Nationalist icon Winnie, has announced that he will stand against the party as an independent at the next Holyrood elections. His announcement means his membership of the SNP ceases with immediate effect.
MPs backed the assisted dying bill with “a convincing majority”, Kim Leadbeater has said, according to the PA news agency.
Asked about the reduced majority, the Labour MP for Spen Valley told the Commons:
We knew there would be some movement both ways. There’s also people who couldn’t be here today for genuine reasons, possibly on both sides.
But it’s a majority, and it’s a convincing majority, and the will of the house will be 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.
And I’m happy to work with them to provide any reassurance or if they’ve got any questions about the bill that they want to talk through with me, my door has always been open and remains open.
Marie Curie has called for end-of-life care to be urgently reviewed to look at gaps in the system.
The organisation’s chief executive, Matthew Reed, said:
If assisted dying is legalised, it is more crucial than ever that our governments across the UK ensure that there is palliative care available for anyone who needs it.
It is impossible to imagine that this could be achieved without an assessment of the quality and distribution of palliative care services currently available.
While we welcome that the assisted dying bill has been amended to require such an assessment, this will not on its own make the improvements needed to guarantee everyone is able to access the palliative care they need.
He said Marie Curie will keep making the case to the government for a palliative care strategy for England with “a sustainable funding settlement” and to ask the incoming Welsh government to “transform palliative and end-of-life care” to ensure equal access to good care.
He added:
Marie Curie remains neutral on the question of whether assisted dying should be legalised, and whether the law changes in England and Wales or not, it is vital that governments across the UK are held to account to ensure plans are in place to fix end-of-life care for good.
Kim Leadbeater says passing of assisted dying bill is a ‘result that so many people need’
Labour’s Kim Leadbeater described the passing of the assisted dying bill at third reading as a “result that so many people need”.
Speaking after the historic vote, the Spen Valley MP said:
Thank goodness we got the result that so many people need, but I also feel that it was done really respectfully and the atmosphere in the chamber was very civilised.
She added:
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.
Does it need all the safeguards that its got in it? Absolutely. Does it need a thorough robust process which the bill lays out? Of course it does. But does it fundamentally need to give dying people choice? That is absolutely what this has been about, in a safe way.
It’s their voices I’ve tried to keep at the heart of the debate, you know MPs like to make it about ourselves. It’s not actually about us, it’s about the people that sent us here, the people that we represent.
Leadbeater met nine campaigners who backed assisted dying, as they gathered around her in parliament’s Central Lobby.
She hugged Rebecca, 42, whose mother, Fiona, was diagnosed with metastatic brain cancer in November 2022 and given three months to live. Rebecca said her mum “was vivacious, still working, incredibly independent, positive” before her diagnosis and later her death aged 69.
“She had a deeply traumatic death, essentially,” Rebecca told the PA news agency. She said:
She gradually lost all of her faculties apart from, you know, her mental capacity, so she couldn’t write, she couldn’t speak, she couldn’t read, she couldn’t breathe. She was just despairing. She begged us every day to help her die.
Rebecca said her mother received palliative care but added:
Palliative care will not assist everyone, but also it’s not just about that. It’s about the fact that they want to have choice and so for mum, even if her symptoms could have been managed, that wouldn’t have alleviated her distress, because she was dying but then she also had no control over that.
And as she was dying, she said to me that she wanted me to make a really loud noise so that other people didn’t have to go through what she’d gone through.
Speaking in Central Lobby, Rebecca described Leadbeater as “formidable in advocating” for people who have had similar experiences to her, and she said of her own campaign that it “feels like I’m doing something for my mum”.
Hospices and end-of-life care professionals are now said to face “huge implications” after the assisted dying bill cleared the House of Commons.
Jan Noble, interim chief executive of St Christopher’s, said:
Today’s vote to pass the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill has huge implications for hospices and end of life care professionals.
It is vital that the government now provides assurance that the impact on hospices will be properly considered and that high-quality end of life care is made available to everyone across the country, and for that we need a better funding model for hospices.
Our position on any change of law remains neutral but as the home of the modern hospice movement we’re committed to providing expertise and evidence to policymakers and we’re now urging the House of Lords to carefully consider the complex views of the public, particularly those with experience of health inequalities.
We recognise this may be a difficult moment for many of those working in hospice and end-of-life care, as well as the wider health and social care sector. We are now looking to both the government and the House of Lords for further reassurances that they will address the concerns raised by multiple professionals’ bodies.
As a hospice, our absolute priority continues to be making sure that everyone who needs it gets the expert palliative and end of life care they need, whenever or wherever that may be.
Hospice UK described the vote as representing a “seismic change for end-of-life care in England and Wales” and warned it adds to the “urgency to improve palliative care”, reports the PA news agency.
Its chief executive Toby Porter, said:
Today’s decision by MPs represents a seismic change for end of life care in England and Wales. The introduction of assisted dying would have a huge impact on hospices, who are at the forefront of this care in communities across the country.
Already, too many people don’t get the care they need at the end of their lives. Today’s decision brings the urgency to improve palliative care into even sharper focus, particularly for the most vulnerable members of society.
Should the bill become law, the government has four years to bring about a transformation in palliative and end of life care. Nobody should ever feel that they have to choose an assisted death because they fear they won’t get the care and support they need. As it stands, we are concerned this could become the case.
The bill does not detail where assisted dying will take place, or to what extent hospices will be involved. This leaves many unanswered questions for hospices, who are already under immense pressure.
Hospice UK remains neutral on the principle of assisted dying. We will work with hospices, parliamentarians and government throughout the implementation period, assuming the bill progresses, to navigate the many operational challenges it poses, and ensure the expertise and experience of the hospice sector is heard.
Libby Brooks
Fergus Ewing, the former Scottish National party (SNP) minister and son of Nationalist icon Winnie, has announced that he will stand against the party as an independent at the next Holyrood elections.
His announcement means his membership of the SNP ceases with immediate effect, making permanent a breach that has been growing for a number of years, as Ewing become increasingly critical of the party’s stance on gender reform and its governing partnership with the Scottish Greens.
Ewing had already announced his intention to stand down as SNP MSP for the constituency of Inverness and Nairn – the chosen SNP candidate there for the 2026 election, Emma Roddick, represents a new generation of Nationalist politicians, shaped by former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, for whom progress on equalities must go hand in hand with the fight for independence.
Ewing told the BBC that he had taken the decision because the SNP had “deserted many of the people whose causes we used to champion”.
He added:
I believe the SNP has lost its way and that devolution itself – presently – is letting Scotland’s people down. It doesn’t need to be this way.
Here is a video showing the moment that the result of the vote on assisted dying was announced in the House of Commons:
Interactive: How did your MP vote on the assisted dying bill?
Seán Clarke
MPs have voted to pass the assisted dying bill at third reading allowing some terminally ill people in England and Wales to get medical help in ending their lives. The bill now goes to the House of Lords.
Find out how every MP voted – or didn’t – using the interactive visual linked below.
Opposition campaigners say assisted dying bill remains ‘deeply flawed’
The assisted dying bill remains “deeply flawed and dangerous”, opposition campaigners said after the vote, according to the PA news agency.
Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing said:
This is a deeply flawed and dangerous bill that since November has been made considerably worse with important safeguards watered down or scrapped.
He added:
The current bill fails to protect vulnerable and disabled people from coercion.
Right To Life UK said the bill “still faces an uphill battle” to get through the House of Lords.
Spokesperson Catherine Robinson said:
Although the bill passed the Commons today, momentum remains with its opponents, with support consistently falling every time MPs have considered it.
The bill leaves the Commons lacking a majority, with fewer than half of all MPs voting for it at its final stage.
The bill still faces an uphill battle to reach royal assent. We will be fighting it at every stage in the House of Lords.
Keir Starmer backed assisted dying bill, Commons division list shows
Prime minister Keir Starmer has backed the assisted dying bill at third reading, the Commons division list shows, reports the PA news agency.
It also shows Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch cast her vote in the “no” lobby.
Assisted dying supporters celebrate and thank MPs for ‘historic step’
Campaigners My Death, My Decision described the result as a “momentous victory for the overwhelming majority who support assisted dying”, reports the PA news agency.
Carmen Sumadiwiria, from the organisation that campaigns for the legalisation of assisted dying in England and Wales, said:
This is a day for the history books, where facts have prevailed over fear. Today’s vote reflects what the British public has known for years, that everyone deserves the right to choose a compassionate death.
We are grateful to politicians who listened to evidence, reason, and the lived experience of dying Brits. This is a momentous victory for the overwhelming majority who support assisted dying, and we will keep working to make sure those voices continue to be heard.
We want to thank every parliamentarian who stood up today for dignity and common sense. Your courage has given hope to terminally ill adults across the country who simply want the choice to die peacefully and on their own terms. We are proud to stand with you and will continue to work for a fairer, kinder law.
The yes vote marks a “significant step” to “ending that unnecessary and cruel suffering” of dying people, Humanists UK said. Andrew Copson, its chief executive, said:
The House of Commons has taken a historic step towards meeting the aspirations of the public, who overwhelmingly support having choice, dignity, and compassion at the end of their lives. We welcome this and now look forward to working with Lords on the legislation.
MPs have finally recognised the fact that assisted dying is already happening in this country. People are travelling to Switzerland if they have the money and mobility to do so. Others are dying in traumatic circumstances by suicide. Many more are suffering greatly, even while receiving the best possible care.
Today, we are a significant step closer to ending that unnecessary and cruel suffering and MPs should be commended for taking this step.
Outside parliament, supporters of the bill are celebrating:
The PA news agency has reaction from inside and outside parliament:
Some MPs appeared visibly emotional as they left the chamber after the assisted dying bill cleared the Commons.
Others lined up to shake hands with Kim Leadbeater, the bill’s sponsor through the Commons, with some, including Home Office minister Jess Phillips, stopping to hug the Spen Valley MP.
A group of campaigners who backed the bill, sat in one of the Commons upper galleries, were tearful after the vote result was announced.
Outside parliament, supporters of the assisted dying bill wept, jumped and hugged each other as the news came through that it had been passed by MPs.
The crowd of about 100 people in Parliament Square, Westminster, erupted into cheers on Friday afternoon as the news was livestreamed over a speaker by campaigners from Dignity In Dying.
One supporter said: “Yes, dad” and others patted each other on the shoulder.
“This is for all the people who couldn’t be here today. This vote sends a clear message. Parliament stands with the public and change is coming,” said Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying.
Jenny Carruthers, 57, from Bath, who had retired from the NHS due to ill-health, said she felt emotional and relieved. Carruthers wiped tears from her eyes and hugged friends and fellow campaigners. She said: “This means that I can die holding my children’s hands.”
My colleague, Jessica Elgot, has written on the news that assisted dying is set to become law in England and Wales after the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill was passed by MPs on Friday.
You can read it here:
Speaking before the Commons vote, care minister Stephen Kinnock, said the government would “ensure the safe and effective implementation of” assisted dying, if the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill clears both Houses of Parliament.
Kinnock told the Commons:
Should it be the will of parliament for this legislation to pass, then the government will ensure the safe and effective implementation of this service.
Afterwards, MPs headed for the voting lobbies in a division, to decide whether the bill should clear the Commons and face further scrutiny in the House of Lords at a later date.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch was also spotted in the Commons chamber as MPs gathered for the vote.
MPs vote to accept assisted dying bill
MPs have voted to accept the assisted dying bill, with 314 votes in favour to 291 against, a majority of 23.
The bill will now go to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.
Dan Milmo
Keir Starmer’s artificial intelligence tsar, a key figure in steering the government’s approach to artificial intelligence, is stepping down after six months in the role.
Matt Clifford, the author of the government’s AI opportunities action plan, said he would leave his post next month for personal reasons.
He described his work on drafting and implementing the 50-point plan as a “privilege”, adding he was “hugely optimistic about the UK’s potential to be an AI superpower”.
He said:
For family reasons, I will step back from my role as the prime minister’s adviser on AI opportunities at the end of July, but I’m delighted that this important work will continue across government.
A government spokesperson said Starmer had thanked Clifford, who was appointed in January, for his “dedicated work” on AI policy.
“We will be building on this work to bolster AI expertise across government and cement the UK’s position as a world leader in AI,” the spokesperson said.
Clifford came to prominence as a tech investor – he is the chair of the investment firm Entrepreneurs First – but was already established as an influential political adviser before Labour won the 2024 general election.
The 39-year-old played a crucial role in organising the global AI Safety summit, hosted by Rishi Sunak in 2023, and establishing the government’s AI Safety Institute, now called the AI Security Institute.
