MPs narrowly back legalising assisted dying in England and Wales by 23 votes
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British MPs vote in favour of legalizing heavily debated assisted dying bill
MPs voted in favour of the private members’ bill at third reading on Friday by a margin of 314 to 291. The bill moves on to the House of Lords which is unlikely to stand in the way of it becoming law. The legislation will make it legal for terminally ill adults in England and Wales to seek help to end their lives if they are expected to die within six months. Each request would need to be assessed by two doctors and a panel composed of a social worker, a senior lawyer and a psychiatrist. All lethal drugs would have to be self-administered. The Scottish legislature is considering a similar legislation and last March the Isle of Man became the first region of the U.K. to adopt a law that permits assisted dying. Northern Ireland’s parliament has yet to take up the issue. The Canadian law came into force in 2016 after a court challenge to include people suffering from a “serious incurable’ illness, such as cancer, in the broad definition of medical assistance in dying.
In a historic societal change, British MPs have narrowly approved a bill that will permit assisted dying in limited circumstances, ending an emotional debate that has divided the country for decades.
MPs voted in favour of the private members’ bill at third reading on Friday by a margin of 314 to 291. The bill moves on to the House of Lords which is unlikely to stand in the way of it becoming law.
“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, as she celebrated outside parliament with a group of supporters.
MPs were given a free vote Friday, which meant they did not have to follow party discipline and could follow their conscience. Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed the proposed legislation, but his cabinet was divided on the issue.
When MPs last debated a similar bill in 2015, it was soundly defeated 330 to 118. Public opinion has shifted since then and recent polls have indicated most people support some form of assisted dying
Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who introduced the bill, said Friday’s vote was a “huge moment in time.”
What’s the status of assisted dying in countries around the world? Here’s what to know
“I’m absolutely over the moon, because I know what this means to terminally ill people and to people who’ve lost loved ones. But I also know that some people are not supportive of the change, and I think it’s important to remain respectful of that.” she told the BBC.
The legislation will make it legal for terminally ill adults in England and Wales to seek help to end their lives if they are expected to die within six months. Each request would need to be assessed by two doctors and a panel composed of a social worker, a senior lawyer and a psychiatrist. All lethal drugs would have to be self-administered.
The Scottish legislature is considering a similar legislation and last March the Isle of Man became the first region of the U.K. to adopt a law that permits assisted dying. Northern Ireland’s parliament has yet to take up the issue.
MPs approved an earlier version of the bill at second reading last November by 330 votes to 275, a majority 55. Since then, the bill has been amended and many MPs changed their minds as they wrestled with the implications of the proposed law. As result, the majority on Friday shrank to 23.
One major change was replacing the requirement that a High Court judge had to approve each request with the three-member panel. MPs argued the panel would provide more oversight, but some lawmakers said that change and others didn’t go far enough
“When the state takes a life, even with consent, that is a huge shift in the relationship between the individual and the state,” Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat told MPs.
Open this photo in gallery: Opponents of the assisted death bill demonstrate against its approval and opposing MPs pledge to continue fighting the bill in the House of Lords.Isabel Infantes/Reuters
“There is no doubt that if this bill is passed in its current form, people will lose their lives who do not need to, and they will be amongst the most vulnerable and marginalized in our society,” added Labour MP Diane Abbott.
Several MPs spoke of personal experiences and many choked back tears as they recounted loved ones who died.
“The time has come where we need to end suffering where suffering can be put aside, and not try to do something which is going to be super perfect and allow too many more people to suffer in the future,” said Conservative MP Mark Garnier who talked about how his mother suffered in her final days of battling pancreatic cancer. “My mother would talk about it and she knew that she was going to die, but she was terrified of the pain, and on many occasions, she said to me and Caroline my wife, ‘an we make it end?’
Open this photo in gallery: The bill was passed in a 314-291 vote and will now move forward to the House of Lords where it is not expected to stand in its way of being law.Lucy North/The Associated Press
Canada’s law on medical assistance in dying, or MAID, has come up several times during the debate in Britain. The Canadian law came into force in 2016 for terminally ill people. It was broadened after a court challenge to include people suffering from a “serious and incurable illness, disease or disability,” and it will be further expanded in 2027 to include people with mental illness.
Mr. Tugendhat warned about the experience of Roger Foley, a Canadian born with a neurodegenerative disease who has told British MPs that he faced “neglect, verbal abuse, and denial of essential care” under Canada’s law.
United Nations report recommends Canada repeal MAID for people without terminal illnesses
“Sadly this is not the only example we have heard,” Mr. Tugenhut said.
Opponents of the bill vowed to continue to press their case at the House of Lords. “Although the bill passed the Commons today, momentum remains with its opponents, with support consistently falling every time MPs have considered it,” said Catherine Robinson a spokesperson for Right to Life UK. She added that “the bill still faces an uphill battle to reach royal assent. We will be fighting it at every stage in the House of Lords.”
MPs narrowly back legalising assisted dying in England and Wales by 23 votes – live updates
Assisted dying bill clears the Commons after months of heated debate. 314 MPs voted for the bill against 291 rejecting it – a majority of only 23. Bill sponsor Kim Leadbeater said she’s “over the Moon” as the bill will now give terminally ill patients a “choice and dignity where they might not otherwise have it”
Rorey Bosotti
Live page editor
Image source, Reuters
Nearly seven months after it was first debated, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has now completed all its steps in the House of Commons.
Before the vote, MPs spent almost three hours debating concerns with the bill.
Opponents claimed amendments made since its second reading failed to address safeguarding concerns for the vulnerable members of society who could be coerced to apply for assisted dying services.
Supporters rejected the claims, insisting the proposed legislation aims to hand back terminally ill people the power of choosing how and when to die with dignity.
In an unusually-packed Commons, 314 MPs voted for the bill against 291 rejecting it – a majority of only 23.
Bill sponsor Kim Leadbeater said she’s “over the Moon” as the bill will now give terminally ill patients a “choice and dignity where they might not otherwise have it”.
Opponents of the bill have expressed dismay over it clearing the Commons, with the Not Dead Yet UK campaign describing the vote as “a set back but not the end”.
But the journey of the bill isn’t over yet – it will now head to the House of Lords, where peers are expected to debate it further.
We’re now bringing our coverage of today’s vote to a close. Thank you for joining us and you can find out how your MP voted in our story.
Can anything stop plans for ‘death on the NHS’ after MPs’ vote?
MPs voted by 314 to 291 to approve Kim Leadbeater’s Bill. It allows terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel. Critics of the change said it was rushed through and could negatively affect the disabled, domestic abuse victims and people with anorexia. The bill will now move to the Lords, with opponents vowing to fight it in the upper chamber. MPs made impassioned pleas for and against it becoming law. They had a free vote on a ‘conscience matter’, with most of the parties split between the yes and no camps. PM Sir Keir Starmer and his Tory predecessor, Rishi Sunak, voted for the law change. Deputy PM Angela Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting both voted against it, as did current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. The majority in support of change was 55 in a preliminary vote in November and was cut by more than half.
Opponents of assisted dying have vowed to keep fighting after MPs narrowly voted today to legalise help for people to take their own lives.
The Commons backed one of the most far-reaching changes to the law on suicide in decades despite warnings that the legislation as it stands is unsafe.
But Kim Leadbeaters’ Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which was passed by a majority of just 23 votes this afternoon, still has to clear the House of Lords before becoming law.
Critics of the change pointed out that fewer than half of MPs voted in favour and said peers should now seek to block it or slow down its passage so more major changes can be made.
Under the legislation terminally ill people in England and Wales diagnosed with less than six months to live will be allowed to seek medical help to die.
It is expected that the process will launch by the end of the decade, with estimates suggesting as many as 4,000 people will use it annually within 10 years.
Tory MP Danny Kruger, who led the no campaign, said: ‘Less than than half the whole House of Commons has voted for it, so support is ebbing away very fast.
‘And you’ve heard today a very large number of very serious practical objections to this Bill from people who’re not opposed in principle to assisted dying but they recognise that this Bill is unsafe.
‘So, I’m hopeful now, inspired by that debate and by the falling away of support for the Bill that the Lords will feel they have a real job to do that to examine closely how the Bill will operate and to introduce their own amendments to make it safer, or to reject the Bill altogether.’
Supporters of the law celebrate outside the Commons.
And fellow Tory Greg Smith said: ‘It is not too late for us to step back from the brink and pull the plug on this Bill, which now lacks majority support in the House of Commons.
‘I trust the House of Lords to scrutinise the Bill in depth and hope it will never reach Royal Assent.’
However Ms Leadbeater said: ‘I really hope that there are no ”funny games” because the process has been extremely thorough.’
She said parliamentary process ‘doesn’t always seem to make sense to people – it’s steeped in tradition, but it’s important that we respect parliamentary process’.
The Labour MP for Spen Valley added: ‘I would be upset to think that anybody was playing games with such an important and such an emotional issue.’
MPs voted by 314 to 291 to approve Kim Leadbeater’s Bill despite warnings that it was rushed through and could negatively affect the disabled, domestic abuse victims and people with anorexia.
Campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen hailed the vote result as one which will make a ‘huge positive difference’ and protect terminally ill people from a ‘bad death’.
MPs made impassioned pleas for and against it becoming law. They had a free vote on a ‘conscience matter’, with most of the parties split between the yes and no camps.
The majority in support of change was 55 in a preliminary vote in November and was cut by more than half. Some MPs appeared visibly emotional as they left the chamber.
Among those who voted for the law change were PM Sir Keir Starmer and his Tory predecessor, Rishi Sunak.
Deputy PM Angela Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who will now have to work on bringing in the law change if it gets royal assent, both voted against it, as did current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
The legislation allows terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.
The bill will now move to the Lords, with opponents vowing to fight it in the upper chamber.
Right to Life spokeswoman Catherine Robinson said: ‘The Bill still faces an uphill battle to reach Royal Assent.’
Mother of the House Diane Abbott asked MPs to vote against the bill, saying: ‘There is no doubt that if this Bill is passed in its current form, people will lose their lives who do not need to, and they will be amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society.’
Former Tory minister Sir James Cleverly answered yes camp claims that the law might not change for a decade if it is not done now, as he argued there will be ‘plenty of opportunities’ in future.
And Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing, said MPs had passed a ‘deeply flawed and dangerous’ bill.
‘The current Bill fails to protect vulnerable and disabled people from coercion,’ he said.
‘This is not hyperbolae but based on what happens in the US state of Oregon, the model for this law.
‘There, a majority of those who have ended their lives in recent years cite fear of being a burden on their families, carers or finances as a reason.’
There was silence in the chamber as the result was returned this afternoon after a day of debate and impassioned arguments.
The vote came as supporters and opponents of the law change gathered outside Parliament to press the case, including Bake Off host Prue Leith.
Supporters wept, jumped and hugged each other as the news came through that it had been passed by MPs.
The crowd of around 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.
Mother of the House Diane Abbott had earlier asked MPs to vote against the bill, saying: ‘There is no doubt that if this Bill is passed in its current form, people will lose their lives who do not need to, and they will be amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society.’
And former Tory minister Sir James Cleverly answered yes camp claims that the law might not change for a decade if it is not done now, as he argued there will be ‘plenty of opportunities’ in future.
Many critics on both sides have asked for the legislation to be postponed to allow more scrutiny and changes to it to be made.
Labour MP Naz Shah warned anorexia patients could still access assisted dying through a ‘loophole’. The Bradford MP cautioned that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was ‘not safe’.
Outside parliament, supporters wept, jumped and hugged each other as the news came through that it had been passed by MPs.
Shadow frontbencher Robert Jenrick also reiterated his opposition last night.
Writing for the Daily Mail, he reveals how he helped look after his grandmother, Dorothy, as a teenage boy – and how she continued to bring joy to the family as she defied a terminal diagnosis for nearly a decade.
The shadow justice secretary says the prospect of legalising assisted dying ‘fills me with dread’, adding: ‘My Nana felt like she was a burden. I know how much she hated the indignity she felt at having to ask my Mum or us to help her with basic needs.
‘People like her – and there are many such people – may consider an assisted death as another act of kindness to us. How wrong they would be.’
Ms Leadbeater has argued terminally ill people must be given choice at the end of their lives, but opponents of her Bill have warned it fails to guarantee protections for society’s most vulnerable.
So close is the vote that Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood, who was isolating with Covid, was offered a private ambulance to bring her to the Commons to vote against it. However she tested negative today and plans to make her own way in.
Four Labour MPs confirmed on the eve of the vote that they would switch sides to oppose the proposed new law.
The vote came as supporters and opponents of the law change gathered outside Parliament to press the case, including Bake Off host Prue Leith .
Labour’s Paul Foster, Jonathan Hinder, Markus Campbell-Savours and Kanishka Narayan voiced concerns about the safety of the ‘drastically weakened’ legislation, citing the scrapping of the High Court Judge safeguard as a key reason.
Liverpool MP Dan Carden – the leader of the Blue Labour group – also said he would vote against the Bill having previously abstained.
‘I genuinely fear the legislation will take us in the wrong direction,’ he told the Guardian last night.
‘The values of family, social bonds, responsibilities, time and community will be diminished, with isolation, atomisation and individualism winning again.’
It comes as Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster and most senior Catholic in the UK, said the Church will close Catholic hospices and care homes if MPs vote for assisted suicide.
However Dame Esther Rantzen made a plea to MPs last night, urging them to pass a Bill she said could ‘transform the final days of generations in the future’ and replace the current ‘cruel, messy criminal law’.
The broadcaster, who is terminally ill with cancer and has been a prominent supporter of assisted dying, said: ‘Please allow us terminally ill the dignity of choice over our own deaths.’
Assisted dying: The heat and emotion of today’s significant vote
A bill to legalise assisted dying in Scotland has passed an initial vote at Holyrood, but faces further hurdles. The Isle of Man has already approved an assisted dying bill and Jersey is also committed to changing the law. An impact assessment, external, carried out by civil servants estimated there could be between 1,042 and 4,559 assisted deaths in the 10th year after the law came into force.
On that occasion the patient, Wayne Hawkins, was unconscious within a few minutes of swallowing the drug and died in around 35 minutes.
Deaths usually occur within an hour although there have been rare cases, external of it taking several days.
In some other countries that have legalised assisted dying, euthanasia is permitted, whereby a doctor or nurse administers the lethal dose, usually by injection.
Euthanasia is allowed in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but even for most supporters of assisted dying here, it is seen as a step too far.
An impact assessment, external, carried out by civil servants estimated there could be between 1,042 and 4,559 assisted deaths in the 10th year after the law came into force.
That upper estimate would represent around 1% of all deaths in England and Wales.
Whatever happens to the Leadbeater bill in the coming months, assisted dying is coming to the British Isles.
The Isle of Man has already approved an assisted dying bill and Jersey is also committed to changing the law.
A bill to legalise assisted dying in Scotland has passed an initial vote at Holyrood, but faces further hurdles. The Scottish bill does not have a life expectancy timescale for eligibility and instead refers to advanced and progressive disease that is expected to cause premature death.
Assisted dying, or assisted suicide as many critics prefer to call it, remains illegal in most of the world.
Modern medicine means that healthcare systems can keep people alive longer than ever before, but often with limited quality of life.
Supporters say that assisted dying gives autonomy and control to patients. For opponents it is a chilling and dangerous step which puts the vulnerable at risk of coercion.
Whatever happens to the bill at Westminster, this heated and polarising debate will continue.
Assisted dying: How did my MP vote?
MPs backed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill by 314 votes to 291. The majority in favour has more than halved since MPs first backed it in November. The bill now passes to the House of Lords for further scrutiny. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Austria have all introduced assisted dying laws since 2015. A separate bill on assisted dying is being considered in Scotland and passed an initial vote at Holyrood in May 2025 but is subject to further debate and changes before a final decision. In March, the Isle of Man was the first part of the British Isles to approve assisted dying.
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Author, Data journalism team Role, BBC Verify
2 hours ago
MPs have voted to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales after their final debate on the change in the law.
After months of deliberation and scrutiny, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was backed by 314 votes to 291, a majority of 23.
MPs were given a free vote on the issue, meaning parties did not instruct them what to choose.
The third reading of the bill was the last opportunity for MPs to approve or reject it.
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The majority in favour has more than halved since MPs first backed proposals to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales.
In November they supported it by 330 to 275, a majority of 55.
Prior to that, it had been almost a decade since the House of Commons had voted on the issue, deciding in 2015 to reject the “right to die” law.
The bill now passes to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.
It proposed letting terminally ill people end their life if they:
are over 18, live in England or Wales, and have been registered with a GP for at least 12 months
have the mental capacity to make the choice and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish, free from coercion or pressure
be expected to die within six months
make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die
satisfy two independent doctors that they are eligible – with at least seven days between each assessment
The bill has since been amended following the committee and report stages, where it was scrutinised line by line by MPs.
Some key changes included dropping the requirement for a High Court judge to approve assisted dying applications, replacing it with a three-person panel featuring a senior legal figure, psychiatrist and social worker.
A separate bill on assisted dying is being considered in Scotland and passed an initial vote at Holyrood in May 2025 but is subject to further debate and changes before a final decision.
In March, the Isle of Man was the first part of the British Isles to approve assisted dying.
While it remains illegal in most countries, more than 300 million people now live in countries which have legalised assisted dying.
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Austria have all introduced assisted dying laws since 2015.