MPs vote against legalising assisted dying in England and Wales

A bill to permit assisted dying in England and Wales has been voted down by MPs, almost certainly stopping such a measure from being enacted before the next general election at the very least least.

In the second reading of the bill, put forward by Labour’s Lauren Edwards, MPs voted by 286 to 270 for it to be blocked.

The result is a reversal of MPs’ support for a near-identical version of the bill, which sought to allow adults with terminal illnesses and less than six months to live to end their lives with the approval of a panel of experts. This was approved by the Commons in the last parliament.

While some MPs cheered and hugged in the Commons chamber after Friday’s result, the scuppering of the idea caused significant anger among supporters of assisted dying, who believe the measure should already have become law. The previous bill, sponsored by another Labour MP, Kim Leadbeater, passed through the Commons but was blocked in the Lords, where it was talked out by a handful of peers who tabled a huge number of amendments.

In a statement after the vote, Edwards said the public broadly supported a change in the law and “will not understand why that couldn’t happen because a minority in the House of Lords used procedural devices to block it and MPs balked at insisting that they do their job”.

She added: “Assisted dying will come in this country, as it is already doing all across the world, but not soon enough. Parliament has dropped the ball today. It will be picked up again as it must be, because the law as it stands is simply too cruel and too unjust to be allowed to stand.”

On its second reading, Leadbeater’s bill was approved by 330 votes to 275, and by 313 to 291 at the third reading. The fact that the vote tally for both sides dropped in Friday’s result – with that of the pro side falling more – suggests it was sunk as much by a lack of enthusiasm than by MPs changing side.

Some MPs had said they were lobbied by pro-assisted dying campaigners notably less this time than with Leadbeater’s bill.

As the issue is deemed a matter of conscience, it had been left to a private member’s bill rather than a government-sponsored one, with Andy Burnham and his ministers staying officially neutral.

However, the prime minister has been seen as less supportive than Keir Starmer, by announcing he would not vote on the bill – his predecessor voted in favour – and saying he believed the debate on assisted dying should be paused until social care was improved.

Closing a sometimes emotional debate on Friday, the health minister Alison McGovern said the government would enact the plan if it became law, but reiterated concerns about social care. She said: “In my opinion, social care has been ignored for far too long, both the 1.5 million people, mainly women, who work in it, and the families who need it, and we heard that across the house today.”

Opening the debate, Edwards said it was a false choice to say the issue should be delayed ahead of improvements in social and palliative care. She said: “We must grasp that opportunity in front of us to create a holistic end of life care system that will deliver choice and dignity for every single one of our constituents.”

During the debate, the Labour MP Claire Hazelgrove, who supported the bill, said her mother chose to end her life aged 61 while suffering a late-stage terminal illness. Hazelgrove said: “She had access to good palliative care, but what we learned, the hardest of ways, is that not all pain can be palliated. I will never forget seeing her writhing and screaming in pain at points for weeks.”

Another Labour MP, Ashley Dalton, who has been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, said the assisted dying bill did not adequately protect people with treatable depression who also had a terminal illness.