LONDON, 29 Nov. - (ANA) - British MPs have voted in favour of new laws to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales.

 

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will allow people aged over 18 with less than six months to live the right to end their own life.

 

Some 330 MPs, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, voted in favour of the bill with 275 rejecting it - a majority of 55.

 

The proposed legislation sparked an emotionally-charged debate in Parliament.

 

Current laws mean people cannot ask for medical help to die. There are a number of requirements for a patient to be eligible for assisted dying under the proposals.

 

There will still be more months of fine tuning and Parliamentary activity before it becomes law.

 

 

 

 

- Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves back assisted dying as 330 MPs voting for the bill to progress

 

- Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch vote against the assisted dying bill

 

- Kim Leadbeater: Bill is about 'giving dying people who have got six months or less to live to shorten their death'

 

- Hackney MP Diane Abbott says NHS will become 'a fully funded 100% suicide service'

 

- Shoreditch and Vauxhall MPs hold back tears as they talk about family members' illnesses

 

 

'Pro-life' activist who broke back in rock-climbing accident says he is 'very disappointed' by decision

 

 

Christian Hacking, a “pro-life” activist, said he was “very disappointed” by the news and that it was “sadly predictable”.

 

The 34-year-old from south-east London, who joined a protest outside Parliament today calling on MPs to vote against the Bill, said: “There is now going to be an additional moral weight upon people to end their own lives which, once it percolates down, is going to affect the vulnerable.”

 

Mr Hacking broke his back in a rock climbing accident in 2014 and described the issue as “really personal” for him.

 

“A number of people who went through the same rehab I went through, went to Dignitas to kill themselves because they felt they couldn’t cope with disability,” he said.

 

“I know that that despair is very real and that hopelessness is very real but I believe our humanity is so much greater than our utility,” he added.

 

“Why are we talking about how people can be assisted in killing themselves when actually we should be talking about how we can supercharge the palliative care system to help people die with dignity?”

 

 

 

 

Church of England’s lead bishop for healthcare, Dame Sarah Mullally, said that safeguarding the vulnerable “must now be our priority” in the wake of the vote.

 

Dame Sarah, who is the Bishop of London and a former nurse, had warned against moves to legalise assisted dying.

 

Reacting to the vote, she said: “I have been deeply moved watching proceedings unfold in the House of Commons today. My prayers are with all those who have been affected, who have shared and heard their stories, and facilitated this debate.

 

“The Church of England believes that the compassionate response at the end of life lies in the provision of high quality palliative care services to all who need them.

 

“Today’s vote still leaves the question of how this could be implemented in an overstretched and under-funded NHS, social care and legal system.

 

“In the wake of the decision MPs have made, safeguarding the most vulnerable must now be our priority in the Parliamentary process to come.”

 

 

 

 

Speaking to the press, Ms Leadbeater said: “It’s been tough, you know, these families have campaigned on this issue for years.

 

“I know what it means to people, if we hadn’t achieved what we achieved today I’d have let them down.

 

“I’m also really proud and really pleased that we had a very respectful debate in Parliament.

 

“It was robust but it was compassionate. Lots of people with different views, and I think Parliament showed itself in its best light today, and I’m very proud of that.”

 

 

 

 

Crowds of supporters surrounded and hugged MP Kim Leadbeater outside Parliament after her assisted dying private members’ Bill passed.

 

Photographers and videographers chased after the Labour MP as she walked over to Parliament Square to celebrate with the supporters.

 

People shouted “thank you Kim” as she was mobbed by members of the public, activists, and the press.

 

 

 

 

A son whose father took his own life after suffering from multiple sclerosis said he was “incredibly relieved” the assisted dying Bill had passed.

 

Speaking from among a crowd of supporters of the Bill gathered outside Parliament, Anil Douglas, 35, from Walthamstow, London, said: “I’m incredibly relieved.

 

“I’m over the moon. MPs have voted for a safer, kinder, more compassionate future for dying people. I think it’s wonderful.”

 

Anil’s father Ian Douglas took his own life after suffering from MS for years. He said he felt like his father’s son today.

 

“I feel very much like his son today,” he said. “He was an active campaigner in various causes throughout his life. Being here today, in his memory, and in his honour, fighting for a change I know he would have benefited from and would have supported, means the world to me.”

 

He said he felt shock and a “deep-set relief” when he heard the result. “I think I was cautiously optimistic, but when that optimism became a reality – relief,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he has “serious reservations” about the assisted dying bill.

 

He told LBC on Friday: “The job of the MPs now during the committee stage, during the report stage is to try and address some of the concerns people like me have.

 

“One of the things I have been really impressed by parliament this week, in particular, is it shows that MPs can put aside the knock-about stuff, they can put aside party politics and have proper discussions, proper debates, proper arguments in a cool, calm collected fashion.

 

He raised concerns about social services, national health service, backlogging the judiciary, the possibility of coercive control and the guilt people with terminal illnesses face.

 

Mr Khan said there was an opportunity for Parliamentarians to try and improve the bill.

 

 

 

 

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer voted in favour of the assisted dying legislation, parliamentary voting data has shown.

 

MPs were free to vote for what they believed in and did not have to obey party lines.

 

 

Breaking: The assisted dying bill has passed the first hurdle

 

 

The assisted dying bill has passed with 330 MPs voting for the bill to progress, while 275 MPs voted against it.

 

It has been approved for a second reading with a majority of 55.

 

It will now go to the House of Lords to be debated.   - 9ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/29 November 2024 - - -