Markus Andrews

Assisted dying in England and Wales has moved a step closer after MPs voted by a majority of 23 in favour of a Bill legalising it for terminally ill people.After an emotional four-hour debate in the Commons, 314 MPs voted for the Bill and 291 against.Supporters of assisted dying wept, jumped and hugged each other outside Parliament as the news spread that it had been passed.The Bill, which allows adults who have less than six months to live to end their lives, will move to the House of Lords for further debate and scrutiny.Public support for a change in the law remains high, according to a YouGov poll, suggesting nearly three in four people back assisted dying.MPs had a free vote on the Bill, meaning they decided according to their conscience and the arguments rather than along party lines.This was the first time Kim Leadbeater’s Bill had been debated and voted on in its entirety since last year’s historic yes vote, when MPs supported the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55 at second reading. Labour MP Ms Leadbeater argued her Bill would “correct the profound injustices of the status quo”. Both Houses must agree on the final text of the Bill before it can be signed into law.Due to the four-year implementation period, it could be 2029 – potentially coinciding with the end of this Government’s Parliament – before assisted dying is offered.Encouraging or assisting suicide is currently against the law in England and Wales, with a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.Supporters of assisted dying have described the current law as not being fit for purpose, with desperate terminally ill people feeling the need to end their lives in secret or go abroad to Dignitas alone, for fear loved ones will be prosecuted for helping them.Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer remained supportive of the Bill, voting yes on Friday as he had done last year.Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who had urged MPs to vote against the legislation, describing it as “a bad Bill” despite being “previously supportive of assisted suicide”, voted no. More

Assisted dying is one step closer to becoming law after a historic vote in the House of Commons, paving the way for one of the biggest changes to social policy since abortion was legalised in 1967.Following an emotional debate, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was passed by 314 to 291 with a majority of just 23, with a hushed Commons hearing the result in a major victory for its sponsor Kim Leadbeater.It now goes to the House of Lords for further scrutiny where it is set to meet more opposition. The vote came after months of impassioned debate, culminating in a tense third reading debate on Friday.Labour MP Kim Leadbeater opened debate on her Bill’s third reading in the Commons (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA) More

Watch the moment MPs voted in favour of the assisted dying bill which will legalise the right for terminally ill people in England and Wales to end their own life with medical assistance.Following a debate on the The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the House of Commons on Friday (20 June), MPs voted 314 to 219 in favour of the legislation.It will now transfer to the House of Lords for several more stages of scrutiny.Kim Leadbeater, who proposed the bill, was seen crying in the chamber as it was passed. More

Watch the moment MPs voted in favour of the assisted dying bill which will legalise the right for terminally ill people in England and Wales to end their own life with medical assistance.Following a debate on the The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the House of Commons on Friday (20 June), MPs voted 314 to 219 in favour of the legislation.It will now transfer to the House of Lords for several more stages of scrutiny.Kim Leadbeater, who proposed the bill, was seen crying in the chamber as it was passed. More

The assisted dying bill has been passed in the House of Commons and its sponsor Kim Leadbeater has earned her place in history – but there are still a number of hurdles it needs to clear before becoming law.The legislation now goes to the House of Lords, where a large number of opponents are lying in wait.They will be emboldened by the fact that the Bill was passed in the Commons by a tiny majority of 23, half the original majority of 55. More importantly, the number of 314 is just below the 318 needed for an absolute majority in the Commons. All this paves the way for a constitutional crisis.A group of Tory peers will predictably try to cause trouble in the upper house, but the real problem could come from the cross benches.Prominent figures like Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, the former Paralympian, and Baroness Ilora Finlay, a professor of palliative medicine, will be bringing a large number of concerns about coercion, disability rights and other issues.Kim Leadbeater proposed the bill More

Council tax bills across the UK could soon see a major shake-up as a new Labour plan looks to make funding ‘fairer.’ Led by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, the plans will ensure more government funding goes to areas with the highest need.The new approach looks to address issues in local authorities that are enforcing large council tax hikes every year while residents repeatedly see little return for this money. By making more central funds available to areas where demand is greatest, these areas will be more able to ask for lower council tax increases.However, this will likely mean that less funding will be available to areas where local services are not stretched, and residents have not been asked to pay such steep bill rises in recent years. As such, these councils could be forced to recoup the funding from maximising council tax revenue.A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) official told The Times that the current system has resulted in “perverse outcomes, where some authorities are struggling to provide basic services whilst others are better off”.Birmingham City Council raised its council tax by 7.5 per cent this year amid funding struggles More

Council tax bills across the UK could soon see a major shake-up as a new Labour plan looks to make funding ‘fairer.’ Led by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, the plans will ensure more government funding goes to areas with the highest need.The new approach looks to address issues in local authorities that are enforcing large council tax hikes every year while residents repeatedly see little return for this money. By making more central funds available to areas where demand is greatest, these areas will be more able to ask for lower council tax increases.However, this will likely mean that less funding will be available to areas where local services are not stretched, and residents have not been asked to pay such steep bill rises in recent years. As such, these councils could be forced to recoup the funding from maximising council tax revenue.A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) official told The Times that the current system has resulted in “perverse outcomes, where some authorities are struggling to provide basic services whilst others are better off”.Birmingham City Council raised its council tax by 7.5 per cent this year amid funding struggles More

Watch live as MPs debate and vote on the controversial assisted dying bill for the terminally ill in the House of Commons on Friday (20 June).The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is back for its third reading today – the first time MPs will vote on the overall piece of legislation since a historic yes vote last year.In November, MPs gave the proposal their initial backing, with 330 MPs voting in favour and 275 against.If the new amendments are voted through, the Bill – which allows terminally ill adults to get medical assistance to end their own lives – will go through to the next stage in the House of Lords.Since last year, more than a dozen MPs who backed or abstained on the Bill have said they were now likely to oppose it, with critics claiming that the Bill does not have enough protections and has been rushed throughIn a last-minute letter to all MPs on Thursday (19 June), Labour MPs Markus Campbell-Savours, Kanishka Narayan, Paul Foster and Jonathan Hinder said: “The Bill presented to MPs in November has been fundamentally changed. This is not the safest Bill in the world.“It is weaker than the one first laid in front of MPs and has been drastically weakened.” More