MPs vote against legalising assisted dying in England and Wales

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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.