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A renewed attempt to legalise assisted dying has been voted down by MPs in a decision that is likely to scupper the idea for a political generation, sparking anger among supporters after an earlier bill was blocked by the Lords.
A private member’s bill put forward by Labour’s Lauren Edwards, which would have permitted assisted dying in England and Wales in certain limited circumstances, was defeated by 286 to 270 at second reading, the first chance MPs have to vote on a measure.
After the decision some MPs cheered and hugged in the Commons chamber, while anti-assisted dying activists celebrated in Parliament Square. But supporters of the measure said a public which, according to polling, generally supports the idea would be baffled by the inability of politicians to enact it.
An earlier private member’s bill to permit assisted dying, spearheaded by another Labour MP, Kim Leadbeater, was approved by MPs in the last parliamentary session but ran out of parliamentary time in April after a handful of peers thwarted it in the Lords, tabling hundreds of amendments.
In a statement after the vote, Edwards said voters wanted change 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.”
Leadbeater said she felt “really sad”, adding: “I feel really disappointed – not for me but for the many people who’ve campaigned on this issue long before I came along and the terminally ill people who are quite simply asking for choice, asking for compassion, asking for dignity in their dying days.”
A number of MPs and peers were “deeply upset” at events and would attempt to bring the issue back, she predicted, while saying she did not know when this would be.
In another statement after the vote, three Labour MPs who voted against the plan, Ashley Dalton, Meg Hillier and Jess Asato, insisted their decision was purely based on practicalities.
They said: “MPs have voted against this bill because it wasn’t an abstract debate but a decision about a real bill that was unsafe and unworkable. But this is not a moment for celebration. We understand the deep concerns of so many people across the country who have campaigned hard for a change in the law.
“But the truth is none of the relevant royal medical colleges, professional groups or experts will attest to the safety or workability of this bill.”
Much of the other reaction was split along more entrenched lines, with John Sherrington, the Catholic archbishop of Liverpool, thanking MPs for the vote.
In contrast, Andrew Copson, the chief executive of Humanists UK, said: “This vote provides not one extra penny for palliative care or disability support. On the contrary, it makes it less likely. And terminally ill people will still suffer, travel to Switzerland, and take their own lives in increasing numbers, while today’s inequalities continue.”
Friday’s debate before the vote saw some emotionally charged speeches, including from Dalton, who needs lifelong treament for terminal metastatic breast cancer. She argued that the bill did not adequately protect people with treatable depression who also had a terminal illness.
Another 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.”
With many of the arguments for and against the bill being repeats of those made when Leadbeater’s version was approved, the defeat appeared to be a product in part of less motivation among supporters of the plan.
Leadbeater’s bill was backed by 330 votes to 275 on its second reading, and by 313 to 291 at the third reading. Friday’s result thus saw the totals for both sides falling, but with a greater drop-off among supporters.
Some MPs had said they were lobbied notably less by pro-assisted dying campaigners this time than with Leadbeater’s bill.
There was also a more sceptical view of the issue from Andy Burnham’s Downing Street than there had been under Keir Starmer.
With Burnham and his ministers staying officially neutral in what was seen as a matter of conscience, the prime minister announced he would not vote on the bill – his predecessor voted in favour – and said he believed the debate on assisted dying should be paused until social care was improved.
Another factor was the possibility of using the Parliament Act to force the bill through the Lords if peers tried to stop it again, under provisions that prevent the upper house from indefinitely blocking measures backed by MPs. This idea had brought concerns from some MPs.
Closing Friday’s debate, 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.”
