Will the assisted dying bill become law?

The assisted dying bill has passed its second reading. After an emotionally charged debate, MPs have voted 330 to 275 in support of private members bill – a majority of 55. It means that Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater will now take her bill to committee stage for further scrutiny as parliament edges closer to giving some terminally ill people the right to end their lives in England and Wales.

This comes after weeks of debate and criticism, including within Keir Starmer’s own cabinet – with both the Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood voicing concerns over the bill, which would allow those with just six months to live to seek help to end their own lives.

So, will the ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’ now become law? That’s still not a given. The bill will now be subject to more scrutiny than today’s five hour debate could offer (more than 160 MPs requested to speak but time restraints meant this was not possible for everyone) with further votes to come. What’s more, some of the MPs who backed it today could oppose it later down the line. One of the most powerful arguments in today’s debate was the plea for MPs to support the bill to allow it to pass at second reading even if they had doubts – as these could be looked at later down the line. It means there will be an effort by sceptical MPs to develop the bill further and address various safeguarding concerns that remain.

As for how the free vote played out, 234 Labour MPs backed the bill compared to 23 Conservative MPs. For the noes, 147 Labour MPs voted against along with 92 Tory MPs. While a higher percentage of the Tory party is against the bill, the Labour party is clearly divided on the issue.

When it comes to the cabinet, Keir Starmer unsurprisingly backed the bill along with Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper – the Foreign Secretary David Lammy voted against. On the Tory side, Rishi Sunak was the only former Conservative prime minister not to declare their stance ahead of the vote. He voted for the bill, along with former chancellor Jeremy Hunt. As the bill moves to the next stage, this marks a win for the pro-assisted dying lobby but the debate is far from over.