Campaigners for and against the proposed change in the law outside the Palace of Westminster on Friday. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Campaigners for and against the proposed change in the law outside the Palace of Westminster on Friday. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images Assisted dying MPs vote against legalising assisted dying in England and Wales Bill’s failure in Commons sparks anger among its supporters after Lords blocked earlier legislation
Prefer the Guardian on Google 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 vot…