MPs pile extra safeguards into assisted dying laws as Labour’s Kim Leadbeater suffers first Commons defeat on her Bill

MPs today added fresh safeguards to assisted dying laws as they voted in favour of an advertising ban and to prohibit health staff from raising the subject with children.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill underwent a second day of report stage in the House of Commons as they debated various amendments.

A majority of MPs approved a new clause, tabled by Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, to ensure medics cannot raise the topic of assisted dying with under-18s.

This saw opponents of the Bill claim Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who is spearheading the legislation, suffer her first Commons defeat after she voted against Dame Meg’s clause.

Campaign group Care Not Killing welcomed ‘MPs removing the ability of doctors to raise unprompted assisted suicide with children’.

A ban on advertising assisted dying services should the Bill pass into law, which was proposed by Ms Leadbeater, was also approved.

But an amendment by her fellow Labour MP Paul Waugh, an opponent of the Bill, to limit exceptions to an advertising ban did not pass.

He said the ban as it stands had ‘unspecified exceptions, which could make the ban itself worthless’.

Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who is spearheading assisted dying legislation, suffered her first Commons defeat on the Bill

Supporters of assisted dying gathered in Parliament Square as MPs continued their debate on Ms Leadbeater’s Bill

Campaigners who are opposed to assisted dying also gathered outside the Palace of Westminster

Mr Waugh warned online harms from adverts about assisted dying on TikTok ‘could be a reality without the tighter safeguards in my amendment’.

A number of other amendments were passed, including a provision for assisted dying deaths to not automatically be referred to a coroner and around the regulation of substances for use in assisted dying.

It is expected the next major vote on the overall Bill could take place next Friday, which could see it either fall or pass through to the House of Lords.

Those MPs concerned about assisted dying legislation said today’s proceedings showed ‘the wheels appear to be falling off’ and ‘confidence is slipping away’ from the Bill.

Tory MP Andrew Rosindell said: ‘Today, over 50 MPs who had not previously voted against Kim Leadbeater broke ranks with her for the first time.

‘Given 18 MPs who voted for the Bill at second reading or abstained had already publicly switched to indicating they will vote against the Bill, there must now be considerable doubt about whether the Bill will pass next week.

‘Today was a big moment in the debate – to be defeated so comprehensively on a key amendment to her Bill is a massive setback for Leadbeater. The wheels appear to be falling off the Bill.’

Mr Waugh and nine of his fellow Labour MPs – Jess Asato, Antonia Bance, Polly Billington, Florence Eshalomi, James Frith, Adam Jogee, Andrew Pakes, David Smith, and Melanie Ward – said today’s debate showed ‘confidence is slipping away’ from the Bill.

‘This eleventh hour rejection of the claims made about the safety of this Bill proves that confidence is slipping away from it,’ they said in a joint statement.

‘Today’s vote was a vote of no confidence in the Bill and has shattered the claim that this bill was the safest in the world.

‘It is a stark reality that those that voted against amendment NC2 today, voted against protecting children.

‘The Bill’s supporters now need to accept that many other clauses that sought to protect the vulnerable would also be supported by MPs.

‘This was just one amendment with over 100 that have not been selected and which MPs have not had a chance to scrutinise or vote on.

‘Fresh concerns were also raised in the chamber today about threats to the founding principles of the NHS and the risk that private companies stand ready to profit from the marketisation of dying.

‘As things stand, next Friday MPs will not even have a copy of the Bill when they are asked to vote on this life and death issue.’

Opening Friday’s debate, Ms Leadbeater had proposed an amendment to impose a duty on ministers to ban adverts promoting assisted dying services.

But her Mr Waugh told the Commons he had put forward a tighter amendment to ‘strengthen the Bill on this issue and to better protect the vulnerable’.

‘Many in this House rightly try to protect teenagers from online harms,’ he said.

‘But the online harm of an ad for a website about assisted dying shared on TikTok could be a reality without the tighter safeguards in my amendment.’ 

Dame Harriett Baldwin, a Tory former minister and another opponent of the Bill, also backed an advertising ban.

‘Can you imagine a situation, you’re sitting watching a repeat episode of One Foot In The Grave and an advert runs for a funeral plan company,’ she said.

‘And then it’s followed by an organisation that’s offering to provide the services to make it easier for you to have an assisted death?’

Dame Harriett added: ‘Thinking ahead to the possibility that this Bill might go on the statute books.

‘I hope everyone participating in this debate will recognise that we should not allow the services of the organisations that will arise to provide this service to advertise on television, online, on posters, on TikTok, on any platform that our constituents may be seeing.’

An amendment by Labour MP Paul Waugh, an opponent of the Bill, to limit exceptions to an advertising ban did not pass 

Dame Harriett Baldwin, a Tory former minister and another opponent of the Bill, also backed an advertising ban

The Bill passed its second reading stage following an historic Commons vote in November, when MPs supported the principle of assisted dying by a majority of 55.

But, since then, a number of MPs have switched their stance on the Bill.

According to campaigners, 18 MPs who either supported the Bill’s second reading or abstained at November’s vote have now moved towards opposing it, while three MPs have switched the other way.

The Bill aims to allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales – with less than six months to live – to legally end their lives.

Earlier this week, more than 1,000 doctors wrote to MPs to demand they vote against the ‘unsafe’ legislation.

They expressed concerns that the Bill will ‘widen inequalities’ and ‘provide inadequate safeguards’.

The proposed legislation ‘does not protect against the risk of coercion, particularly for women and the elderly’, the letter added.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) have also expressed concerns.

RCP said there was not yet ‘adequate protection of patients and professionals’ in the Bill, while RCPsych said there were ‘too many unanswered questions about the safeguarding of people with mental illness’.

But some MPs who are doctors are among the Bill’s strongest supporters.

Meanwhile, seven RCPsych members – including a former president and vice president – have written to MPs to distance themselves from their college’s concern.

They instead described the current Bill as ‘workable, safe and compassionate’ with a ‘clear and transparent legal framework’.

As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.

MPs are entitled to have a free vote on the Bill and any amendments, meaning they vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines.

Lord Stewart Jackson, the former Tory MP and an opponent of the Bill, said: ‘Kim Leadbeater has gone from a majority of 55 at second reading to losing a key vote today by 43 votes.

‘It shows that more and more MPs are waking up to the problems with her Bill and the dangers it would pose to vulnerable people who would be put at risk if it passes.

‘The momentum is now with opponents of the Bill. We’re taking nothing for granted, but I’m increasingly confident that when MPs look at the final version of the Bill, they will conclude that it is just too risky to give it a green light.’