The assisted dying bill is on a knife edge less than 24 hours until a crunch vote on the bill, with campaigners on both sides making their final pitches to wavering MPs.
With just hours to go before the vote four Labour MPs Markus Campbell-Savours, Kanishka Narayan, Paul Foster and Jonathan Hinder announced they were switching their votes from yes to no.
More than 60 disability organisations also wrote to MPs highlighting concerns over the potential impact of the legislation on those with learning disabilities.
They cited polling commissioned by the Down’s Syndrome Research Foundation which found major fears about how people with learning disabilities could express informed consent when applying for assisted suicide.
Three-quarters of the public raised concerns about the prospect of disabled people being able to consent, the polling found. It also found that nearly seven in 10 people fear those with learning disabilities may be particularly vulnerable to the risk of coercion or manipulation into an assisted suicide if the bill passes.
The National Down Syndrome Policy Group, which sent the letter to MPs, said: “We once again urge parliament to take seriously the urgent concerns raised by our organisations and members regarding the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, particularly its implications for individuals with Down syndrome and learning disabilities.”
It came as Kim Leadbeater made her own last-minute plea to MPs to support her assisted dying bill, warning that if it is rejected on Friday, terminally ill adults could face a ten-year wait before the issue is debated again.
In an emotional plea ahead of Friday’s final Commons vote on the bill, the Labour MP asked how many more would suffer dying without dignity if MPs reject her plans.
“If we don't pass this law tomorrow, it could be another decade before this issue was brought back to parliament,” she told a press conference in Westminster.
Flanked by MPs from across party lines, as well as a group of assisted dying campaigners, Ms Leadbeater added: “It’s 10 years since we last had a vote. If we leave it now, I worry it could be a heck of a long time.
“And in that time, how many more stories will we hear like Katie, Pamela, Anil and Sophie.”
The four campaigners had shared stories of their own experiences with terminal illness or of the anguish around the deaths of loved ones who could have benefitted from assisted dying.
One of the campaigners at the press conference, Sophie Blake, who has been living with stage four secondary breast cancer for three years, said: “I have come to terms with the fact my life has been shortened and I do not fear death. But I do fear how I will die.”
She is allergic to most opioids, and said: “The thought of not being able to control my pain and suffering hangs over me”.
“I want my daughter and my family's last memories of me to be happy and wonderful times, not being left traumatized by seeing me in agony,” she added.
The assisted dying vote is on a knife-edge, with expectations there could be decided by just 10 to 15 votes. Campaigners against the legislation called at the last minute for a delay to the crunch final vote, with 52 Labour backbenchers asking Sir Keir Starmer to step in and give MPs more time to scrutinise the bill.
But the prime minister rejected the call, saying there “has been a lot of time discussing it, both in parliament and beyond parliament”.
Asked whether she is confident the bill will pass, Ms Leadbeater said she expects MPs to back it comfortably.
She said: “We had a good majority of 55 at second reading, there may be some small movement in the middle, some people may change their mind one way, others may change their minds the other way.
“But fundamentally, I do not anticipate that the majority will be heavily eroded. I feel confident we can get through tomorrow successfully.”
It came after the last minute letter from 52 MPs warned: “This is not a normal Bill. It alters the foundations of our NHS, the relationship between doctor and patient, and it strips power away from Parliament, concentrating it in the hands of future Health Secretaries.
“MPs will be arriving at Westminster on Friday morning without sight of the final version of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.”
If, as expected, the Bill passes its final stage on Friday it will then go to the Lords where peers have warned that they intend to heavily scrutinise the legislation.
Labour rebels hit back at threats over benefit cuts vote
Trump warned by Starmer about ‘ramping up’ Middle East conflict with strikes on Iran
Starmer warns of ‘real risk’ in Middle East as Trump mulls bombing Iran
New environmental guidance published for halted North Sea oil and gas projects
Angela Rayner praises ‘amazing success’ of Independent’s Brick by Brick campaign
Nine years on from the Brexit vote, here’s how Brits feel about rejoining the EU
