The Prime Minister has indicated he will back the assisted dying Bill ahead of a crunch vote, as opponents warned against legislation they say is not safe enough to protect the most vulnerable.
The result of Friday’s expected vote could see the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill either progress to the House of Lords or fall completely.
Sir Keir Starmer, who voted yes in November and also supported a 2015 attempt to legislate for assisted dying, said his position on the issue is “long-standing and well-known” – giving no suggestion his mind had changed on the matter.
Friday will be the first time the Bill has been voted on in its entirety since last year’s historic yes vote, when MPs supported the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55.
MPs are entitled to have a free vote on the Bill, meaning they decide according to their conscience rather than along party lines.
While supporters of the Bill say it is coming back to the Commons with better safeguards after more than 90 hours of parliamentary time spent on it to date, opponents claim the process has been rushed and that changes to the Bill mean it is now weaker than it was when first introduced.
This week, dozens of Labour MPs opposed to the Bill urged a delay to the vote.
Asked whether he thought they were wrong to do so, Sir Keir told reporters in Canada: “It is a matter for individual parliamentarians, which is why I’ve not waded in with a view on this publicly, and I’m not going to now it’s coming to a conclusion.
“There has been a lot of time discussing it, both in Parliament and beyond Parliament, and quite right too. It’s a really serious issue.
“My own position is long-standing and well-known in relation to it, based on my experience when I was chief prosecutor for five years, where I oversaw every case that was investigated.”
While the Prime Minister is among the high-profile supporters of the Bill, both Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood voted against it in November.
Kim Leadbeater, the backbench MP behind the legislation, has said she is “positive and optimistic” that enough of her colleagues will back the Bill on Friday.
“Obviously lots of people are very clear about their positions, lots of people are very supportive of the Bill, and there are people who are fundamentally against the Bill.
“And I think in the middle there’s potentially a small number of people who might change their mind either way, but if that proves to be the case, it means we’ve still got a good majority and the bill will go forward,” she told ITV News’ Talking Politics podcast.
Meanwhile, Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter said she is “really hopeful” the Bill can pass the major vote, as she warned against “scaremongering” by opponents.
Rebecca Wilcox, the daughter of the terminally ill broadcaster and Childline founder Dame Esther, said: “We are really hopeful that we have the numbers (in the Commons).
“We obviously want people to keep writing to their MP, saying that they support the Bill, because we know that nationally the numbers are with us.”
Ms Wilcox described the Bill as a “really safe, clever piece of law” and insisted its safeguards would ensure it is not extended beyond its current scope of terminally ill adults while it would improve on the “cruel status quo that exists at the moment”.
Responding to warnings from opponents around those with depression or eating disorders being more vulnerable to being caught up in a new law, Ms Wilcox urged people against “scaremongering”.
She said: “Yes, you may be depressed because you have a terminal diagnosis, but that’s not to do with it. You can’t just be depressed. You can’t just have an eating disorder.
“And this is an example of some of the scaremongering that has been going on on the other side of the debate, and I completely understand that they are desperate to stop it, but if you are desperate to stop it, please don’t exaggerate the truth. Please don’t exaggerate a lie.”
Speaking during a debate on amendments to the Bill last week, Labour MP Rupa Huq warned that “in a cost-of-living crisis, assisted dying could be quite attractive”, as she pledged to be a “voice of the voiceless”.
She said while she probably would have supported such a Bill in her younger years, “10 years of being an MP has exposed me to coercion, duress, the millionaire price of London property and elder abuse”.
She added: “We know that Esther Rantzen wants this. We know Jonathan Dimbleby wants this. But our role is to be the voice of the voiceless as well.”
Asked about her mother – who has terminal cancer and has been outspoken in campaigning for a change in the law – Ms Wilcox said Dame Esther is “coping” as she nears her 85th birthday this weekend.
She told Sky: “She’s coping. This has been a long slog, and we’re hoping that we can maybe have a rest this weekend, particularly as it is her birthday on Sunday.
“So we are so grateful and so appreciative of all the time that we have with her, particularly as she turns 85 looking rather fabulous.”
Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of opposition campaign group Care Not Killing, said their polling had suggested the public “is deeply concerned that this Bill could put pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives prematurely”.
He added: “These problems will be compounded if Parliament continues to rush this legislation, fails to restore safeguards such as the scrutiny of the High Court and fixing palliative and end-of-life care in the UK, which is in crisis.
“This is why, day by day, more and more disabled people, doctors, nurses, lawyers and campaigners are urging MPs to kill the Bill, not the sick and vulnerable.”
As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.
