Assisted dying bill faces crunch Commons vote as MPs switch sides to reject it becoming law on eve of Parliament showdown: Live updates

Campaigners for and against assisted dying are gathering outside Parliament this morning, hoping to be able to celebrate after the vote later today.

Members of the ‘No’ campaign held signs reading ‘Kill the bill not the ill’ and ‘Don’t make doctors killers’.

Members of the ‘Yes’ campaign held posters calling for dignity in death.

It is impossible to know exactly how many MPs have changed their position on today’s bill since the vote in November – but privately, some have admitted to getting cold feet about the proposals.

In what will be seen as a blow to the Bill, four Labour MPs confirmed on the eve of the vote that they will switch sides to oppose the proposed new law.

Labour’s Paul Foster, Jonathan Hinder, Markus Campbell-Savours and Kanishka Narayan wrote to fellow MPs to voice concerns about the safety of the proposed legislation.

They branded it ‘drastically weakened’, citing the scrapping of the High Court Judge safeguard as a key reason.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also urged her MPs to vote against the legislation, describing it as ‘a bad Bill’ despite being ‘previously supportive of assisted suicide’.

Sorcha Eastwood, MP for Lagan Valley in Northern Ireland, has confirmed she will be able to attend Parliament and vote today after fearing she would not be able to due to contracting Covid.

The Alliance Party MP announced on social media this morning she was now free of Covid, posting a photo of her negative test and a snap from the airport as she prepared to fly to London.

She added: ‘I urge any MP with doubts today to vote AGAINST.

‘This is law; not an in principle vote, and the Bill as it stands is incoherent, dangerous and the societal outworkings will be absolutely devastating. Please vote NO.’

It’s being reported that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer could miss today’s crunch vote on the bill amid escalating global tensions, Times Political Editor Steven Swinford reports.

A government source said that no final decision has been made, but he could end up missing the vote depending on his commitments as he seeks to de-escalate the conflict between Iran and Israel.

The two Middle East countries have been exchanging missile fire for days now after Israel launched a surprise attack on nuclear and military targets.

Sir Keir has previously been vocal in his support for assisted dying.

Lisa Nandy said she hopes to see the assisted dying Bill clear the House of Commons on Friday and continue its progress to becoming law.

The Culture Secretary was asked by Sky News if she had changed her mind about supporting the Bill, after a group of Labour MPs announced they would now be voting against after previously offering support.

‘I’m still a supporter of this Bill. I’ve had a longstanding personal commitment to change the law on assisted dying with appropriate safeguards. And I think there has been a very considered and respectful debate over the last few months on all sides,’ Ms Nandy told the broadcaster.

The Cabinet minister said she respected ‘the views of colleagues who take a different view’, adding: ‘I hope the Bill succeeds today. If it does pass the House of Commons stages, of course it will go on to the House of Lords, where there will be more debate and there may be more changes.

‘But I have believed as an individual – not as a Government because we don’t take a view – but as an individual for a long time, that the law needs to change and I continue to hold that position.’

Last November, MPs voted in favour of today’s bill by 330 votes to 275.

Since then, there has been talk of MPs in favour changing their minds, often due to concerns about the lack of safeguards to protect some of society’s most vulnerable people.

Key influences include the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which previously said it could not support the bill in its current form.

But the architect of the bill Kim Leadbeater remains confident it will pass.

She said last night: ‘There might be some small movement in the middle, some people might change their mind or will change their mind the other way.

‘But fundamentally, I do not anticipate that that majority would be heavily eroded.’

The vote on legalising assisted dying is on a knife-edge today with both Yes and No campaigns saying they are on course to win the increasingly close campaign.

Kim Leadbeater said she is confident MPs will tomorrow back her plan to allow terminally ill people with six months or less to live to be helped to commit suicide, when it is put to a final vote tomorrow.

But opponents of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill also believe they may have the numbers to see it off the proposed decriminalisation in England and Wales.

Ms Leadbeater has argued terminally ill people must be given choice at the end of their lives, but opponents of her Bill have warned it fails to guarantee protections for society’s most vulnerable.

The legislation passed a preliminary vote last November by 55 votes.

Today MPs will have their first chance to vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – more commonly known as the assisted dying bill – since November.

Proceedings will get underway at 9.30am, when MPs will vote on amendments to the bill.

The debate is expected to start at 10:30am, before the vote on the bill as a whole takes place at around 2:30pm this afternoon.

It means, in what could be a seismic outcome for the country, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will either clear the House of Commons and move to the Lords, or fail completely.

As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults 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.

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

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live blog on a crucial day in the debate over whether to legalise assisted dying.

There will be a key vote in the House of Commons later today, with voting on amendments and a debate for MPs coming up this morning.

We’ll bring you all the latest updates as we get them.