MPs vote against fresh attempt to legalise assisted dying

MPs have voted against proposals to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales, bringing the latest effort to change the law to an end.

Following a debate in which both sides made emotional speeches, the House of Commons voted 286 to 270, majority 16, against the proposed legislation.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would have allowed adults with fewer than six months to live to apply to be given help to end their own life, subject to certain safeguards.

A similar bill in the last parliamentary session was supported by MPs before stalling in the House of Lords . The decision from MPs on Friday rules out the prospect of changes to the law on assisted dying in the short-term.

The bill tabled by Labour MP Lauren Edwards will make no further progress, although MPs and peers could make another attempt in the next parliamentary session.

Assisted dying is an issue that has been debated for hundreds of hours in Parliament over the last two years and would have represented one of the biggest societal changes in recent years if it had been approved.

Safeguards within the bill included a requirement that a person applying for an assisted death had the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.

But critics said it included too few measures to protect vulnerable people from being coerced into ending their lives, while some say improving palliative care should be the priority.

Note: a small number of postcodes do not give an accurate constituency for all properties.

There were emotional scenes outside Parliament from both sides after MPs voted against giving the bill a second reading.

Dame Esther Rantzen, who was unable to join supporters in Parliament Square, told the BBC that it was "so sad that people in this country won't have the choice" that terminally ill adults have in other countries.

The Childline founder said: "I am sure a change in the law will come. I am deeply sad that it won't come soon enough for many of the people who need it, it's a tragic day."

The broadcaster, 86, is terminally ill with cancer and has said she is now "too physically fragile" to travel to Switzerland to end her life at an assisted suicide clinic.

Edwards, the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, said: "Parliament has dropped the ball today.