Northampton MP worried about safeguarding issues with assisted dying bill
The Bill will next come before the House of Lords for further debate and votes.
A week on from the Assisted Dying Bill being voted through narrowly by MP's, we're hearing from a Northampton MP who voted against it.
Mike Reader the MP for Northampton South tells us why he voted against the bill which would allow terminally ill adults to end their lives:
"I voted against the assisted Dying Bill on Friday. I felt that the protections vulnerable people, disabled people, people with eating disorders and others weren't strong enough.
"I listened to a lot of organisations who came and spoke to me, and a lot of my constituents and that drove my decision."
Mr Reader says he was surprised how close the vote was last Friday, but has faith in the House of Lords to correct scrutinise the bill, and to make amendments raised by MPs:
"One particular one for me, is the mental capacity test that the Royal College of Psychiatrists has said that the test that they used to make sure someone has mental capacity to make this decision wasn't designed for a life or death.
"And so one thing we need to make sure is that we have an adequate method by assessing some of mental capacity to choose to take their own life."
Another issue is the strain the tests, which would require sign off from doctors, would put on the NHS:
"The NHS was founded to to heal, to look after us and I don't want to see NHS money put into assisted dying instead of treating people and supporting people. What I also really worry about is the bill doesn't have protection to stop people profiting.
"From providing assisted dying services, there were additional amendments proposed to stop for -profit services, but we could now see a for profit assisted dying service, which fills me with a lot of fear."
Meanwhile Sir Keir Starmer is confident an assisted dying law can work, despite Health Secretary Wes Streeting saying there is no budget for it.
The Prime Minister insisted the correct preparation has been done to ensure the Bill is "workable in all its aspects".
Sir Keir supported the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in a historic vote last Friday which saw the proposed legislation clear the Commons.
The Government is neutral on the topic and MPs had a free vote, meaning they made their own decisions rather than following party lines.
Along with Mike Reader, Mr Streeting was one of the most senior Government ministers to vote against the Bill, alongside Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
At the weekend, Mr Streeting warned that legalising assisted dying would take "time and money" away from other parts of the health service.
He said better end-of-life care was needed to prevent terminally ill people feeling they had no alternative but to end their own life.
The Bill cleared the Commons on Friday, but with a narrower majority of 23 votes, compared with a majority of 55 in November.
It will next come before the House of Lords for further debate and votes.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who steered the Bill through the Commons, has said she hopes peers will not try to derail the legislation, which could run out of parliamentary time if it is held up in the Lords.
Speaking in the aftermath of the Commons vote, she said: "I would be upset to think that anybody was playing games with such an important and such an emotional issue."
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.
If you are struggling you can speak to the Samaritans on 116 123 or my emailing [email protected] or going to their website www.samaritans.org.