North East MP Bridget Phillipson set to vote against assisted dying bill

Education Secretary and North East MP Bridget Phillipson is set to vote against the assisted dying bill set to come before Parliament.

The bill proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater will go before the Commons as a free vote, with Ministers and other MPs encouraged to vote with their conscience rather than along party lines. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “not going to say or do anything that will put pressure on other people in relation to their vote” on assisted dying, adding that it was “very important” that MPs are allowed to vote as they choose and insisted the Government is “neutral” on the issue.

He also confirmed he would be voting when MPs get their first opportunity to do so on November 29, but has not indicated whether he will support or oppose the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. A number of Cabinet Ministers have already said which way they would vote, with some in favour and some opposed.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been accused of crossing a line by stating his opposition to the assisted dying proposals. He has confirmed he will be voting no to the proposed legislation, has asked his officials to carry out a cost analysis of any change and has suggested it could cost the NHS more if a new law was brought in.

Ms Phillipson told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme: “Back in 2015 when this was last before Parliament, I voted against the measure and, in that time, I haven’t changed my mind.”

She suggested her concerns are around having safeguards against coercion, and on the wider discussion about the issue of assisted dying, stated that she wanted to approach the topic “in a responsible way”.

High-profile supporters of a change in the law include Dame Esther Rantzen, who is terminally ill and revealed in December that she had joined Dignitas in Switzerland because of the current law.