Assisted dying Bill in new doubt as Angela Rayner set to oppose it

Angela Rayner is set to become the most senior Cabinet minister to vote against legalising assisted dying this month.

At least five Cabinet ministers, including the Deputy Prime Minister, are now expected to oppose the legislation on 29 November.

An insider said of Ms Rayner, a former care worker: 'No way will she support this.'

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is also expected to vote against, alongside Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood who have both been vocally critical.

Ms Phillipson voted against changing the law in 2015 but last year said there was an 'argument for having a vote'.

Sources also described Rachel Reeves as privately 'sceptical'. The Chancellor this week told reporters she has not made her mind up on the Bill, on which MPs have a free vote, meaning they can vote according to conscience.

But ministers are increasingly uneasy about the Private Members' Bill proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.

The Bill would allow terminally ill adults expected to die within six months to seek help to end their life.

Two doctors and a High Court judge would have to verify that they were eligible and had made their decision voluntarily. Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has written to senior ministers asking them not to express their views on the issue, with Mr Streeting being criticised for his interventions.

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A source said: 'There are a whole raft of people in Cabinet who don't want this. They've kept quiet as requested but if they get asked, they'd make their views clear.

'Let's not forget the two ministers who would have to manage this new law won't support it either, and they've gone public. It's ridiculous to try and rush this through.'

With less than two weeks left until the vote, campaigners on both sides are scrambling to predict which way MPs, of which 335 were first elected in July, will vote.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he is 'personally in favour of changing the law', although last week he said he had not decided how he will vote on the Bill, saying it would 'depend on the detail'.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy have said they will vote in favour.

It comes as Labour supporters of the Bill are hatching a plan to bring it back again if it doesn't go through 'in a year or 18 months'. A Labour source told The MoS that supporters would wait until after the King's Speech and propose it as another Private Member's Bill.

'We can then correct whatever it fell down on with MPs,' the source said.

Carys Davina Grey-Thompson, the cross-bench peer and Paralympic gold medallist, said: 'It is interesting that those who are trying to change the law may already be debating about how to bring it back with a quick turn around.

'Polling shows that this is not a priority for the general public and there are countless other pressing matters for Parliament to address.'

MPs are concerned that they have not been given enough time to consider the draft legislation, which was first published last week.

Labour MP Rachael Maskell told The MoS: 'The Bill is dangerous, unamendable and must be voted down.' Tory MP John Lamont said the Bill had 'many flaws' and made him 'deeply uncomfortable'.

Meanwhile a report by think tank Policy Exchange called on MPs to reject the 'flawed' legislation, warning about the 'slippery slope and unintended consequences' of the Bill.