MPs Prepare Amendments for Assisted Dying Bill at Next Vote

Up to 30 MPs who backed assisted dying could withdraw support at the next parliamentary vote, MPs have said, as several prepare to suggest amendments on coercion and the role of medics.

- Jessica Elgot

The committee that will examine the next stage of Kim Leadbeater's assisted dying bill will begin hearings in the new year, with MPs coalescing around several demands for changes to the legislation.

At the top of MPs' demands for change is that the bill should not permit medical professionals to suggest assisted dying to terminally ill patients. MPs including the former cabinet minister David Davis and the Labour MPs Chris Webb and Mike Tapp - who voted for the bill - have asked the committee to consider making this change.

But that request is likely to put MPs on a collision course with the British Medical Association, which has said it is inappropriate to hide treatment options from patients. The BMA previously told the BBC that doctors should be trusted to use their professional judgment in the circumstances.

A number of MPs told the Guardian they saw this change as crucial to the bill progressing. "I was happy for it to progress, but there are concerns as well that I've got that will be addressed before it actually becomes law," one said. "I think that 55 majority will start [being chipped away at]. I think it will pass probably between 10 and 20 majority. And that then starts to make things potentially more difficult in the Lords."