MPs reveal views on assisted dying bill

For the first time in almost a decade MPs will vote on giving terminally ill adults the right to have an assisted death

MPs from across Herefordshire and Worcestershire have revealed how they intend to vote on the assisted dying bill.

If it becomes law, the bill will give some terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to die at a time of their choosing.

MPs have been given a free vote, meaning they can follow their conscience rather than party orders.

Five of the two counties’ eight MPs have explained to the BBC how they have made up their minds.

'It's a civil liberty issue'

Redditch MP Chris Bloore said he would vote for the assisted dying bill

Redditch's Labour MP Chris Bloore said he would be voting for the bill to give people at the end of their lives choice and dignity.

"That civil liberty issue and that ability for choice at the very end is what's tipped me over the edge."

He said he had already declared his views in the general election campaign.

"I was clear that if a bill came forward... with the right safeguards, I would support the bill," he said.

"It's a big change in the way our health system works and how our society thinks about acts about death."

'I haven't made up my mind yet'

Worcester MP Tom Collins said he was minded to vote against the bill at present

While Worcester's Labour MP Tom Collins said he was not yet firmly decided, he admitted he was currently minded to vote against the bill.

"There are devastating and heartbreaking experiences on both sides of this debate," he said.

"This is all about choice."

"My concern is that at the moment we have a real under-delivery of good quality of palliative care.

"Some have awful experiences... medically and emotionally. Opening the door in that context could present people with some really bad choices."

"My view is that really need to go and fix palliative care."

'This is a matter of conscience for MPs'

West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin said she was concerned that people would choose to die when they could have been saved

The Conservative MP for West Worcestershire, Harriett Baldwin, said she understood people would have very strong views on both sides of the argument.

But she said that she had personally seen how hard it was to predict the moment when someone might die.

Ms Baldwin said her father spent three months in intensive care and had been given very little chance of survival.

"He not only made it through, he lasted another 20 years and saw his grandchildren grow up," she said.

"Treatments are changing all the time; the medical profession can sometimes work wonders.

"So I have an issue with the whole principle that you might actually know that you're going to die."

Ms Baldwin said she wanted the medical profession to follow the Hippocratic Oath of "do no harm" and focus on saving lives, not ending them.

'I was convinced that this was what my mother had wanted'

Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier said he had long been convinced of the merits of legalising assisted dying

Wyre Forest's Conservative MP Mark Garnier said he had long been convinced of the merits of allowing assisted dying.

Earlier this year he wrote about his mother's experience after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

"My mother died over a decade ago... there was no cure and she was 86 years old," he said.

"Yet she received help to allow her to die a painless but undignified death in a way that could have dragged on for months."

"She, I knew, was keen to end it quickly."

Garnier said in recent weeks he had tried to challenge his views by meeting with opponents of the bill, including the Bishop of Dudley and former Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson.

But he said he had yet to be convinced his decision was the wrong one.

'I have had hundreds of emails from constituents'

North Herefordshire Green MP Ellie Chowns said she would vote for the bill

North Herefordshire's Green MP Ellie Chowns said she would be voting for the bill after careful thought and consultation with experts.

She said hundreds of people had emailed her about the issue.

"It is clearly a very, very sensitive issue, but for me fundamentally it's about enabling those who have very little time left to live some degree of choice, dignity and autonomy."

"So many people in that situation have told me that is something that they really, really want, and I believe we should support them as a society," she said.

Three Conservative MPs in Herefordshire and Worcestershire have not publicly revealed their views or stated how they will vote, Hereford and South Herefordshire's Jesse Norman, Droitwich and Evesham's Nigel Huddleston and Bromsgrove MP Bradley Thomas.