MP will not vote in favour of assisted dying bill

MP Sarah Bool said after giving the issue "a great deal of thought" she would not vote in favour of the bill

A Conservative MP said she would not vote in favour of the bill to legalise assisted dying.

Sarah Bool, the MP for South Northamptonshire, said she was concerned the bill would put vulnerable people at risk.

MPs are due to debate and vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday, which would make it legal for terminally ill over-18s to be given assistance to end their life.

Ms Bool said: "I am particularly concerned that safeguards will be very difficult to guarantee, and that any legislation further down the line would ultimately expand beyond the initial remit - putting vulnerable people at risk."

Campaigners have long argued people at the end of their lives should have more choice, but others say there are many risks with the bill

The last House of Commons vote on changing the law was in 2015 when MPs voted against it in a second reading, by 330 votes to 118.

If MPs vote in favour of the bill this time around, it would then have to pass further stages and scrutiny before becoming law.

Under the proposed legislation, a person must be aged over 18, registered with a GP for at least 12 months, have the mental capacity to make a choice about the end of their life, be terminally ill and be expected to die within six months to be eligible.

A patient must sign two separate and witnessed declarations and can change their mind at any time.

The bill says two independent doctors must also be satisfied they are eligible.

Their application would then go before a High Court judge, who must hear from at least one of the doctors and may question the person making the application.

'No going back'

Ms Bool is the first Northamptonshire MP to publicly declare her opposition to the bill.

The MP added: "If we take this step, there is no going back.

"Rather than treated assisted dying as the answer, I want to see greater investment in high-quality palliative care so that we can offer a peaceful death to our loved ones in their time of need."

Rosie Wrighting, the Labour MP for Kettering, and Lee Barron, Labour MP for Corby, both said they would vote in favour of the bill.