Assisted dying vote 'feels like a heavy burden'

Julia Buckley won the Shrewsbury seat for Labour in July's general election

The weight of Friday's vote on the assisted dying bill has not been lost on Shrewsbury's Labour MP Julia Buckley.

"I don't want to get it wrong," she said ahead of the bill's first debate and vote in the House of Commons.

Backbench MP Kim Leadbeater has proposed a new law, which would give terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to choose to end their life.

MPs in Shropshire have shared their thoughts on the bill, ahead of the vote.

'People needed a safe space to speak'

Buckley held two coffee mornings last weekend, one for those who supported some form of assisted dying, the other for those who opposed.

More than 100 people attended the events at Shrewsbury Baptist Church.

"On a personal level I am neutral, I still haven’t made up my mind," she said.

"More than 300 residents have contacted me about this so I held the coffee mornings so I could listen to my constituents and see how I could best represent them.

"The idea was to keep them separate so people could be in a safe space to speak freely.

"When I vote, I will make sure I speak in the House of Commons chamber to raise the comment of the people on the other side of the argument so they still get their views fed in," she added.

Stuart Anderson was elected MP for South Shropshire in July

South Shropshire's Conservative MP Stuart Anderson will be voting against the proposed law, which is officially known as The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

He said he appreciated the strong feelings on both sides of the debate, but said he had concerns regarding vulnerable people being coerced.

“We should treat all human life with equality and sanctity, so I do not want the law to treat anyone differently because of illness," he said in a statement for the BBC.

"Safeguards could never be strong enough to prevent vulnerable people from feeling coerced into dying.

"I am also concerned about the scope of assisted dying being extended, as has been the case elsewhere. Research sadly shows that when a country legalises assisted dying, improving of end-of-life care slows.

"I want our focus to be on giving the very best medical care to those who are unwell,” he added.

Helen Morgan is the Liberal Democrats' spokesperson for health and social care

North Shropshire's MP Helen Morgan broadly supports a change but will not commit to a new law until the proposal has been debated and scrutinised in Parliament.

She said: "Whilst my general view is to support the right to allow people to die with dignity, the context of a failing health and care system makes the debate much more complex, and a more difficult decision for MPs.

"The vital point here is that MPs need to properly scrutinise the full detail and see that appropriate safeguards are in place before the law is changed.

Morgan added: "It is important that we see reassurances that the strict criteria laid out in the bill will work in practice."

More than 160 Telford residents have contacted Telford MP Shaun Davies

"I genuinely haven't made my mind up yet," said Telford's Labour MP Shaun Davies.

"I'm probably leaning towards supporting it [the bill], but I want to listen to the debate."

The former council leader has concerns about safeguarding and terminally ill people putting pressure on themselves to end their own lives.

He said: "I'm particularly concerned about the six month diagnosis for terminal illness, because the doctors that I've spoken to are divided as to whether or not they can tell with any degree of certainty if somebody has six months to live.

"Also, where money is tight, somebody might want to bring their own life to an end to save on care fees," he added.

Davies said he would reserve his right to vote against the legislation at a later date if safeguarding was not improved.