Image source, EPA

Keir Starmer has confirmed the vote on the assisted dying bill is "free" - meaning Labour MPs, who make up the majority in the House of Commons, can make up their own minds.

The initial vote is not happening until 29 November, giving MPs two and a half weeks to reach their decision. Several ministers have indicated how they might vote:

• Prime Minister Keir Starmer supported an assisted dying bill in 2015 and last year told reporters: "I personally do think there are grounds for changing the law”
• Earlier this month, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC he would vote in favour of the bill and described the current law as "cruel"
• The current deputy prime minister and foreign secretary, Angela Rayner and David Lammy, voted against changing the law in 2015 - both are believed not to have changed their positions
• Health Secretary Wes Streeting has indicated he's against changing the law, saying he is worried about people "feeling... guilt-tripped, feeling like a burden"

This morning, we have heard from two MPs on either side of the debate - Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who's proposing the assisted dying bill, and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, who was speaking in a personal capacity.

• "As it stands, the status quo is not fit for purpose," Leadbeater says
• She says her bill would apply only to terminally ill adults, and - when asked if it would be a "slippery slope" - says the law won't be "amendable" (i.e. widened in scope) if it was passed
• "It's about shortening death rather than ending life," she says, adding that there would be "checks, safeguards, and balances the whole way through"
• But Ed Davey worries people will feel pressure, and could feel like a "burden"
• He says rather than "increasing freedom", changing the law could put people under pressure
• And - as the father of a disabled child - he says he worries about wider impacts on people who aren't terminally ill

Our colleagues on Breakfast have also spoken to Kim Leadbeater - who reiterates the issue of "choice" is at the heart of her proposed bill.

The public mood is behind a change in the law, the Labour MP says.

She repeats estimates that hundreds of terminally ill people take their own lives each year, and others have to find the money to go abroad.

Leadbeater says no matter how good palliative care is - and she repeats that the UK has some of the best in the world - for some people, it cannot meet their needs.

Ed Davey is then asked about the principle of individual choice, as someone in a "liberal" party.

"This is one of the reasons I've wrestled with this so much," Davey says, adding that some colleagues will take a different position.

But he says rather than "increasing freedom", changing the law could put people under pressure.

He says - although this is about terminally ill people - he has a disabled son and "I want people who are disabled to feel more valued", and this could undermine that.

I think people will feel a lot of pressure, he says, however "they may not voice that".

He reiterates that if higher quality palliative care was available, this could change the debate.

Image source, PA Media

We're now hearing from Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, who stresses he's speaking in a personal capacity, rather than for his whole party.

He worries that lots of people will feel under pressure - from themselves - to end their lives so they don't become "a burden".

Davey says he had to look after his terminally-ill mother when he was a teenager and administered pain relief to her.

In administering that pain relief, and talking to her, he came to a different conclusion - that we shouldn't have this legislation, but focus on "better palliative" care, he says.

Palliative end of life care is "far often not good enough", he adds.

Leadbeater is questioned about the "slippery slope" -that is, could the bill could be expanded after it becomes law.

For example, in the future could it include those with chronic pain?

"It won't be amendable, that isn't how it works in this country," she says.

The issue hasn't been debated in nine years, so Leadbeater says she is confident that if the bill is passed, it will remain as it is.

Image source, EPA

Leadbeater is asked about Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood's opposition to changing the law.

She responds that it's a "free vote" - and adds that other cabinet members are in favour.

Leadbeater says religious beliefs mean there are people who would not support the Bill, but she has also spoken to those who question: "Who am I to stop other people having the choice that this would give them?"

She says she has spoken to various religious leaders who support changing the law.

We have some of the best palliative care in the world in this country, Leadbeater says.

However, "no matter how good that care is", there are some people "whose care cannot be met".

She says she’s heard harrowing stories of deaths that can take hours or days.

Kim Leadbeater emphasises the proposals are only for terminally ill adults.

They have to have capacity and offer clear consent, she adds - with no coercion or pressure. There would be a specific offence of coercion introduced, she adds.

Leadbeater reiterates there would have to be two doctors involved and a High Court judge - with periods of reflection.

"Checks, safeguards, and balances the whole way through," she says.

Image source, PA Media

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who put forward the bill, says the main reason she has pursued this legislation is that "as it stands, the status quo is not fit for purpose".

She says now, people are taking their own lives and even going abroad to end them.

She says she understands the need to "get this right" and it will "probably" be the strictest law in the world.

"It's about shortening death rather than ending life," she tells the Today programme.

Coming up on BBC Radio 4's Today programme is Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who has put forward the bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales.

Straight after that, we'll be hearing from Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

He previously said he was "open-minded" and would listen to the debate, but added he was "very minded" to vote against changing the law.

We'll be bringing you text updates on the key lines here from 08:10 GMT - and you can listen live at the top of the page.

"My Death, My Decision" is a campaign group in favour of the option of assisted dying for those who are "terminally ill or intolerably suffering".

Its chair, Trevor Moore, says the bill is "a bittersweet moment".

He says on one hand, it's a "significant and long-awaited step". But he also says many conditions - such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Motor Neurone Disease - "can make life intolerable for the sufferer well before they can be described as terminal".

"My Death, My Decision will make sure that parliamentarians consider these cases as the bill progresses," he says.

Dr Gillian Wright is a former palliative care (i.e. end of life) doctor and part of "Our Duty of Care" - a group of healthcare workers opposed to plans to legalise assisted dying.

She tells our colleagues on 5 Live Breakfast that the number of proposed "safeguards" show that assisted dying is "inherently dangerous".

She says it's "incredibly difficult to get assurance" that someone’s got six months to live.

"Why is it fair for someone with five or six months, to someone with seven or eight months? That safeguard will very quickly be eroded."

Wright also highlights that doctors "aren’t trained in detecting coercion". Instead, Wright urges MPs "to finance the best palliative care".

"In the current situation where the NHS is broken and people are not accessing the services they need, then we would urge MPs to vote against."

Nik Ward, who lives in Surrey and has motor neurone disease, is against changing the law.

He tells the BBC he might have sought help to die after he was diagnosed - but now says life is precious and he is opposed to assisted dying.

"It redefines the norms of our society, in a way that is, I think, terribly dangerous," he says.

But Elise Burns from Kent, who is terminally ill with breast cancer, wants the option of an assisted death.

"I’m not scared to die but I am scared of a bad death – a long, drawn out, brutal, horrific death. That terrifies me," she says.

"But also I’m concerned for my family and friends. I don’t want them to see me go through that."

Image source, UK Parliament

Conservative MP Danny Kruger tells the BBC that - despite the efforts that have been made to add safeguards to the bill - he is concerned that in practice judges and doctors would end up "rubber-stamping" decisions.

He agrees with Kim Leadbeater, who's proposing the bill, that "the status quo is not OK" - but says the focus should be on delivering better quality palliative care.

"Due to innovations in medicine, pain relief and treatment… it should not be necessary for anybody to die in unbearable, physical agony anymore," he says.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who is expected to vote against the bill, has raised similar concerns, saying end-of-life care is currently not good enough to give people a real choice.

Leadbeater says there would be "checks against coercion or pressure" at every stage, as well as a code of practice and "robust training" for doctors involved.

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The prime minister says he won’t be putting any pressure on Labour MPs when it comes to the assisted dying bill.

Keir Starmer says it will be for every MP to decide for themselves how they want to vote, and make their own minds up – adding that he would do the same.

Speaking to reporters on the way to the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, he says: "Look, it's going to be a free vote and I mean that.

“It will be for every MP to decide for themselves how they want to vote. I'm not going to be putting any pressure whatsoever on Labour MPs. They will make their own mind up, as I will be.

"Obviously a lot will depend on the detail and we need to get the balance right but I've always argued there will need to be proper safeguards in place."

Image source, PA Media

Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who has brought the bill to Parliament, says she has "consulted widely" on the proposals - including with disability rights activists and those working in palliative care.

"It has been nearly a decade since the Commons last voted on the issue and it could easily be as long before they get another opportunity, so I was determined to get this right," she tells the PA news agency.

"For my part, I have looked closely at the evidence from other jurisdictions and I believe this bill not only offers protections to people nearing the end of their lives that they don't have at present, but also provides for the strictest safeguards anywhere in the world."

Most MPs are undecidedpublished at 06:35 Greenwich Mean Time 12 November

06:35 GMT 12 November

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

MPs know that this is one of the biggest judgement calls they will make in their political careers.

And because it is a free vote, without instructions from party whips about which way to go, it is a judgement call they are reaching on their own.

There is certainly a large number of MPs avowedly in favour of assisted dying, and a group who are implacably opposed.

But those campaigning on both sides of the argument agree that the largest group of MPs are undecided, not only in public but in private too.

This group is weighing up the balance between choice for the terminally ill and the risks of people being or feeling coerced into ending their lives.

One of the biggest concerns I hear again and again from undecided MPs is scrutiny. The nature of the process for Kim Leadbeater, who does not have a government role, to propose this legislation means that the time for debate before MPs first have to vote on November 29 is limited – though if MPs vote for the law then there would be quite a bit more scrutiny at subsequent stages.

Some MPs believe this "private members’ bill" process is therefore the wrong way in which to legislate on such a complex and fraught issue. That’s the argument being made, among others, by Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury.

But it’s another cabinet minister whose name crops up repeatedly among wavering MPs, and that is Wes Streeting, the health secretary.

While he is forbidden from campaigning publicly, he has let it be known that he is opposed to the proposal because he believes the palliative care system is not good enough to give the terminally ill a true choice.

As well as his particular position in government, one thing that gives Streeting’s arguments extra force is that he voted in favour of legalising assisted dying the last time MPs debated the issue, in 2015.

Back then, only 118 MPs out of 650 voted in favour of changing the law. The number is almost certain to be much higher this month, but whether it amounts to a majority is still very much up for grabs.

This bill would make it legal for over-18s who are terminally ill to be given assistance to end their own life. But there are requirements:

• They must be resident of England and Wales and be registered with a GP for at least 12 months
• They must have the mental capacity to make the choice and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish, free from coercion or pressure
• They must be expected to die within six months
• They must make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die
• Two independent doctors must be satisfied the person is eligible - and there must be at least seven days between the doctors’ assessments
• A High Court judge must hear from at least one of the doctors and can also question the dying person, or anyone else they consider appropriate. There must be a further 14 days after the judge has made the ruling

Image source, PA Media

The proposed law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales has been published.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being put forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who says "now is the time" to hold a fresh debate on assisted dying. We'll hear more from her shortly.

MPs have now got about two-and-a-half weeks before a debate on 29 November, and initial vote. More debates and votes would be needed before the bill became law.

Assisted dying campaigners have welcomed the bill - but people on the other side have expressed concern about the impact on vulnerable people.

We’ve looked at some of the feeling on both side here and there's more reaction today - stick with us.