A fresh '"right to die" bill is to be introduced in the House of Commons by Labour MP Rob Marris. 

The Wolverhampton South West MP won a private member's bill ballot last week guaranteeing time in the chamber for backbench legislation.

He said: "The public are clearly in favour of a change in the law and it is right that Parliament now debates this issue.

"Alongside the vast majority of the public, I am in favour of terminally-ill people who are of sound mind having choice at the end of life."

More details here.

Image source, Labour Party

Labour MP Ruth Cadbury is warning that England faces national embarrassment - because of the smell of sewage pervading Twickenham Stadium, says BBC political reporter Matt Cole. 

She fears spectators attending the Rugby World Cup's key venue will be subject to smells coming from Mogden sewage works next door.

Speaking in the Commons, the MP called for ministerial intervention, claiming that storm tanks need covering and that dilute sewage keeps discharging into the nearby Thames.

Environment Minister Rory Stewart initially said a new sewage super storm drain further down the Thames would help, before being corrected by the Brentford and Isleworth MP who said that project was nowhere near the problem site and would not help.

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Labour Eurosceptic MP Kate Hoey tells MPs she's feeling "great" today "as I'm going be with the majority of my party" (which is supporting the bill). The Vauxhall MP has long said Labour should back a referendum.

Where she is at odds with her front bench though, is on votes for 16 and 17-year-olds, saying she doesn't think this should be brought in quickly for the poll. Ms Hoey also adds her voice to concerns about the scrapping of purdah.

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Ken Clarke concedes that EU reform is needed - but he sounds a warning about going too far.

Noting that there are 2.2. million British people living elsewhere in the union, he says: "If we're going to demand treaty change to discriminate against EU foreign nationals... well are they going to forego from the same thing against British residents in other countries?"

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Former Conservative Chancellor and pro-European MP Ken Clarke reveals that he won't be voting in favour of the EU Referendum Bill tonight, but says he won't do anything to stop it going ahead "In principle".

The Rushcliffe MP cautions that less interest will be taken in British views by other powers "if we go into splendid isolation".

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"This bill is based on a nonsense and a contradiction" as the prime minister doesn't want to leave the European Union, Alex Salmond claims.

He says David Cameron has agreed to hold it as "a political tactic", adding: "That is why there is so much suspicion already... and that is why it should not get its second reading tonight."

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Outlining the SNP's opposition to the bill, Alex Salmond contests that EU citizens and 16 and 17-year-olds should be allowed to vote. "We take a broad view," he says, adding that if someone lives, works and pays tax in a country then they should be entitled to vote on its future.

The SNP's biggest grievance is that there is no "double majority" provision in the bill, to ensure that Britain could not exit the EU unless all parts of the UK agreed. The four nations should all be "treated with respect", he says.

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Labour's Dudley North MP Ian Austin and Alex Salmond are involved a bit of a ding-dong after the ex-SNP leader appeared to suggest Mr Austin had changed his position on an EU referendum. 

He said the MP had campaigned at the election against holding one but was now for it. Mr Austin says he is wrong and asks the Speaker if it's in order, to which John Bercow concludes Mr Salmond probably wasn't "attending closely to election literature in Dudley", drawing laughs from MPs.

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Alex Salmond accepts an intervention in his speech from Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin, who describes the former SNP leader as "Braveheart in Scotland but Slaveheart in Brussels". Mr Salmond wonders how long it took the MP to come up with that.

Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is on his feet. He begins by mocking David Cameron and the Conservatives, as he congratulates the PM for his "great achievement" of keeping the party united on Europe for all of "31 days".

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"You have to ask why, why is this power... being arbitrarily lifted?" says ex-environment secretary Owen Paterson of the scrapping of purdah.

The government "must take on board" that if the public sense the vote "is being rigged against them" it will go down "extremely badly".

He says he's worried that this "extraordinary" moment could become "illegitimate" - and urges the government to reconsider.

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That's it for front bench speeches for the time being. The floor has opened up to backbench MPs now, of which there are many wishing to speech in the debate. Consequently, there is a 10 minute time limit on speeches - but this is likely to be reduced as the afternoon wears on.

First up, Conservative MP for North Shropshire Owen Paterson. He says he was dismayed to learn that the purdah rules will be scrapped. There appear to be MPs from across the political divide unhappy with this proposal.

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Acknowledging the volume of MPs wishing to speak in the debate, Hilary Benn starts to sum up his speech. He tells MPs: "This bill is important because it will give the British people the chance to have their say," But he notes that it is just the mechanism for the vote, adding that the most important thing is the decision the UK makes.

He restates Labour's case for wanting the UK to remain within the European Union. Of course Britain could manage outside, he says, "but it would come at an economic cost", because the UK's partnership with the union creates jobs, growth and investment.

UKIP MP Douglas Carswell disagrees with the idea of not having a purdah period before the EU referendum, saying that it is a good way of ensuring neutrality in the civil service. As we've already reported Labour and the Conservatives seem to be agreed on the idea of not having the traditional pre-election period where governments avoid announcing anything that might influence voters' choices.

Hilary Benn sets out Labour's argument as to why 16 and 17-year-olds should be given the right to vote in the EU referendum - and all elections. "It's an issue of principle," he says - before taking us through a 200-year history of attempts to extend the franchise and the "forces of conservatism" that sought to block it.

Labour also thinks the referendum should be held on a separate day to other elections - something the SNP and some of the smaller parties have also said.