Hopes that the assisted dying bill will retain the backing of a majority of MPs have been boosted after another Labour minister pledged her support. Ellie Reeves, a minister without portfolio at the Cabinet Office, was absent for the landmark second reading vote in November.
She has now told constituents she will vote for the Bill at third reading, which is expected to take place on Friday, June 20. The MP for Lewisham West and East Dulwich is the younger sister of Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who voted for the Bill last year. Responding to a constituent who contacted her about assisted dying, Ellie Reeves said she had missed the previous vote due to “numerous longstanding commitments in Scotland both in my capacity as a Government minister and Labour Party Chair”.
Ms Reeves said she had met with the Bill’s sponsor, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, to “seek reassurances on my concerns over the breadth of the Bill and its safeguards”.
She added: “Kim reassured that the scope is tightly limited to those with terminal illnesses and that robust safeguards — the strongest anywhere in the world — would be in place.”
Ms Reeves said she had also reviewed evidence from other countries with similar laws, including New Zealand and Oregon in the US.
She wrote: “The research revealed that in these areas an assisted death is rare, making up fewer than 1% of deaths each year, while the majority of the people applying for an assisted death have terminal cancer — 78% in Oregon and 66% in New Zealand.
“And that since Oregon first approved assisted dying in 1994, the law has not been weakened.”
The MP added: “After careful consideration of my position, taking into account the reassurances on safeguards and limited scope, your correspondence, the international evidence and the impact assessment, I am now intending to support the Bill.”
Labour minister Sir Chris Bryant also revealed this week that he would now support the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, having previously abstained.
A number of other MPs have declared plans to switch their vote against the bill — meaning the result remains too close to call.
However, campaigners are quietly confident that the bill will pass and continue its legislative journey in the House of Lords.
