11/09/2026
Moments ago MPs voted against Lauren Edwards MP’s assisted dying bill, by 286 to 270.
This is a devastating setback for dying people - but make no mistake, this issue is not going away. Law change on assisted dying remains a matter of when - not if. The British public demands that Parliament listen, and terminally ill people and families will not rest until they do.
This debate is not hypothetical - assisted dying has been legalised in Jersey and the Isle of Man, where some terminally ill Britons will be able to access assisted dying as soon as next year, while those in England and Wales will be denied the same choice.
Today’s vote should have never been needed. MPs passed the bill last year by a clear majority, before a handful of unelected Peers stalled it to a halt in the House of Lords - not through honest debate but through procedural game-playing. The public deserves better.
We pay tribute to dying people and their families, who will feel the weight of this decision most heavily, and the thousands of supporters campaigning for choice.
We also want to thank Lauren Edwards and every MP who stood with dying people today, as well as Kim Leadbeater MP and Lord Falconer for their years of tireless work on this issue.
Today's result only strengthens our resolve to keep fighting for a safer, more compassionate law.
