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| Assisted dying bill rejected by MPs in Commons vote | Assisted dying bill rejected by MPs in Commons vote |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A bill to legalise assisted dying has been overwhelmingly rejected by MPs. | A bill to legalise assisted dying has been overwhelmingly rejected by MPs. |
| Opinion among Welsh MPs was divided, with Labour's Paul Flynn speaking in favour, and Tory Glyn Davies against. | |
| Newport West MP Mr Flynn said the decision showed MPs were "out of touch", claiming more than 80 percent of the public backed the idea. | |
| But Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, an expert in palliative care, said MPs had "decided decisively that this is dangerous and have thrown it out". | |
| Under current UK law, anyone encouraging or assisting a suicide or suicide attempt could face up to 14 years in prison, if a decision was taken to prosecute. | Under current UK law, anyone encouraging or assisting a suicide or suicide attempt could face up to 14 years in prison, if a decision was taken to prosecute. |
| Wolverhampton Labour MP Rob Marris had introduced a bill to allow competent adults in England and Wales who are terminally ill to able to choose to be provided with medically supervised assistance to end their own life. | |
| The bill was rejected after four hours of debate on its second reading in a packed House of Commons on Friday, with 330 MPs voting against it and 118 in favour. | The bill was rejected after four hours of debate on its second reading in a packed House of Commons on Friday, with 330 MPs voting against it and 118 in favour. |
| Members of the Scottish Parliament rejected a similar bill in May. | |
| Public opinion | |
| Speaking to BBC Wales after the vote, Mr Flynn called for a referendum on the issue. | |
| "There'll be a sharp reaction to this from the public, as the decision does not reflect the opinion of over 80 percent of people who want to have some choice over the time and manner of their death," he said. | |
| "If you're rich you can go to Switzerland to make the necessary arrangements, but if you're not, you're denied that." | |
| During the debate, Mr Flynn read an emotional letter from a constituent who said his wife had starved herself for three weeks as "the only way she could help herself to die". | |
| However, opponents of the bill welcomed the result of the vote. | |
| Baroness Finlay, a former Welsh government adviser on palliative care and a vocal opponent of assisted dying, said: "The House of Commons have looked at this in detail, and they have decided decisively that this is dangerous and have thrown it out. | |
| "The problem for the public is that they have been fed multiple soundbites - it is quite right that the bill has been decisively rejected." | |
| Former Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Lord Carlile, co-chair of the think tank Living and Dying Well, said it was a "welcome decision". | |
| "Mr Marris's bill was proposing a major change to the criminal law and to the fundamental 'do no harm' principle that underpins all medical practice," he said. | |
| "Before any such change could be seriously contemplated, clear evidence is needed that the law as it stands is defective and that a change in the law would not put vulnerable people at risk of harm. | |
| "Parliament has recognised today that no convincing case has been presented on either count." | |
| Pryderi ap Rhisiart, a friend from Bangor of cancer sufferer Bob Cole, who went to Switzerland to end his life in August, had called on MPs to back the bill and allow terminally ill people the choice to "die with dignity" in their home community. |