Rachael Maskell and Luke Charters clash on assisted dying bill

As The Press reported, Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, said she plans to vote against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, expected to be debated and likely voted on November 29.

The Labour MP said “there is nothing safe” about the bill, adding that it is “a fundamental misunderstanding of its impact on medicine”.

“We have got to fix palliative care first and foremost, yet this Bill draws more resources away from providing care. I will vote against,” she said.

Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central (Image: Supplied) But fellow Labour MP Luke Charters told The Press he will be voting in favour of the bill, saying he is “satisfied that sufficient safeguards have been put in place”.

“I said that I would reserve judgement until the full bill has been published and having now read the full text, I have come to the decision that I will vote in favour of this bill,” the MP for York Outer said.

“With controls such as; two independent doctors being satisfied that the person is eligible, a high court judge hearing from a least one of the doctors, and the bill making it illegal for anyone to pressure someone into making the declaration, I am satisfied that sufficient safeguards have been put in place. 

Luke Charters, MP for York Outer (Image: Supplied) “I want to reiterate that any change to the law must have rigorous safeguards to protect vulnerable individuals and ensure that any decisions with such consequences are made out of choice.  

“I’d like to thank all the constituents again who have emailed me expressing their views on either side of the debate as it has given me pause for thought.”

He added: "I know this is a difficult topic on both sides and it’s something I've thought very hard about over a number of years.

A person holds a hard copy of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater which will be debated and likely voted on on November 29 (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire) “As I have previously shared, I have long been in favour of reform in this area, which is a topic that people have deeply held beliefs on.”

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has described her proposed legislation as the “most robust” in the world, and said she expects hundreds of dying people might initially opt to use a service which could see patients press a button to end their lives.

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Opposition campaigners have raised fears of coercion and a slippery slope to wider legislation taking in more people.

But Ms Leadbeater has rejected those arguments, saying her Bill has “three layers of scrutiny” in the form of a sign-off by two doctors and a High Court judge, and would make coercion an offence with a possible punishment of 14 years in jail.

Only terminally ill adults with less than six months to live who have a settled wish to end their lives would be eligible under the new law.