MPs in Greater Manchester were split over the issue

Mps have voted in favour of assisted dying with the bill now set to progress through Parliament.

Greater Manchester’s 27 MPs were split on the issue with 12 voting in favour of the bill and 11 voting against it. Four MPs did not vote, most of whom had previously said they would not be present, with one saying he was supportive, and another that she was against.

In total, 330 MPs voted in favour of the bill at its second reading in the House of Commons with 275 voting against. But before it becomes law, the bill will have to go through further scrutiny in Parliament with another vote to take place at a later stage.

The Private Members Bill, which was proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, would legalise assisted death under certain conditions for terminally ill adults in England and Wales. It’s the first time ‘choice at the end of life’ has come before the Commons since 2015.

The bill would apply to those who are over 18, have mental capacity, and have six months left to live, with the consent of two medical professionals and a ruling from a High Court judge required. The bill is said to include ‘the strictest safeguards anywhere in the world’.

MPs debated the bill at its second reading in the House of Commons for five and a half hours, starting at 9.30am today (November 29). Bury North MP James Frith was among those who spoke against the bill in Parliament, describing the move as a ‘moment of no return’. said: “This bill asks us to make a profound and irreversible decision to the principles of our health service and end of life care. With end of life care funded too often on a shoestring for many, this bill takes our focus to ending life not improving living as life draws to a close with terminal illness.

“I believe it poses significant risks. Our wider societal cultural norms will be changed forever.

“Those who refuse to acknowledge this prospect now do so with the benefit of things as they are now and my point is that this context, this concept changes immediately today if the bill is passed.”

Under the bill, only terminally adults who are expected to die within six months and who have been resident in England and Wales and registered with a GP for at least 12 months would be eligible for assisted dying. They must have the mental capacity to make a choice about the end of their life and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish – free from coercion or pressure – to end their life.

The government has not taken a position on the issue with MPs voting on their conscience in a ‘free vote’ and not along party lines. Of Greater Manchester’s Labour MPs who are senior ministers in the cabinet, two voted against bill while two voted in favour of it.

The bill will now go to committee stage where MPs can table amendments, before facing further scrutiny and votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, meaning any change in the law would not be agreed until next year at the earliest.

Ms Leadbeater has suggested an assisted dying service would not be up and running for around another two years from the point the law was passed, with “even more consultation to make sure we get it right” at that