Assisted dying bill: How Aylesbury Vale MPs voted on historic day
Two of Aylesbury Vale’s three MPs backed proposals to introduce a form of assisted dying in England and Wales.
Overall, a bill allowing terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to end their lives, was voted through by 330 votes, beating the 275 politicians who opposed the changes.
Aylesbury’s MP Laura Kyrke-Smith voted in favour of the changes and so did Buckingham and Bletchley’s Parliamentary representative, Callum Anderson. Greg Smith, whose Mid Buckinghamshire constituency, includes Wendover, Waddesdon, and Calvert, voted no.
Ms Kyrke-Smith said in a statement that she voted ‘yes’ after giving both sides of the argument “long and careful consideration”.
Mr Anderson said in a social media post: “I've heard from hundreds of people who care deeply about this issue, and every single individual has approached this topic with kindness.”
He also praised the “compelling and considered” five-hour debate which took place in the House of Commons before MPs voted.
Mr Smith told The Bucks Herald: “After extensive consideration and reflection on the diverse perspectives shared with me, I voted against the motion at the time. My decision was guided by a careful consideration of all the implications involved.”
Elsewhere in Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes MPs, Emily Darlington and Chris Curtis, voted in favour of the bill, and so did Wycombe’s MP Laura Reynolds. The one Liberal Democrat MP in the county Amersham and Chesham’s representative Sarah Green, also backed the motion.
Beaconsfield MP Joy Morrissey, who is one of two Tory Mps in the county alongside Mr Smith, also voted against the bill.
If the bill passes scrutiny processes it would enable some terminally ill patients to end their lives, if they received sign off from two doctors and a high court judge.
Before the bill becomes an official law it must undergo further scrutiny and rounds of voting in Parliament.
Kim Leadbeater, the Spen Valley MP who brought forward the bill, said: "I believe in years to come people will look back on this as one of the great reforming parliaments of our generation. And I hope this parliament will also be remembered for this major social reform that gives people autonomy over the end of their lives and puts right an injustice that has been left on the statute books for far too long.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated to include a comment from Mid Buckinghamshire MP Greg Smith