Assisted dying: First MPs switch votes to oppose bill after High Court judge safeguard removed

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It comes as Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the historic bill, today announced her intention to get rid of the much-vaunted safeguard of a High Court judge having the final say in court over an application. open image in gallery Lee Anderson now intends to vote against the Bill The 60 who specifically referenced the safeguard of a High Court judge were: Lee Dillon, Kate Dearden, Joe Powell, Sarah Green, Wera Hobhouse, Danny Chambers, Deirdre Costigan, Sarah Jones, Connor Rand, Charlotte Cane, Joe Morris, Cameron Thomas, John Whitby, Toby Perkins, Joani Reid, Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, Luke Pollard, Bobby Dean, Rachel Hopkins, Natasha Irons, Lewis Atkinson, Helen Morgan, Jake Richards, Peter Kyle, Jess Phillips, Alex Ballinger, Louise Jones, Georgia Gould, Tessa Munt, Cat Eccles, Jon Pearce, Kirsty McNeill, Luke Taylor, Claire Young, Clive Betts, Jayne Kirkham, Mark Sewards, Lizzi Collinge, Jim Dickson, Hilary Benn, Gill German, Freddie van Mierlo, Tom Rutland, Andrew Snowden, Will Stone, Sarah Sackman, Leigh Ingham, Andrew Lewin, Josh Babarinde, Tony Vaughan, Clive Efford, Fabian Hamilton, Gerald Jones, Colum Eastwood, Dan Aldridge, Sarah Russell, Liz Kendall, Rosie Wrighting, Cat Smith, and Sarah Owen. Responding to critics of her decision to remove the High Court judge safeguard on Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Leadbeater said: “It wouldn’t be done in private, it would be taking into account patient confidentiality, but there would be public proceedings. Needs to be voted down.” Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron added: “Lots of MPs voted for the bill at second reading in the expectation that there would be stronger safeguards added at committee stage, and yet we now see that even the weak safeguards that existed are being dropped.” And Tory MP Danny Kruger, who led the opposition at the bill’s second reading, said: “Approval by the High Court – the key safeguard used to sell the Assisted Suicide Bill to MPs – has been dropped.