Jess Phillips says ‘we do not know how this vote is going to go’ with the views of many MPs still unclearGood morning. There is plenty happening today. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, and Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, at both speaking at the CBI conference, where the CBI chief executive Rain Newton-Smith is warning about the impact of the budget on business. Keir Starmer is hosting a meeting at Downing Street about plans to protect women from spiking. “My government was elected on a pledge to take back our streets, and we will never achieve this if women and girls do not feel safe at night,” he says. There will be tributes to John Prescott in the Commons this afternoon. But one issue is going to dominate the week, the vote on the assisted dying bill on Friday, and already that is a big topic of discussion.Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, has been giving interviews this morning and she told the Today programme this morning she is finding it impossible to predict if the bill will pass the second reading vote. She said:We do not know how this vote is going to go. I literally couldn’t call it for you at the moment …Each week I think a different thing. Last week I thought it wouldn’t [pass]. This week I think it might. Honestly, I’ve learned over the years not to try and second guess parliament.Since the assisted dying bill was announced, I’ve been keeping a close eye on MP views
I’ve found 207 supportive and 141 opposed… but there are still 291 we don’t know about
(N.B. Can’t share full spreadsheet due to anon declarations. Total excludes Sinn Fein and Speakers.)I should underline that these figures are *not* a prediction of the vote, but an interesting look at the direction MPs are leaningWith 291 MPs not stating a view at the time of writing, the vote very easily could go either wayA source close to the MPs campaigning in favour of legalisation told The Telegraph: “If all the MPs who have said they support the Bill turn out and vote for it, then it will pass.”She will make the decision about how she votes on assisted dying on a matter of conscience, just exactly like I will. How she comes to that and what moral code she uses to come to that will be exactly the same as the moral code that I use to come to that decision as well …I think that Shabana is making a decision on what she thinks is best for her constituents, like every constituency MP. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/nov/25/uk-politics-live-assisted-dying-bill-labour-conservatives-starmer-reeves-badenoch
Author : Andrew Sparrow
Publish date : 2024-11-25 09:02:18
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