Assisted dying bill introduced in House of Lords

In order to become law, the bill would also need the government to make time for it to be debated – something Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised to do.

Earlier this month, he also said he would let MPs have a free vote on the subject – meaning they could vote based on conscience rather than following the party line.

Lord Falconer’s bill was welcomed by broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen, who has advanced lung cancer.

Writing in the Express,, external Dame Esther said: “This week, for the first time for over a year, I caught a glimpse of hope… I have dared to look forward.”

“What we terminally ill need is to be allowed the hope that if life becomes intolerable, we can ask for help to leave it.

“The law might actually change in time for me to die peacefully at home surrounded by those I love. Suddenly my heart lifted.”

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, former Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said she welcomed a debate, adding: “I think everybody needs to understand the implications of this becoming law”.

She said that despite the safeguards, the law could still be “open to a huge amount of abuse”.

Appearing on the same programme, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was “uncharacteristically undecided” on the subject, but addedit was a debate whose “time had come”.

He also asked: “Is palliative care in this country good enough so that that choice would be a real choice, or would people end their lives sooner than they wish because palliative care, end of life care, isn’t as good as it could be?”