I appreciate the complex and deeply emotional arguments on both sides of this debate. I have supported the Bill, and I came to that decision through a range of personal and professional experiences.

Before becoming an MP, I spent my professional life in the NHS, beginning in patient transport, where I conveyed terminally ill individuals to and from hospice care, and later working as a Senior Operating Department Practitioner. Over the course of my career, I met many patients who expressed a wish to die with dignity and on their own terms. I have also heard from hundreds of constituents about the experiences of friends and family members facing terminal diagnoses and the distress caused by a prolonged and painful end of life.

I welcome Andy Burnham’s calls for improved palliative care. We absolutely must strengthen palliative care, end-of-life services and social care, but I do believe that we can and should improve those services alongside giving terminally ill people greater choice and dignity at the end of their lives.

The Bill contains important safeguards. Eligibility would be limited to adults in the final six months of life who have full mental capacity, confirmed by two independent doctors, and who are already receiving end-of-life care. Every application would also be reviewed by a social worker, psychiatrist and senior lawyer to ensure that the individual understands the options available to them and is making their own decision free from pressure or coercion.

As you know, the Bill has now been taken forward by Lauren Edwards MP and will be reintroduced in Parliament. I have previously worked closely with Kim Leadbeater and Lord Falconer on this issue, and I will now continue that work with Lauren Edwards and other colleagues.

I was disappointed by the way the Bill’s previous passage through the House of Lords unfolded. I hope that this time both Houses can work constructively and collaboratively, without the Bill being unnecessarily obstructed or delayed.

If the Bill receives final approval, there would be a four-year implementation period. That time would allow the necessary safeguards, systems and oversight to be established properly, while work to improve palliative and end-of-life care continues in parallel.

MPs will debate the legislation again on 11 September, continuing the democratic process of scrutiny and consideration. I understand the strength of feeling on both sides, and I want the legislation to be humane, workable and properly scrutinised. My intention is for this Bill to help, not harm, terminally ill people, and to give them greater choice, dignity and control in the final stages of life.