Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, started by saying he was minded to call (ie, put to a vote) Kim Leadbeater’s new clause 10 (NC10). If that is passed, he said he would call Rebecca Paul’s NC10(a), an amendment to NC10. He said there are more than 90 MPs who want to speak. He said during private member’s bill debate time timits on speeches do not normally get imposed, but he urged MPs to keep speeches to within 15 minutes to begin with. That guidance might change later, he said. The debate is starting. At the start an MP moved a motion that the house sit in private. During debates on private member’s bills, opponents of bill sometimes use this procedure (which triggers a vote which, if passed, means MPs continue sitting with the public and press excluded) because it holds up proceedings, and because it establishes how many MPs are in parliament to vote. Because this has become such an established wrecking procedure, supporters of bills now move that the house sits in private at the start of debates because, when that has been tried once during proceedings, it cannot be tried again. Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, took the vote by acclamation. Overwhelmingly MPs shouted no (ie, they were opposed to sitting in private), and so there was no divison. The proceedings moved on. Good morning. Today MPs will spend five hours debating the assisted dying bill, or the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill, to give it its proper title. The legislation, which covers England and Wales, was passed at second reading in November by 330 votes to 275 – a majority of 55. That does not mean it will definitely become law, because the third reading vote in the Commons will not take place until next month. But, although a few MPs have changed their minds, there is no evidence that opponents of the bill are now close to having a majority. After the debate in November, the bill went to a committee where MPs debated around 500 amendments to it, and voted in favour of about 150 of them. That means the legislation on the table today is not the same as the bill debated last year. The Commons library has produced a good briefing paper with a guide to the main changes. There is a 179-page document here listing all the amendments that were agreed. Here is the text of the bill as amended. Now the bill is back in the Commons chamber all MPs can submit amendments and dozens of them have been tabled. You can read them all here. The Speaker has decided to group the amendments, so amendments that cover the same topics get debated at the same time, and the grouping list, with the selection of lead amendments (the ones most likely to be put to a vote) is here. Today MPs will be debating the amendments in group one, covering “obligations, duties and protections for medical practitioners, hospices and care homes, the procedure for receiving assistance under the Act including safeguards and protections, eligibility and mental capacity”. We are expecting some votes this afternoon but nothing that would sabotage the bill. From what gets said, we may get a slightly better indication as to how likely the bill is to pass at third reading but the crucial votes are coming on another day. Today won’t decide the future of what is widely seen as a landmark piece of legislation that would change the law in this country fundamentally. But it will provide some sort of progress report on how it is doing. As the Guardian reports, Esther Rantzen has urged all MPs in an open letter to back Kim Leadbeater’s “strong, safe, carefully considered” private member’s bill ahead of today’s debate. But Rantzen’s letter says some opponents of the bill are motivated by “undeclared personal religious beliefs which mean no precautions would satisfy them”, and this has angered some MPs who voted against it at second reading. The Labour MPs Jess Asato posted this comment about the letter on social media. This was a particularly distasteful letter. Disrespectful to those with faith and without. Condescending to disabled people. And dismissive of professionals who work day in day out to provide the care people who need at the end of life. Asato’s tweet was reposted by Wes Streeting, the health secretary, who liked Asato is also opposed to the bill. We will be covering the debate in detail today, but there is other politics happening too. Here is the agenda for the day. 9.30am: MPs start their debate on the assisted dying bill. It will run until 2.30pm. 9.45am: Keir Starmer is due to arrive at the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania. He is giving a speech in the morning session, and also holding bilateral meetings with fellow European leaders. After the summit wraps up, he is due to brief the media. Lunchtime: Kemi Badenoch speaks at the Welsh Conservative conference in north Wales. If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word. If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary. 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Author: Andrew Sparrow