The news broke last night that Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP for Spen Valley, has announced that she will be bringing a bill on assisted suicide.

This attempt to legalise state-sponsored killing comes just weeks after the Health Secretary said that the NHS is “in crisis”. The elderly and vulnerable are already at risk due to the winter fuel payment being cut, and disabled people are struggling to access the care and support they need.

Ms Leadbeater won top place in the private members ballot, so her bill has a high chance of succeeding if MPs vote in favour of it. The first reading will take place on 16 October, with a vote expected in December.

This is the biggest threat we’ve faced since the Marris Bill in 2015. We defeated it then, and we can do so now, but we need a huge effort to lobby MPs. Over half of MPs are new to Parliament and have not voted on this issue before. Many have not even thought about it before, and they will be getting barrages of messages from the other side – we must make sure our voice is heard.

Please contact your MP now, asking them to oppose Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill.

A tool is available on our website to help you do this (linked to below). Enter your postcode to find out who your MP is, write your message, and press send.