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The first vote on the assisted dying bill is not only hugely consequential, it’s also hugely unpredictable and even as the vote draws near it still feels like it could go either way.

MPs will debate the bill, brought forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, in parliament today before they get a free vote on the legislation.

There are a few reasons why the potential outcome of the vote is difficult to predict. Firstly, the last Commons vote on this issue was back in 2015. It was also a Private Members’ Bill and a free vote, that was defeated by 331 to 119 – 199 MPs didn’t vote and one abstained.

That may seem like a useful starting point to predict future results but there has been an unprecedented turnover of MPs since then.

Politics latest: Starmer blames Tories for ‘open borders’

It was less than a decade ago but over two-thirds of those MPs from 2015 are no longer in parliament. This means there’s no voting record that can help us out this time round.

Secondly, it’s a free vote so we can’t, as we usually would, look to the political parties to work out the numbers.

Every single one of the 650 MPs must make up their minds for themselves and they have all taken a slightly different approach to the process.

How MPs have told Sky News they will vote on assisted dying
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How MPs have told Sky News they will vote on assisted dying

Some came out straight away and declared their position publicly. Some took their time and have only decided in the last few days, putting out statements on social media platforms.

There are also those who prefer to keep it to themselves, and some who are genuinely still undecided and will be until they walk through the voting lobbies.

So, to get a sense of what could happen, at Sky News we have been monitoring declarations as well as reaching out to every MP personally.

This has given us, on the eve of the second reading, an informative but still incomplete picture.

So far we have confirmed that 181 MPs will vote for the bill, while 148 say they will vote against, and 300 are either undecided or haven’t revealed their decision.

There are also 20 MPs that won’t vote – the SNP because the changes won’t apply in Scotland, Sinn Fein who don’t sit in Westminster, and the Speaker and Deputy Speakers.

Of those who will vote but whose position is still unknown, about two-thirds are Labour MPs – a big chunk of those are brand new.

This is the deciding cohort, who just a few months into their roles will make a life-or-death decision that will influence generations to come – no pressure.

Ms Leadbeater has said she hopes parliament will “show itself at its best” by voting in favour of the bill.

In a statement on Thursday night, she said: “I hope this parliament will also be remembered for this major social reform that gives people autonomy over the end of their lives and puts right an injustice that has been left on the statute books for far too long.

“People will be looking in on parliament as it debates this important change to the law – a change that, when we most need it, could bring comfort to any one of us or to somebody we love.”

Read more on assisted dying:
Analysis: Bill could be wrecked by dirty tricks
Five stories that bring the assisted dying debate home

David Cameron comes out in support of bill
How MPs are making up their minds
What does the bill propose?

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Lord Cameron to support assisted dying bill

What could make the difference?

Most MPs tell us they have been poring over the legislation line-by-line and listening intently to their constituents.

But beyond that, there are external factors that will no doubt have influenced their thinking.

Public opinion will be high on the list, with the latest YouGov poll – one of many – showing an overwhelming majority (73%) of the public are in favour of a change in the law.

The other will be how Cabinet ministers vote, with many high profile and respected names, Ed Miliband and Hilary Benn among them, coming out in favour.

This is how MPs spend their first day in parliament
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MPs will vote in the House of Commons on the bill

More controversial though are those who oppose the bill.

In particular, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood have made the news with their views.

They will both have to take a leading role in implementing the legislation if it passes.

Mr Streeting shocked Westminster when he revealed he had changed his mind after voting for the 2015 version.

He also ruffled feathers among colleagues when he appeared to breach the etiquette around free votes, by repeatedly raising concerns around extra pressures on the NHS and making the case for improving palliative care instead.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting delivering a keynote speech on the second day of the 2024 NHS Providers conference and exhibition, at the ACC Liverpool. Picture date: Wednesday November 13, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story POLITICS NHS. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting changed his mind on the issue. Pic: PA

Mr Streeting’s position and approach have made the bill’s supporters nervous that new MPs will fall in behind him.

In contrast, other big beasts – the prime minister, the chancellor and the foreign secretary – remain silent on which way they will go, aware that their opinions could sway the result.

As it stands, after all the number crunching, it looks likely that this landmark legislation will pass the second reading.

But with so many unknowns, both sides will feel that even at this late stage, it’s still impossible to call.

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Baby girl becomes first child in UK to be born from womb transplant

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Baby girl becomes first child in UK to be born from womb transplant

A baby girl has become the first child in the UK to be born from a womb transplant.

Grace Davidson, who received the transplant in 2023, said the birth of her daughter Amy Isabel was the “greatest gift we could ever have asked for”.

The 36-year-old, from north London, received the donated womb from her older sister, Amy.

It was the first time the procedure had taken place in the UK, and the birth will give hope to thousands of women born without a womb – like those with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome – or whose womb fails to function.

EDITORS NOTE IMAGE PIXELATED BY PA PICTURE DESK Handout photo dated 27/02/25 issued by Womb Transplant UK of Grace and Angus Davidson (front) with the hospital team at the birth of baby Amy Isabel Davidson.
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Grace and Angus Davidson with the hospital team at the birth of baby Amy. Pic: Womb Transplant UK/PA

Amy Isabel was named after her aunt, and a surgeon who helped perfect the technique, and was born by planned caesarean section on 27 February at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London.

Mrs Davidson, an NHS dietitian, said she felt “shock” when she first held her daughter, adding: “We have been given the greatest gift we could ever have asked for.

“It was just hard to believe she was real. I knew she was ours, but it’s just hard to believe.

“It sort of feels like there’s a completeness now where there maybe wasn’t before.”

Undated handout photo issued by Womb Transplant UK of Grace and Angus Davidson with baby Amy Isabel, and her aunt Amy.
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Aunt Amy Purdie (right) with the happy family. Pic: Womb Transplant UK/PA

Her husband Angus, 37, said: “The moment we saw her was incredible, and both of us just broke down in emotional tears – it’s hard to describe, it was elation.

“It had been such a long wait. We’d been intending to have a family somehow since we were married, and we’ve kind of been on this journey for such a long time.”

Womb transplantation is on the way to becoming an acceptable, life-giving procedure


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Tom Clarke

Science and technology editor

@t0mclark3

The birth of Amy Isabel is not just a first for the UK, but an important step towards womb transplantation becoming an established medical procedure.

It was little more than a decade ago that the world’s first baby was born following a womb transplant in Sweden.

And not without eyebrows being raised by some in the world of medical ethics.

Not all womb transplants, whether from a living relative or from a deceased donor, are successful. And not all result in successful or uncomplicated pregnancies.

But the surgical team behind this UK success have achieved a one-for-one: a healthy baby born from the first womb transplant ever performed here.

Amy Isabel joins an estimated 50 other babies and children worldwide now born via a womb transplant.

And she won’t be the last.

Around 100 women in at least 10 countries have undergone the procedure – three transplants have taken place in the UK since Amy’s mother became the first in 2023.

A study of 33 womb transplants in the US found 74% of the transplants remained healthy after a year and 80% of those resulted in a successful birth.

But a womb transplant is unlikely to ever become “routine”.

While the number of eligible women – those lacking a functioning uterus but having healthy ovaries – might number in the low thousands in a country the size of the UK, not all would meet the strict medical criteria needed to maximise the chance of a successful transplant and subsequent birth.

And not all might choose it.

A successful birth following a womb transplant involves three major operations. The first to receive the transplanted womb, a caesarean section to deliver the baby, then a hysterectomy to remove the womb once the recipient mother decides to have no more children.

Given a womb transplant isn’t “life-saving”, ethics guidelines require the procedure to be temporary. The long-term risks of organ rejection, and the drugs needed to prevent it, are considered too great once the womb has served its miraculous function.

Some medical ethicists still question the procedure as a whole, arguing it is unnecessarily risky for both the mother and baby, especially babies are born seriously pre-term and at low birth weight.

However, this latest success, and the increasing number of healthy babies born via the procedure worldwide may change that.

Womb transplantation is on the way to becoming an acceptable, life-giving procedure for women who previously had no hope of carrying a baby of their own.

Mrs Davidson was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser, a rare condition that affects around one in every 5,000 women. It means they have an underdeveloped or missing womb.

EMBARGOED TO 0001 TUESDAY APRIL 8..Undated handout photo issued by Womb Transplant UK of Grace Davidson with baby Amy Isabel, and her aunt Amy (right). Grace Davidson who received a womb in the UK's first womb transplant has given birth to a baby girl. Following the huge success of the procedure, Grace has given birth to baby Amy Isabel, named after her aunt Amy - who donated her womb - and Isabel Quiroga, the surgeon who helped perfect the technique. Amy was born by planned NHS Caesarean section on February 27 at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in London. Issue date: Tuesday April 8, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story HEALTH Womb. Photo credit should read: Womb Transplant UK/PA Wire ...NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
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Grace with her sister Amy (right) and daughter. Pic: Womb Transplant UK/PA

However, the ovaries are intact and still function to produce eggs and female hormones, making conceiving via fertility treatment a possibility.

Before receiving the donated womb, Mrs Davidson and her husband underwent fertility treatment to create seven embryos, which were frozen for In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) in central London.

Mrs Davidson had surgery in February 2023 to receive the womb from her 42-year-old sister Amy Purdie, who is a mother to two girls aged 10 and six.

Read more:
AI could help more women get pregnant via IVF
Fertility patients offered unnecessary treatments – report

Several months later, one of the stored embryos was transferred via IVF to Mrs Davidson.

The baby weighed 4.5lbs and was delivered several weeks early to ensure a safe, hospital-based delivery.

Ms Purdie called the birth of her niece “worth every moment”.

Professor Richard Smith and Isabel Quiroga were the lead surgeons for the womb transplant and both were in the operating theatre when Amy was delivered, with her parents choosing her middle name in honour of Ms Quiroga.

Prof Smith, clinical lead at the charity Womb Transplant UK and consultant gynaecological surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, told Sky News that being in the operating theatre when Amy was delivered was “really quite remarkable”.

The medic said: “We’ve waited a very, very long time for this, and there’s been quite a lot of tears shed. Ironically the scariest bit of the day for me was when [Amy’s] mum and dad asked me to hold their baby, which was incredible.”

Ms Quiroga, consultant surgeon at the Oxford Transplant Centre, part of Oxford University Hospitals, told Sky News it was “quite a complex procedure” and “the pressure was immense when we did the transplant”.

But she said it was “totally amazing to see all that effort” and it has “been totally worth it”.

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Parents of boy whose outbursts left them fearing for their lives say Adolescence ‘touched a nerve’

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Parents of boy whose outbursts left them fearing for their lives say Adolescence 'touched a nerve'

A teenager suddenly becomes violent, his anger towards women fuelled by online influencers, while his parents struggle to process what their son is capable of.

Does this sound familiar?

It’s the story of the hit drama Adolescence – but for Jess and Rob, it’s their life.

Their 14-year-old son Harry’s violence has escalated so rapidly he’s had to be taken into care. We’ve changed all their names to protect their identities.

Until the age of 12, Harry’s parents say he was a “wonderful” son. But they saw a change in his personality, which they believe was sparked by an incident when he was hit by a girl. Soon, he developed an online interest in masculine power and control.

Becky Johnson Adolescence  feature
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Harry’s personality changed after he was assaulted (this image shows an actor in a Sky News reconstruction)

“Harry became obsessed with being strong, and I think he developed a difficulty around certain female people because of the assault,” Jess says.

“He had to be in charge… in every setting,” Rob adds.

Then one night, he punched his mother, Jess. His parents called the police in the hope it would shock him out of doing it again. But, as time went on, the violence escalated.

“We probably must have called the police over 100 times,” Rob says.

One attack was so serious, Jess ended up in hospital. The violence spilled outside the home too as Harry assaulted neighbours and friends.

Then he threatened to stab a teacher.

“Every time we think it can’t get any worse, something else happens and it does get worse,” Rob says. “Unfortunately, him getting hold of a knife is quite likely to happen.”

They say Adolescence, which stars Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters and Owen Cooper, touched a nerve.

Becky Johnson Adolescence  feature
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Jess and Rob say they called the police 100 times (this image shows actors in a Sky News reconstruction)

“My worst fear is that he’s going to end up killing one of us,” says Jess. “If not us, then somebody else…”

It’s a shocking thought for any parent to have. As well as contacting police, the family have tried many times to get help from social services and the NHS for Harry’s deteriorating mental health.

“We’ve been told that we’re using too many resources and accessing too many services,” Rob says. “We tried for 18 months to get him more intensive therapeutic help. At every turn it was ‘no, no, no’.”

Read more:
Starmer backs campaign to show Adolescence in schools
Inside the online gangs where boys compete to be cruel

They have found help with an organisation called PEGS that supports parents who are victims of their own children’s violence.

Becky Johnson Adolescence  feature
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PEGS founder Michelle John says many families struggle to have their concerns taken seriously

Last year it was contacted by over 3,500 families, a 70% increase on 2023. Founder Michelle John says many families struggle to have their concerns taken seriously.

“What we’re hearing time and time again is that referrals are not being picked up because thresholds aren’t being met and perhaps the parent or caregiver isn’t a risk to the child,” she says. “Families are falling through gaps.”

In some parts of the country, local organisations are attempting to fill those gaps. Bright Star Boxing Academy in Shropshire has children referred by schools, social workers and even the police.

Joe Lockley, who runs the academy, says the problem is services that deal with youth violence are “inundated”.

“The biggest cause of the violent behaviour is mental health,” he says. “They lack that sense of belonging and control, and it’s quite easy to gain that from the wrong crowd and getting involved in violence.

“Social media is having a huge impact, especially around that young person’s identity.”

Becky Johnson Adolescence  feature
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Ethan at the Bright Star Boxing Academy

Ethan, 18, agrees. He joined the academy aged 14. By then he had already been arrested several times for getting into fights.

He believes bullying sparked anxiety and depression. “Someone could look at me, I’d be angry,” he says.

“Social media – that’s definitely a massive part. You’ve got so many people that are living this material life. They’ve got loads of money.

“My main thing was seeing people with amazing bodies – I felt I couldn’t reach that point and it made me self-conscious, which would add on to the anger which then turned to hatred towards other people.”

Becky Johnson Adolescence  feature
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Ethan says boxing has helped him turn his life around

Without the support of the boxing academy, he believes, he wouldn’t have been able to turn his life around.

“I would either be in prison or I would have done something a lot worse to myself,” he says.

“It’s just this massive mess in your head where you’ve got a million thoughts at once – you don’t know what to think or how to even speak sometimes,” he adds.

“All we need is someone that’s got the time for us… and the understanding that it’s a war in our heads.”

A government spokesperson told Sky News: “We have seen too many preventable tragedies caused by the failings of mental health services, and it’s unacceptable that young people have not been getting the care and treatment they need to keep them, their families and the wider public safe.

“We are working to ensure children and their families get that help. We are investing over £50m to fund specialist support in schools, launching a Young Futures hub in every community, and providing access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England.”

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

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Plastic surgeon Peter Brooks found guilty of attempting to murder colleague

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Plastic surgeon Peter Brooks found guilty of attempting to murder colleague

A plastic surgeon has been found guilty of the attempted murder of a fellow doctor who he stabbed after a failed attempt to set his house on fire.

Peter Brooks had cycled to the home of Graeme Perks in Halam, near Southwell, Nottinghamshire, while wearing camouflage gear and armed with a crowbar, petrol, matches and a knife in the early hours of 14 January 2021.

The 61-year-old then doused the ground floor of the property with petrol before stabbing fellow plastic surgeon Mr Perks because he wanted him “out of the way”, his trial at Loughborough Courthouse heard.

The victim’s wife and children were sleeping at the time of the attack, the jury was told.

Mr Perks, a consultant plastic surgeon, had provided evidence in disciplinary proceedings against Brooks, who faced potentially losing his job with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, the jury was told.

Brooks was “voluntarily absent” from his month-long trial because he was on hunger strike and said he would “rather be dead than incarcerated”, it can now be reported.

He also sacked his lawyers before the trial and was unrepresented in the case.

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Graeme Perks is fighting for his life in hospital. Pic: BAPRAS
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Graeme Perks is fighting for his life in hospital. Pic: BAPRAS

When opening the prosecution’s case, Tracy Ayling KC had told the jury it was “clear that the defendant hated Graeme Perks” and wanted him “out of the way”.

Mr Perks, who was 65 at the time, had retired the month before the attack and suffered “extremely life-threatening” injuries to his liver, intestines and pancreas, and was given a 95% chance of death, the court was told.

He had woken up on the night of the attack when Brooks smashed through his conservatory, the jury heard.

The camouflage suit worn by Peter Brooks during the attack. Pic Nottinghamshire Police
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The camouflage suit worn by Peter Brooks during the attack. Pic Nottinghamshire Police

Mr Perks then went downstairs where his feet “felt a bit damp” from the petrol, which Brooks had also thrown against the wall next to the stairs, before he felt a “blow to his body”, the court was told.

Brooks was later found asleep on a garden bench later that morning when he was taken to hospital for injuries to his hand, and was arrested.

His blood was found on a door at the scene of the attack.

Brooks has been convicted of two counts of attempted murder, attempted arson with intent to endanger life, and possession of a knife in a public place.

Jurors deliberated for more than 12 hours before finding Brooks guilty of all the charges against him.

Retired surgeon Graeme Perks leaving Loughborough Magistrates' Court.
Pic: PA
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Graeme Perks leaves court in Loughborough after giving evidence.
Pic: PA

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