Polling suggests there is some public support for a bill and while the majority of MPs from Northern Ireland plan to vote against it at Westminster, assisted dying is not yet on the political agenda at Stormont.

The assisted dying bill has been defended by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall who told the BBC it was about the "right to choose". She refused to criticise Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who wrote to her constituents this weekend saying the proposed changes would create a “slippery slope to death on demand”.

WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols says she is ‘broadly in favour’ of regulation to allow for assisted dying in ‘limited circumstances’.

A Labour MP says he will vote against plans to legalise assisted dying over fears people could be coerced into ending their life. North Northumberland's David Smith told the BBC's Politics North programme there was "simply not enough time" to consider the issue in detail.