MPs have voted in favour of a historic assisted dying bill after an impassioned House of Commons debate.

Today the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons, which would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales who are expected to die within six months to seek medical help to end their life.

This afternoon (29 November) MPs voted 330 to 275 to progress the bill, with a majority of 55.

The bill will now go to committee stage, when each clause is scrutinised closely and amendments may be made.

The approval of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords will be required for the bill to become law.

In the debate, many MPs spoke of their personal experiences with death, chronic and terminal illnesses or that of their constituents.

Gwynedd Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Liz Saville Roberts voted in favour of the bill.

She shared the story of a constituent of hers during the debate: “I want to pay tribute to Iola Dorkins of Morfa Nefyn whom I have known for over thirty years, and who is dying of motor neurone disease.

“She wears a brace which her husband has adapted to make her more comfortable.

“Today, she is in respite at a hospice in Holyhead, fifty miles from her home.

“That is the reality of people's lives as things stand.

“We need a change in the law.”

Whilst MP for the Gower, Labour’s Tonia Antoniazzi, pointed out the complexities of adopting the potential new law in Wales.

Health is an area which is devolved to Welsh Government, therefore a ‘legislative consent motion’ may need to be passed by Welsh Government under the Sewel Convention.

She said: “I believe this bill should pass today because we need to discuss this and we need to know how it's going to work...

“The bill places multiple duties on the Secretary of State in England around codes of practice and providing assistance with the NHS.

“The Welsh Government needs to be happy with the Secretary of State in England in deciding how the services are provided within the Welsh NHS.

“There will need to be an amendment which I suspect will then engage the Sewel Convention [and require a legislative consent motion].

“There are issues around the code of practice as some of them are devolved.

“I want to highlight that because we need to be mindful, regardless of the emotional stories we are going to be hearing in this place, it does have an impact on legislation in Wales.

“That is very important that those discussions are had because everybody's lives matter and we have to get this legislation right.”